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Tarot: Mirror of the Soul : Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot

Tarot: Mirror of the Soul : Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mirror of the Soul is a brilliant and useful book
Review: Gerd Ziegler is indeed a genius in his ability to distill the dense symbolism of the Crowley Tarot into practical messages about our inner state. He takes a Jungian approach, examining the symbolism of the cards and integrating it with astrology and the Quabbalah (both of which were strong influences in the historical development of the Tarot). His coverage of each card ends with practical information about how to apply the messages of the symbols in our own lives. This is not a scholarly treatise that would satisfy a serious student of the Tarot, and it doesn't try to be. There are many other academically-oriented books on the Crowley Tarot, including works by Crowley himself. These works are profoundly complex, and not for the faint of heart.

Gerd's book is meant to be used in your daily life. I am replacing a copy that has literally fallen apart with use, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to use the Crowley Tarot as a source of wisdom and guidance. I have been amazed at what a wise, accurate and unerring teacher the Crowley deck and Gerd's wonderful guide have been for me in my own life.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great for Generating Positivity
Review: Having been a student of Jungian Psychology, Ziegler stresses the importance of the subconcious and its perfect refelction that we can view by means of introspection, moreso with the use of our THOTH deck (hence, the title). Mirror of the Soul has layouts varying from standard Celtic Cross to chakra-balancing layouts, to layouts for personal relationship readings. Pretty cool. There are interpretations for each card and as kind of a bonus, Ziegler provides suggestions as to what questions you might want to ask yourself in regard to your readings, etc...

Some THOTH readers have the opinion that this book is too 'uppidy' and therefore not realistic enough... In reality's defense, Methinks we sleep in the bed we make.

Karmasoda

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cant imagine not having it for my Crowely deck
Review: I have to admit that I have not read the book of thoth, and I have not read any other book on the crowly deck, though I would have to say that after I read this book that my Crowley deck seemed to increase in value to me tenfold and it also changed and increased much of my view through the Tarot in General. I have been a small collecter and learned to some degree of the Tarot and this book was definately worth its price. This book is written quite plainly to include a few pages of COMPLETE detail on every card and several chapters on the ways intended or recommended for crowley tarot readings. The discription of the card does not just leave you feeling that you know that such and such means trouble is coming and you should exercise caution, (I would hope anyone looking into the crowley tarot understands the nature of crowley) rather this is a book to follow the path of the tarot as mans growth. Reading this book it completely took the harsh pictures that make the deck sometimes disturbing into a very calculated and helpful tool with very earth shattering sound advise for those that want to have control of there life (just as it seemed Crowley was truely teaching us in his sometimes harsh way)
I recommend it without reservation if you are attracted in anyway to the Crowley deck. Now if you are just getting interested in tarot cards and do not know the back end of a tarot card from adam and don't even know what the Crowley cards look like or that there is a significant differance between decks then I would stop and start doing a lot more suching first before buying this... but definitely come back to buying this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love the questions!
Review: I love the questions that are set up for each card.
They helped me so much to learn more about myself.
I usually picked a card a day and worked with the questions
of that card. I used several Tarot books in my growth and
healing. This book and the Voyager book were, I think, the
two I found the most helpful. Now I use this book in my work with clients. One of my favorite tools.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A book of inspiration
Review: I was first introduced to Gerd Ziegler when I took a course in "Tarot and Kabala." You can spend a lot of time investigating either Tarot or the Kabala, and I was aching to see how these teachers would be able to relate them in a meaningful way. Ziegler's insights into the Aleister Crowley tarot surprised me tremendously because I had tried to plough through the "Book of Thoth." Crowley may have been a genius, but his writings can be abstruse and murky. What a delight to find "Mirror of the Soul," a book that must have been deeply thought through before putting pen to paper.
As a tarot reader, there is much to memorize, but Ziegler made it easy with Key Words, an explanation, indications in your life path, questions you may wish to explore further, suggestions for more answers, and the big bonus: the affirmation to help integrate your anxieties into a path to wholeness.
In addition, the appendix lists systems for using the cards: clarification of a question of emotional condition; a seven-card ellipse; the most famous and most used Celtic Cross; a chakra reading; clearing a relationship including "I love you, I hate you;" internal balancing; and a numerological system to find your personal cards.
Now when I teach tarot, I use "Mirror of the Soul" because for the modern person, it eliminates a lot of hogwash that some of the earlier books consciously and deliberately distorted. See for yourself.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's this book that makes the throw!!
Review: Most people don't have all of the meanings and symbols of the Tarot memorized (and I am included in this group). The Crowley-Thoth Tarot is so dense with symbols that one could very well spend many years in serious study and still not have all of the meaning entirely extracted.
If you don't know how Tarot cards work, it's a lot like astrology horoscopes. The information is so general that you read into it what the particular (personal) meaning is. A lot of the cards have to do with change and relationships (these are things that people would be commonly concerned about when they throw the cards).
The beautiful thing about this book is, that when you have some particular reason to go to the cards, the book puts things in a very large (cosmic) context. All of the things that we would normally consider negative are shown to be (in this larger context) just part of a process, which is a really good way to cope with the negative things that happen in life.
The book is arranged first with some introductory remarks about the Tarot in general, and then this particular deck and how to use it. Then each card has its own description. At the top is the title of the card and then its picture. Next, key words and the astrological significance are given - this draws your attention to the basic nature of the card (if you don't 'get' the astrological description, you'll get a sense of it over time). Then there is a lengthy description of the card and what the various elements represent. Finally each card ends with four short statements: Indications, Questions, Suggestions, and Affirmations.
Sometimes I just want to feel a little better about things and get more balance, I just read the key words and the Indications. I highly suggest you purchase this book to go with your Crowley-Thoth Tarot cards. I've been using it for years, and it will take many years more before I outgrow it. If you are really into obscure information, you should also check out the book Crowley wrote on the deck. If you are, like myself, just a normal user - this book is all you need and you'll love it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: an attractive gift... almost perfect!
Review: The Crowley Thoth Tarot deck included in this gift set is without doubt fascinating and beautiful. The plastic box of the gift set is very nice and the book is easy to read for beginners. However, the cards are simply put in the plastic box without a usual small paper box. This makes it very inconvenient when you want to carry your cards with you --- you have to carry the whole plastic box, which is very large! Also, in order to use the Thoth deck, the book by Ziegler included in this gift set is not enough at all. "The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards" by Akron and Banzhaf has more detailed explanation of the cards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent book to start & for using Thoth for Divination
Review: This book is an excellent companion to the Thoth Tarot Deck - if you are new to the Tarot or if you want to do divination with the Thoth deck. Crowley's "Book of Thoth" is a rather meaty tome, and can be daunting to the beginner. To add to this, "Book of Thoth" focuses on the information useful for meditation, pathworking and Magickal theory.

"Mirror" is far more practical in its approach. Each card is reproduced (unfortunately in Black & White rather than Color) with a set of keywords, a basic description of the symbology in the artwork as it applies to a comprehension of the card for divination, and a set of rather new-agey affirmations and excercises (this is my only complaint with the book, however, they make it more accessable, they are small, and I will admit to having used them on occasion). The book ends with some fun items, such as how to find your soul card, & the obligatory layouts.

I have not been exposed to any of his other work, but I just noticed that he has written several other books on the Thoth Deck. This reinforces my initial opinion that "Mirrors" was written to share and make accessable the Thoth Deck and not just to make a buck by invoking Crowley's name.

I recommend getting this book and once you are moderately familiar, grab the "Book of Thoth" to fill in the true depths of most likely the greatest Tarot Deck of all time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What I Wanted
Review: This book was exactly what I needed to aid me in my use of the Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot. I was able to use it successfully, but what I was looking for was deeper meaning of the cards and I wanted to get even better at it. Including in the book are pictures and descriptions of all the cards with a brief explanation of the deeper meaning and symbolism of the card along with helpful hints on what type of answers you were looking for from the cards. An invaluable resource for those seriously interested in the Thoth Tarot.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Take it with a truckload of salt.
Review: What a few of the reviewers have said is true: every single interpretation Ziegler has for any of the cards is exceedingly positive. Even cards with names like Sorrow, Failure, Cruelty and Futility have interpretations which will make you glad to have them pop up in your readings ("Hey, Cruelty! Hoooray!").

That said, as it's true regarding every single book on the tarot, this is Ziegler's particular interpretation of the cards. As you use them in your daily readings, they'll gain a life of their own through the patterns you observe when you contrast the meaning you or other people atrribute to them to the events in your life and your evaluation of these events. Ziegler's interpretation of the cards isn't incorrect. I just doubt that it'll be even remotely similar to yours. Life can be joyous as often as it can be unrelentingly grim. Sometimes you just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if there is a light.

Sincerely, with all due respect to Ziegler, you can find much superior material just surfing by the Internet. And I do mean MUCH superior. Do a little googling and you'll be surprised with what you'll find. If you bought the US Games Thoth deck, the booklet that accompanies it far surpasses what this book has to say.


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