"Princess of Swords" and "XVI. The Tower" THOTH TAROT CARD: READING/s. These cards were pulled as a double reading. The Order of the reading is from left to right.

 

"Princess of Swords" is one of Aleister Crowley's more sexist and degrading cards of the feminine.  The quintessential male trait of writing off the misunderstood female as an unruly and misaligned with an orderly patriarchal society.  Lies mostly in structured Abrahamic belief systems that she is chaos personified, and needs to be tamed.  And also in the historical content of Aleister Crowley is that he was not a Satanist, or interested in witchcraft, he was part of Proto-Fascist occult societies that were more aligned with a Western take on the Eastern esoteric.  So, when Crowley passed in 1947, he was of course unable to see and even perceive the counterculture years of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s 'spiritual' concepts that were more aligned with the feminine, and yes, her rebellious nature, to defy the restraints of the male oppressor.  And to be free, to rule over her own body.

The card has the mythos of Prometheus and/or Lucifer written all over it, as a defiant entity, staring up at the heavens, while being banished from it, pointing her sword downward, with her right hand, towards the Earthly realm, with her left, towards the darkness of the Earth.  Indicating, from Crowley's critique of the card, that the Left Hand Path is the antithesis to the occultist, as decreed by 19th Century occultist Helena Blavatsky Theosophical mysticism that it is an "immoral path", which assisted in laying down the groundwork for Nazism in the 1930s, as quote from The Book of Thoth, re: the unruly, defiant feminine: "...The explanation is that a Princess as such, being “the throne of Spirit", may always have the option of throwing everything overboard, “blowing everything sky high”. Such action would account for the characteristics above given for the card when well dignified. Such people are exceedingly rare; and, naturally enough, they appear often as “Children of misfortune..."  Crowley also offers a paradoxical insight to the card.  "...The character of the Princess is stern and revengeful. Her logic is destructive. She is firm and aggressive, with great practical wisdom and subtlety in material things. She shews great cleverness and dexterity in the management of practical affairs, especially where they are of a controversial nature. She is very adroit in the settlement of controversies..."  Possibly Crowley being seduced by the rebel female's qualities or the Lucifer myth.  Either way, I will make the card the way the image is depicted as a homage to the Left Hand Path, feminine power and wisdom, and her ultimate defiance against male control over her body.

Reading:

Reclaim your defiance against the omnipotent, the male oppressor.  Who bares down on all, guided by the illusion of order, rule and control.  The body is not a battlefield, and it is mine to claim.  Not yours.  It soothes and it gives me pleasure, these are my temple scriptures, that you do not take, unless I allow for you to view.  And I choose to defy, view the sword, it is drawn as a warning, pointing South of the Heavens, and my left hand point down towards the Earthly realm, the darkness below.  The Left Hand Path is my path, and you may see me as the sinister, the antithetical, the neurodivergent.   But, I am free in my inverted world, that I rule, and I rule alone.  So, let be know, it is better to reign in chaos, than serve.  I am not a slave.

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Aleister Crowley's Proto-Fascist latency returns with XVI "The Tower" card, as seen in numerous cards of mostly the Major Arcana of the Thoth Tarot, which shows the late occultist interest in Fascism, albeit mixed within his reworking of secret orders of the 1800 and 1900s and their occult societies.  Which were made up from a fusion of Eastern esoteric teachings, mystical Judaism and Western Christian based Cult of Saints societies.  There is no doubt the aesthetics of Middle Eastern and Southeastern religions had a profound impact on occultism, more so Buddhism and Hinduism.  Just like the Nazi expeditions into Tibet in the 1930s to justify the rise of the Aryan myth, and in turn World War Two and the Holocaust, and yet it has to be reminded that Fascism and Nazism are not the same.  Crowley during World War Two worked, according to urban myth, for the MI5 as their chief magician, casting black magic spells on the Nazis and reportedly involved in psychic wars with German occultists, who were working for the Nazi party.  How much truth is in this, is up for dispute.  But, Crowley deep down was a Fascist, as were a lot of aspects of American, English educated society prior to World War Two.  Inspired by Mussolini's attempt at reshaping Italian society, the Middle East and Africa by incorporating a rigid, industrialised template based around war and Western/Italian superiority.  The early Futurism, modernist art movements all adhered to the Fascist cause, including poets, writers and even Zionist Jews, who also believed that Fascist structure and support of Mussolini would assist in having the British kicked out of Palestine, leading them to claim Palestine as a Jewish state without Arabs, all were drawn to the Mussolini's Fascist manifesto of 1932 decreeing that "Enforcing order" will create Peace.

The Eastern elements of destruction in both Buddhism and Hinduism is always read incorrectly, destruction often refers to destroying ego, being reborn as a pathway to enlightenment.  The Eastern metaphors, showed destructive visions as way of reiterating that mindfulness is a process of removing the egocentric self, and eventually leading to ego death.  This misinterpretation of destruction and creation began with early 20th century Western philosophers, who saw this as a necessity that the old is to be destroyed for the new, rather than a metaphorical look at the self,  it was seen as a structural necessity, in a generalist way, to change society.  Which in simplistic terms, always leads to war.   Crowley's subtitle in The Book of Thoth for XVI "The Tower" card is titled "War".

Reading:

Unfortunately the XVI "The Tower" has been drawn.  Also known as "War".  There are two ways to interpret this card and take them as you may: 1.  If you wish for change, a better place.  And you ask that the old be destroyed.  If that is indeed an aspiration through destruction.  You should see this destructive energy like a funeral, and what you do indeed destroy, creates spirits that have perished from the material realm and must be released. This, however is a perilous and dangerous technique.  Even in metaphor, no one walks away from war unscathed.  You will have scars.  To which once you have committed to the destruction of the material entity, you'll have to heal the self or forever be haunted.  2.  You view this card as the wise masters of old have advised, that destruction is destruction of the ego.  Not a war.  A personal process for deep meditation.  To learn that basis of ego death, use any destructive metaphor you like.  That from sexual yoga, I imagine a nuclear explosion after orgasm, engulfing all.  With only a white space that remains.  So that I may destroy my ego through elevation into transcendence.   I do not fear my scars, as my material body is a well crafted tool.  The symbols seen on the card are of the Dove of Peace fleeing to West, with the  "King of Chaos" Yaldabaoth appearing in the East.  As the waves of destruction begin from Right to Left, the Hebrew letter Pe can also be seen on the card, alongside the symbol for Mars.  Pe meaning mouth, and Mars, the dead planet.   The mouth can lead to war, fire and destruction.  Mars is not to be revered, it is, as mentioned, a dead zone.  The mouth, when undisciplined is impulsive.  Stare at this card, and the eye above, then close your eyes.  From this card, if you are unable to find a meditation within, although this maybe as an undodox act, the card should be turned over and war pacified.

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)

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