"2 of swords. Peace, "5 of Wands. THOTH TAROT CARD READING/s. These cards were pulled as a double reading. The Order of the reading is from left to right.

 

"2 of Swords.  Peace" is Aleister Crowley's (d1947) more serene and peaceful card, representing, according to the Book of Thoth, as the junction between Fire, Water and air.  Crowley's reading from the Qabalah is usually fused with both Jewish and Hemetric underpinnings, which can, from his interpretation at times, be hard to follow.  Claiming that Chokmah second on the right of the Tree of Life (Sephirot), is the conjurer of air, which may have something to do with its nominated colour, that being gray.  And in Hermetic Qabalah, the Sephirot is viewed from the left side to the right, rather than right to left, to which the left side in Hermetic Qabalah representing analytical thinking and stability, rather than "wisdom" in Jewish Qabalah.  

Also, equating that the Moon in Libra equals balance and regulation, with the two swords crossed being harmonized and in union, both piercing a rose petal, while four wind dials creating perpetual motion, that being a symbolic interaction with natural elements.  Also noting the two smaller daggers, one above and below, yet both pointing upward, one holding up the astrology symbol Libre (below), and the other above, the moon, also representing balance and harmony.

Reading:

Fire and Water are not opposites, yet one can dominate the other.  Where there is no water, there is fire, where there is water, there is no fire.  Of this meditation, nature is balanced, one over the other does not matter, and air, with the wind that blows for eternity, is the breath of life that holds the perpetuation.  And the Moon, which controls the Earth's oceans, the rise and fall of the seas.  The Swords present this balance, as does the geometric wind chimes, all work in harmony.  

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Five of Wands, which is "Strife" of the Thoth Tarot, is correlated to, according to 'The Book of The Thoth' to be from the Fifth Sephirah from the Qabalah Tree of Life, Geburah.  And if you have been following my analysis and readings of Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, you would know that he had a fondness for Jewish mysticism and its esoteric teachings from the Qabalah, which was utilized in 16th Century Western alchemy as a way using Hebrew to code and number explanations of alchemist practises.  So, essentially it was taken from medieval esoteric Qabalah and morphed into a non-jewish ritualized system, such as the various occult societies that formed in Europe during the Age Enlightenment.  

And these Western occult societies fused all aspects of Eastern practises into their beliefs, Crowley was very much a product of his time, before he passed away in 1947.  His own structured belief system Thelema, was heavily influenced by his tenure with the occult society "The Golden Dawn".  Where the new found exoticism of Egyptology and Middle Eastern estorica, including to a lesser degree Islam Sufis (Crowley spent time in Morocco in the late 1800s), were all these predominate occult aspects became infused with Western astrology, ceremonies and recent scientific findings.  

The Fifth Sephirah, Geburah of Jewish Qabalah represents "Fire" and "Judgement", and this would be as close as you would get to the similarities of Jewish and Christian esoterica.  That I feel Crowley had very much aligned himself within his own belief system Themela and the Thoth Tarot.   That being Fire and Judgment handed down by God, in which the human soul, if not guided by God's law and teachings, will be unruly and unbalanced.  Crowley's own interpretation, once again holds a vagueness to the card's overall meaning, but emphases that the card represents fire and strife though and though, if it was not balanced by the Horizontal Chief Adept wand (Golden Dawn ceremonial staff).  Indicating Crowley's desire for structure or control within his belief systems.  So, the symbolism holds a curiosity of Crowley's own definition to the Qabalah and Tree of Life, where he attempts to find balance in the card's artwork by Lady Frieda Harris (d1962) within her 1940s geometric cubism style.  By incorporating the balance between the masculine and the feminine to tame that fire in us all. 

Reading:

Is the spirit restless?  Does the fire, which lies deep within, burn in disarray?  Note the Qabalah Tree of Life, that it is the Geburah of Fire and Judgement, the Fifth Sephirah.  Also meaning, Power and Strength.  If the spirit is restless, you may need to learn these terms, that there is no Fire in Judgment and no Strength in Power.  Rather than tame the Spirit, free the Spirit.  Order can be an illusion and strife a clarity.  Do we not live in tumultuous times?  Yet, it is claimed that we have order?  Order over nature?  Order over our on folly.  Do we really need structure?  Use the fire within so that one may not be subservient.  If you do indeed seek control, than learn to master thyself.  Or be exploited by the structure.  Therefore "Strive" of the Five of Wands should be inverted.  So, we may praise strife and turmoil.  To reveal  the turmoil in ourselves, not to be judged by a flawed world or sent to hell.  Rather, to heal and overcome.  Blessed are the balanced.  

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025)

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