"Price of Wands", "1. Ace of Cups" and "3 of swords. Sorrow" THOTH TAROT CARD READING/s. These cards were pulled as a triple reading. The Order of the reading is from left to right.

This has been an interesting study of Aleister Crowley through his Thoth Tarot cards.  More so is the understanding of Crowley's influences, and what drove him to devise an offshoot from the Occult societies of the 1800s and 1900s.  And as mentioned numerous times prior in my analysis of the late occultist, was his use of amphetamines, opiates and psychedelics which one could argue were the precursors to 1960s and 1970s experimentation with drugs as a way of opening the mind, and creating new experiences.  But, this comes as a double edged sword, that a many have fallen prey to.  Be it from addiction, psychosis and death.  Only the most masterful mind can delve into the unconscious through intoxication.  So in that sense, I have found his writings tedious to say the least, but understand the driving force behind the Thoth Tarot concepts, as they flow from depressive lows to manic highs, with an in-between of clarity to which through my own readings of the Thoth Tarot I have made them my own. 

The "Price of Wands", is considered a 'court' card of the Tarot, so it is not numbered and after reading Crowley's definition of the card, it is one of the most concise to date.  In fact, there is very little psychosis derived ramblings in his explanation or reading of the card, as it is written almost like a literarily study of what is known as the personality of psychopathy.  And since so-called psychopathy is not a recognized diagnosis, but a so-called overlapping disorder.  The card itself may have been Crowley analysing himself at some point before passing away in 1947.  Of course, I am speculating, but to give an example of the personality background of the card, please refer to this passage (in its entirety) from the "Price of Wands"  Thoth explanation:

 

"...The moral qualities appropriate to this figure are swiftness and strength. But he is sometimes inclined to act on impulse; sometimes easily led by external influences; sometimes, especially in trifles, a prey to indecision. He is often violent, especially in the expression of an opinion, but he does not necessarily hold the opinion about which he is so emphatic. He states a vigorous proposition for the sake of stating it. He is in fact very slow to make up his mind thoroughly on any subject, but always sees both sides of every question. He is essentially just, but always feels that justice is not to be attained in the intellectual world. His character is intensely noble and generous. He may be an extravagant boaster, while slyly laughing both at the object of his boast and at himself for making it. He is romantic, especially in matters of history and tradition, to the point of folly, and may engineer “stunts” or play elaborate practical jokes. He might select some inoffensive nobody, and pursue him for years with every weapon of ridicule) as Swift tormented the unhappy Partridge, all without the least animus, ready to give the shirt off his back, should his victim be in need. His sense of humour is omnivorous, and may make him a mysterious figure, dreaded without reason by people who actually know nothing about him but his name-as a symbol of Terror. This is due to the influence of the last decan of Cancer upon this card. One of his greatest faults is pride; meanness and pettiness of any kind he holds in infinite scorn. His courage is fanatically strong, and his endurance indefatigable. He is always fighting against odds, and always wins in the long-the very long-run. This is principally due to his enormous capacity for work, which he exercises for its own sake, “without lust of result”; perhaps his haughty contempt for the world at large-which however coexists with profound and ecstatic respect for “every man and every woman” as “a star” — is responsible for this..." 

Sound like anybody you know?  So, there are less Occultist aspects to the card, except for the astrological characteristics, as this card represents Cancer and Leo and these star signs are only mentioned briefly at the beginning of the explanation.

Reading:

Open up your mind, and be honest.  Have you not looked for a short cut, told a lie and boostered your grandeur?  Reveling in your own self completion, your own superiority.  While facing the mirror and not caring about the consequence.  To be free from guilt, and to remove the shackles of empathy and compassion.  Is to be the most free one can be.   It is, the ultimate meditation.  To be completely empty, yet at the end of the day, you'll still strive to be the pinnacle of your own power.  To be fulfilled again.  Surrounding by the flames, sitting on the chariot controlling the untamed lion.  The challenge beacons,  and despite all this, there is a seeking of justice, even though you may not feel it.  In solidarity you side with the underdog, the oppressed, the beaten, the pathetic.  To which you cannot understand why so many have given up.  When life holds a lust, and for the flames that surround, is to conquer that desire, taste it, enjoy it and then discard it.  Aware, but not caring that the instinctive may indeed see the flames, a danger, and stay away.   Seeing that there is, beneath the gaze, a contempt for all of humanity, yet if one does look carefully beyond the stare, they will see also in you an antithesis, be it that abstraction and contradiction of love and care.  

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"1.  Ace of Cups"  is Aleister Crowley touching upon Tantric Hindu, more so Kamakala practices, of the sexual union of male and female sexual discharge, seen as the sacred transmission of creation.   To which Crowley has attached his own Sex "Magick" rituals (a coined that he used) to the card, by adding wine and/or blood to the 'water' in the context of ceremonial usage.  In that sense, in relation to "blood", Crowley refers to the card as a symbolism of the "Yoni" be it the Sanskrit/Hindu/Tantric interpretation of the vagina, hence menstrual blood used in Kamakala Yantra rituals.  As Crowley explains the use of the card, "At the base of the Cup is the Moon, for it is the virtue of this card to conceive and to produce the second form of its Nature."

Reading:

The Yoni is sacred, it is the opening of existence, and will close it self for meditation.  Both must be seen as divine, and each action must be respected.  The masculine is also feminine, and the feminine is also masculine, both have the manifestation of the Yoni, beginning at the base of the pelvis, and axled down to the perineum. For the male, it has been hidden by manifestation of biology, but it can be awaken.  The female can assist, by teaching that the fluid is internal, the pleasure of life are temporary, but the flow continues on.  Know this flow, saviour this fluid, but only in ritual.  Elevate bliss to transcendance, and then release.  But, never take it for granted.  

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"3 of swords.  Sorrow" is Aleister Crowley's doomish or doomsday card.   Utilizing theocratic wording and sexists/misogynistic rhetoric of end of days, brought on by "The Great Mother" ala Binha of Jewish Kabbalah mysticism from the Tree of Life.   But, according to Crowley, The Great Mother is the forbearer of darkness, and that she offers chaos from her cosmic, as Crowley states, "womb". The card bears creation, manifested via this womb, but, in paranoid laced wording, Crowley was a heavy ampeheteme user, her children will be "monsters". The Magician sword points upward, breaking two smaller swords pointing downward, and thus destroying the rose above.  Which in turn, makes the card unbalanced, under Crowley's own interpretation.  

I will redeem this card, and make it more powerful and embracing.

Reading:

Why fear darkness?  Why fear doomsday?   See the storm clouds?  View the end of days, which are only beginnings.  Be wary of fearful talks of the patriarchal, the mortal controller, the broken male.  Who seeks power through forcing light, order and rule.  She, the Great Mother, the antitheses, sits alone facing West, as storm storm clouds arrive from the South West, she is both enriched by the fears of men, yet empowers the masculine to understand that one must face the end with glee, unafraid, and defiant.  She breaks the petals of the rose, and scatters them in front of her, showing the mortal man, the life is impermanence, that you may not be able to hold back the storm. So let it pass.  Yet, it is "The Magician", who is masculine in temperment, and resides within the male and female, as the conjurer.  Who lifts his sword definitely up towards the heavens with his Right hand and destroys oppression, and in his Left points towards the Earthly realm.  For he is the conduit between worlds, the mixer of the potent elixir of the male and female.    Saviour the doom, rejoice in its darkness.  And you will become the lightbearer.   

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(A.Glass 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)

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