The Tarot of the Magicians: A Guide to the Symbolism and Application of the Wirth Tarot Deck by its Designer Oswald Wirth [Paperback]

Oswald Wirth (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sam Weiser; 2nd edition (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877286566
• ISBN-13: 978-0877286561
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Tarot book for the serious student, March 16, 2010

By 

Casca (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tarot of the Magicians: A Guide to the Symbolism and Application of the Wirth Tarot Deck by its Designer Oswald Wirth (Paperback)

This book was first published in Paris in 1927, and an English edition did not appear until 1985. Wirth shows deep understanding of the tarot and various esoteric subjects to which it is linked. He starts by looking at tarot card patterns, the Kabbalistic tarot, the astronomical tarot, and notions of symbolism. The major arcana are then elucidated in terms of the initiatory journey. Wirth has a good grasp of the issues involved. A most helpful insight he makes is that the first eleven cards relate to the self mastery developed by the Magus. The last eleven cards relate to the Mystic's path of renunciation. This shows how the two paths are related, and need not be separate as is sometimes claimed. Wirth has a positive view of divination, seeing it as `the education of the imagination.' He gives informative instruction on divination. I do have a proviso about card six. Wirth calls it The Lover, showing a man deciding between two women, Virtue and Sensuality. Paul Foster Case considers the "two paths" interpretation erroneous. I find card six as depicted in the Case and Colman-Waite decks as The Lovers to be more helpful.The man represents the conscious mind and the woman the subconscious mind. It tells us that the way to higher consciousness, symbolized by Raphael, is through the subconscious mind.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lessons in Hermeticism..., January 11, 2000

By 

Bete Noire (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tarot of the Magicians (Paperback)

The companion book to his famous tarot,Wirth's'Tarot of the Magicians'is a complete textbook for the student of esoteric disciplines.A fascinating,learned and unique foray into the Tarot in the tradition of Eliphas Levi and Stanislas de Guaita.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An almost forgotten gem, February 12, 2008

By 

Mycroft (Rio Linda, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tarot of the Magicians: A Guide to the Symbolism and Application of the Wirth Tarot Deck by its Designer Oswald Wirth (Paperback)

I've been studying metaphysics, the occult & Tarot for 30+ yrs. I missed this book when it was originally published in English. This is a dense packed well thought out book giving the basis for Wirth's deck.... which is elegant. The deck predates Waite's RWS by several years and undoubtedly had an influence on Waite & his deck and groups such as the Golden Dawn & others.

The book goes into each of the 22 trumps as well as what Wirth saw as their Kabbalistic meanings. The deck is one of the bridge decks between TdM & RWS. It is one the decks that explains the path to those wise enough to comprehend it -- and the book explains the deck.