First Encounters

Just had to pass this one along! Wish I could find a tie like that...
At any rate, I did something I never thought I would do- read Aleister Crowley. The now-deceased 20th century occultist was, history relates, creepy and personally repellent, but does seem to have known his occult studies inside and out. I encountered the Crowley-Thoth tarot deck, renowned for its symbolism. Overall, not a deck for beginners, but the symbolism of the deck is really rather brilliant. The Major Arcana have a few changes from those most readers would be used to- as a for example, the Judgement card is replaced by Aeon, and Temperance is replaced by Art. However, the complex symbols on each card bear examination, and can actually convey the multiple levels of meaning in each card. The deck goes the route of some of the older Tarot decks, where number cards are simply a stylized representation of the number and suit. However, the cards bear a simple one-word explanation of each, which could be limiting, but actually sheds light on the meaning of each card, being more than anything else a direction to point you in in interpreting the card. As a for example, the Six of Swords is labeled simply as "Science", and this trend of abstract terms both defines and allows freedom of interpretation in the cards. While the cards seem strange and esoteric, they do fit together, and this would make a good companion deck for someone familiar with traditional Tarot decks.