"10 of wands. Oppression" and "2 of cups. Love" THOTH TAROT CARD: READING/s. These cards were pulled as a double reading. The Order of the reading is from left to right.

 

10 of Wands "Oppression"  

From Aleister Crowley's more Proto-Fascist Thoth Tarot cards of order and control, there is, what appears to be a apocalyptic Christian ethos within the 10 of Wands "Oppression" explanation, rather than Gnostic beliefs, as early Christians didn't believe in the end of the world per se, but rather the apocalypse of the spirit.  Crowley claimed that the card is Saturn influencing the star sign Sagittarius, under the Jewish mysticism of the Qabalah Malkuth (10) from the Tree of Life Sephiroth, which refers to spiritual detachment (Malkuth) of the remaining nine Sephiroth.  And that the star sign sagittarius is of the antipathy, the rebel, in Crowley's words "spiritual, swift, light, elusive, and luminous, and Saturn is heavy handed and "oppressive".  Possibly eluding to that one cannot oppress oneself under, Crowley words again, the "lust of result", will end up destroying itself or the host.  Which may suggest the card is influenced from John Milton's (1667) Paradise Lost poem, of Satan being the rebellious spirit cast out of heaven, and hosting a democratic forum in Hell, with other fallen angels, to take back heaven and corrupt God's creation, man.  As noted in previous analysis of Crowley's Thoth Tarot is the ambiguity, and often confusing elements to the card's meanings.  Yet, the gist can be seen for this card, that oppression of the self, via an obstinate construct, will end up engulfing all.  Setting everything alight and ultimately destroying creation, note the flames and the burning Wands, with two Tibetan Buddhist Dorje's as indestructible 'masculine' concepts of reality, yet it is balanced in Buddhist ritual by a Bell, which symposises the balance of the Feminine (wisdom).  Therefor the card appears unbalanced, and does indeed refer to the destructive, and oppressive energies of fire.

Reading:

When the Light Bearer was cast down into the darkness of Hell, the rebel of the angels, the swift and elusive, be it that he/she is marked with the Aleph, the Hebrew letter which has no sound.  Such is, that you may not see all its intentions. It is the Malkuth of the Qabalah, the detached spiritual realm, of all meditation it is the most disconnected and afar.  But, the rebel must be balanced, in that lust for result and antipathy of order.  Otherwise the destructive fires of annihilation, will consumer and destroy all.  Better, that the masculine Dorje's, which shows strength of reality and purpose, as the Tibetan Buddhist decree, must also sit with a Bell, the wisdom of the Feminine.  Do not be too hasty in rebellion, reaction to oppression may also lead to further oppression.  Without balance, destruction begets destruction.   

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"2 of cups. Love"

One of Aleister Crowley's more serene, peaceful and meditative cards, appropatly titled "Love", it is the suit of Two, which can be seen as harmony and balance, hence the two Dolphins tails intertwined around twin Lotus Flower stems, with its flowers pointing down, the other upward, which is indicative of the balance of things and its reflection, that can come from equilibrium, despite opposites.  "2 of cups. Love" also shows Crowley's seemingly paradoxical aspects, where he ties in tantric Hindu and Buddhist beliefs that when the feminine and masculine, meld in harmony, they do so as manifestations beyond physical form.   

The card also represents water and the flows of water, which has been used for Centuries a meditative calming when cultivated in form, note two cups below, as the water flows, it gently overflows, to which Crowley also utilizes Eastern spiritual philosophy, that the "annihilation" of the self, or ego is necessary to avoid disunity, and thus, the balance between body and mind can occur, so the body does not rule the mind.

Reading:  

Two, is of the one.  Meld the masculine to the feminine, and the feminine to the masculine, the are of no form, but only entities, be free from your body, by controlling your body.  Water, and it flows may assist in this deeper meditating, as the water flows down, it is balanced by the sacred Lotus flowers, one facing upward, the other inverted, meaning that Love is transcendence, that even the heavens and the Earthly realm both know Love, the antithetical, despite the paradoxes of the self, also knows love.  And see the two Dolphins, as they also know human love, and can feel grief. So, let grief run, let it flow, let the tears flow.  Feel sorrow, as a way of being reborn, and be stoic as way of undertaking the self.  Find the balance, and Love will guide you.   

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)

All Thoth Tarot card analysis and readings to date: chiasmusmagazine.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoth%20Tarot%20reading