I have owned my Thoth Tarot Deck for 10 years now. It smells great from years of being stored in my herb box; the cards are permeated with the smell of juniper, yucca flowers and ‘spirit of bear and eagle’ which is an herbal powder I bought up in Tohatchi, NM, part of the Navajo Nation.
It was time to give my cards a dedicated home. I went to Hobby Lobby found this book-like box that fit the job perfectly. I started out by painting the box black, then letting it dry and spraying a coat of clear varnish over it. On the back cover, I painted the Sigil of Babalon in red. Babalon is “also known as The Scarlet Woman, The Great Mother, or the Mother of Abominations and is a goddess found in the mystical system of Thelema […] In her most abstract form, she represents the female sexual impulse and the liberated woman; although she can also be identified with Mother Earth, in her most fertile sense.”
On the front cover I painted a Tree of Life, also known as a Sephiroth. I painted an Eye of Horus on each of the lower corners and the supreme light on the upper corners. In the borders, I painted the elements and zodiacal symbol attributed to that direction. So in the Left (West) I have the element of Air, and the astrological signs Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. On the Right (East) I have the element of Water, which is attributed to Picses, Scorpio and Cancer. The Bottom (South) is tied with the Fire Element, of whom Aries, Leo and Sagittarus are ruled by. Finally, at the top (North) we find the element of Earth. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are Earths primary symbols.
The Law of Thelema ‘Do What Thy Wilt Shall Be The Whole of The Law’ is written on the box. This statement means that Thelemites should seek out and follow their own True Willrather than their ego’s desires.
Finally on the spine I painted the planetary symbols: (from the top) Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Moon and Earth. I really didn’t pay any heed to the order of the actual planets.
So now my Thoth cards have a new place for themselves! I do not use the tarot for divinatory purposes ie: telling the future and such but for study aids in my path of Thelema and Kabbalah. The Thoth deck is rife with spiritual imagery and has quickly become my favorite deck.
Awesome idea! I love it!
Thanks for the post, keep posting stuff
Great work keep it coming, best blog on earth
Really nice post,thank you
I have never used cards to tell the future. Learning these cards is a lifetime of work that I have only cracked the surface of! It’s all about symbolism when it comes to the Thoth deck. To read the story within the images, and to correlate those images into aspects of the self and the universe.
Talented, Miss Crysti!! Very good artwork on this box. I’ve always had an interest in tarot cards and have had a few readings done over the years. Was it hard learning to read them??