Customer Reviews

The Thoth Companion: The Key to the True Symbolic Meaning of the Thoth Tarot

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Excellent. Clear where Crowley's "Book of Thoth" is confusing. The author adds in the reference points that Crowley left out, and there is no meandering off topic as in Crowley's writing.

As with the Crowley book, there is a scholarly symbol-by-symbol analysis that allows the reader to understand the card for herself, rather than, as in many Tarot books, a menu of adjectives and action verbs, supposedly a distillation of the symbols in the card.

Better to understand the card itself and then distill the meaning on your own. This makes for more dynamic readings, grounded in the present moment and you own intuitions at that moment.

This book as its title suggests, covers the meaning behind the images and symbols of the Thoth tarot deck. If you are looking for an understanding of the images and symbols this book will definitely help you. The author describes everything from the Qabalistic (Tree of Life) perspective. For every card there is an indepth description including the Minor cards.
What it doesn't have however, is a long description about what the card means in a reading. But I don't feel that this is the purpose of the book. There are plenty other books that do that including Angeles Arrien The Tarot Handbook and Tarot the Mirror of the Soul by Ziegler. I am happy I bought it as it adds to my Thoth Tarot book collection and each book I find fills a gap. I thought it was worth the buy.

This book is really well written and informative. I've found it to be a great addition to my collection of tarot books, as it has unique content not found in my other books. It explains complex content in a comprehensive way that is not at all condescending or mysterious. This book has something for anyone interested in the tarot, from a beginner to an expert level.

I really liked this book and I'm glad I added it to my library. I found that it would be more helpful to a beginner or someone just familiarizing themselves with the Thoth Tarot deck, but it still contains lots of useful reference information.

I received the book "The Thoth Companion" by Mr. Snuffin and i have to say i am blown away this book is the most "Profound" book ever to have been written on the Thoth Deck i can tell you that every card from the Major Arcanum to the Minor Arcanum is covered so deeply that no other Author has ever posessed such Magickal knowledge of this deck as Mr. Suffin. He reveals every secret hidden symbol along with the color and new insights in to the cards meaning. This book is also very reader friendly and very direct and to the point no ridiculous babbling the info in this book is the true "Secret Attributions" that have been mentioned in the Book Of Thoth but now are revealed and not poetically obscured like Aleister Crowley has done in all his writings. This book is a MUST for all students & all readers of the Thoth Tarot whether your in a Mystery school or not this book will amaze you as you read through it and the "Secret Symbols" are revealed in the greatest of depth that has ever been possible. Throw out all those other Thoth based Books b/c you will never need them again once you have this book that i can assure you. Mr. Snuffin is a Ceremonial Magician who generously gave the secret of the secrets in his book. You never have to guess a cards meaning again or wonder what is the correct meaning after reading this book. This book scores a 10 with me so in closing i just want to say get this book Thoth Tarot Lovers it does blow your socks off you won't be able to put it down when you start reading it.

This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet website on 11/4/07.

In case you didn't think the world of ceremonial magic was a complex tapestry, "The Thoth Companion" is here to set you straight. Every tarot deck deserves contemplation, a careful study of its symbolism and associations. However, when the rich world of tarot collides with the complex world of ceremonial magic, as it does in the Thoth tarot deck, a guide would be appreciated.

With that I present to you "The Thoth Companion" by Michael Osiris Snuffin. In the introduction he suggests that this book is not for beginners, and I would agree. Without some basic Golden Dawn or Thelema knowledge, the book may seem to be in another language. Although I'm fairly clueless when it comes to Crowley, I'm a bit of a Regardie fan girl, so I had enough knowledge to follow along.

This book is fantastic. I wish I could get someone to write as detailed a book about every tarot deck I like (although few decks are interesting enough to warrant this level of examination)! The book is divided into logical parts. First are the trump cards. Each card is discussed, and a photo of the card is provided. With each trump card the author lists the Hebrew letter, meaning, attribution, path, and connects. This has a lot to do with the Tree of Life, which is big in the ceremonial magic world. If you don't know what the Tree of Life is that I'm talking about, you're not ready for this book. Next section is the court cards. Again, detailed discussion of each card, and listed with the individual cards are elemental attribution, Zodiacal attribution, crest, symbols, key concepts. Finally, as far as card types go, there are the suit cards. As before, all the detailed discussion you could want, and for each card, Snuffin lists title, Qabalistic attribution, and Tetragrammaton attribution.

At the end of the book there is a small section about tarot divination. This offers advice to tarot readers and has examples of spreads. Most of what is discussed is fairly common in all tarot circles, and I feel the author made the correct choice in dedicating more time to examining the deck. There are dozens of books, and probably hundreds of websites, that can tell you about tarot reading, but until I read this book, I had never seen such a wonderful resource for a single deck.

The back has an appendix, with plenty of handy quick reference charts. There is also a bibliography that could serve any interested student well in learning all there is about ceremonial magic and tarot. It serves as a reminder to me that I am a fan girl when it comes to ceremonial magic, not a serious student.

To sum up, if you're interested in ceremonial magic, such as Golden Dawn or Thelema, and/or you own the Thoth tarot deck this book is for you. This is a serious study of a single deck, so not for the casual tarot enthusiast.

This book is just...eh...as far as the interpretations go. I agree with others that it's a regurgitation of info found in other books. I did, however find the appendix to be helpful. There you will find symbols of planets, attributions, modalities, etc.
****What is ALARMING, however, is that I found INCORRECT Alchemy symbols for Water and Air in the appendix, p.182 (First Printing of First Edition, 2007). The water should be an upside down triangle (opposite of fire) and the Air should look like an upright triangle with a line through it. When I found this, I became wary of trusting any other information...but from what I can tell so far, it seems okay. If anyone finds other discrepancies or incorrect information, could you please post? Any more and I'm donating this to goodwill. I was a bit perturbed in finding the wrong elements and would have sent it back if I had read it before the return period expired.

MO Snuffin does an excellent job of deciphering hidden symbolism in the Crowley Tarot deck. This books is informative for the scholar and practioner of magick, as well as those who wish to learn more about this fantastic deck for tarot readings and path work. The symbolism is explained by thoughtful research and will be an excellent addition to my growing collection of magick books.

Yes. Lon Milo Duquette's The Man when it comes to "All things Thoth," to me. I also own and have read _Tarot For The New Aeon_ (A Practical Guide to the Power and Wisdom of the Thoth Tarot) by P.C. Tarantino (April 27, 2007) which I thought, too, was far superior to Michael Osiris Snuffin's book.

_Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot_ by Lon Milo Duquette (Paperback - Nov 2003). Lots, and LOTS of new & insightful info, therein!

Hell, I think even _The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards_ by Akron & Hajo Banzhaf is a more "enlightening" treatise!

I didn't find anything "novel" (((viz: NEW))) in Snuffin's book.

There is nothing in this book which adds to what Crowley and DuQuette have contributed. If you're looking for a beginner's intro to the Thoth tarot, DuQuette's is better written and more complete. If you are ready for something more advanced, Crowley's Book of Thoth is still the only option. Don't waste paper or money on an inferior and unoriginal book.