Tag: Thoth Tarot

Lust (strength)

This months Thoth Tip focuses on Lust – this card is number 11 and in other decks often called strength.

Lust

Crowley emphasised the driven obsession side of the card – where we have to exert personal strength to keep ourselves in balance when faced with our primal desires. This can take the meaning of lust to a wider sphere too where we can have lust for life and passion for many things in our lives but if we act on our ‘lust’ to the exclusion of all else our lives can become imbalanced. All training in our favourite sport and no rest, as much as watching our favourite TV show 24/7 with no activity, any extreme turns out to be bad for us, however with awareness we can live out our passions whilst also keeping in check when they become self-destructive and against our highest good.

Crowley writes in the Book of Thoth

“Lust implies not only strength, but the joy of strength exercised.”

So taking the meaning further to include the enjoyment of our own self-imposed boundaries, the finding the balance and having the strength to say no to our desires every whim brings a joy in itself – a knowledge we are in control of our lives and that we are not at the mercy of our feelings and desires, but can harness them to good use. The image shows this well with the woman having a strong hold of the reigns whilst also surrendering to passion and fire in herself. We have the picture of containment of our desires without repression.

The ground upon which the beast walks contains images of saints and traditional images of prayer where the ethos is to offer up to another our power. To ask another to judge us as good or bad, the other being representative of a higher being who ultimately judges us – this is what paved the way for the new age – age of Horus. In the new age we are responsible for our own actions and judgements we need not give our power to another but seek our own personal connection to the divine, and honour all parts of ourselves even the traditionally darker parts. As we come to love ourselves fully so we gain the strength to contain them without denial.

When lust shows in a reading it can represent the simple idea of being ‘in lust’ with someone but more often it is showing us our passions and our raw feelings are available to us and need not be avoided – we have the strength to see them, explore them and also be in charge of them – though part of us will be intoxicated by them as the woman on the card is, we can also have a grip on ourselves and form boundaries of expression that are for our highest good. We are in charge. We can have great joy and fun and know when we need to stop.

White Magus

Welcome to April’s Thoth tips, wonderfully hot and sunny here at the moment – really encouraging for the months to come. This months thoth tip concerns one of the Magus cards which some Thoth decks contain.

White Magus

White Magus

Many people don’t use all three Magus cards in the Thoth deck as it was only ever intended to have the one – the other two were included because there were plates left at the end of printing the rest of the cards so it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity to print a couple more cards. So these two alternative designs were printed along with the rest of the deck. This led to some people thinking about using them – perhaps including the extra two cards would be an interesting thing to do. Gerd Ziegler published some meanings of these two extra cards as he saw them in his books Tarot: Mirror of the Soul and Tarot: Mirror of Your Relationships. So they became an option to use to the wider audience. I myself like to use the two as they become to me ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cards and give very clear answers should they arise in a spread involving options.

There are however deeper meanings that can be taken from the two extra cards and this month I am going to look at the White Magus, which is entitled “The Magician”, in some more depth.

When using all three Magi this card represents communication, creation and all the positive attributes of the Magus. He is someone who has only the Light in mind as he creates the world in front of him. He is honest, open and loving in all things and can allow himself to be very flexible to move the higher picture forward. This is the salesman or woman who will not manipulate you into buying but will still speak openly and positively about the product he or she is selling. And it will be something that has heart and meaning to him or her.

Within us this is the light side of ourselves – all that we love and appreciate of our nature and the ability to feel confident that we are good in what we do and how we are in our whole self. In some ways it is the innocent boasting of a child where confidence is there and there is little regard that displaying ourselves will be a danger in any way. And because of this belief, the innocent energy, often things work out very well indeed. However the shadow of this card as even this card has a shadow, is that we can be so busy ‘being good’ whatever that means to us, that we are ignoring our own personal shadow side. This is the side of us that feels angry, or arrogant, or controlling or whatever qualities we would hate to see ourselves as having. The ignoring of our shadow over a long period of time can actually cut us off from reality – both our own reality and how we really feel – “no its ok, I am fine” when actually this is not now the case, and also the reality of the world around us “he could never do that surely” This does then lead us to be vulnerable to others shadows as we draw to us the reflection of what we are ignoring in order to become whole ourselves.

So in the reading when this comes up particularly if the Black Magus follows in time, we are being shown that we are thinking a little too ‘love and light’ and not really facing the darkness in ourselves and in others. It is an early warning sign showing us it is time to wake up and ask ourselves how we really feel and whether we are truly honouring ourselves, perhaps asking of ourselves – “Is there someone out there who is starting to mirror my shadow to me so I can be whole?” If there is “What is the shadow being mirrored to me? – What feelings do I need to embrace and love myself for having the capacity to feel?”

There is an opportunity here to reach towards transformation and avert external expression of our shadow in a major way and become more whole in the process. It may be that we have been working so hard to help and look after others we have neglected our own need to be free from being on our best behaviour, perhaps we need to create a holiday, or a metaphorical playpen of some sort, where we can be with friends and let our hair down releasing some of our shadow nature in a safe contained way, with those who love us and accept all sides of us, before we go back to being responsible in our work and professional lives.

So perhaps this month you can ask yourself what do you need to create to bring balance to yourself – it might be standing up for yourself in a situation that is not for your highest good, it might be to take some time off your professional role and be yourself, responsible only for your own behaviour and not for the success or otherwise of a project. This card is a positive card overall and doesn’t foretell difficult situations – but it does ask of you to be conscious of darkness while you play in the light so you are not caught unaware when an adjustment to maintain balance is asked for.