Book List
Liber 777 by Aleister Crowley
This text has some of Crowley’s commentary on the Hermetic Qabalah, which is very with reading. However, its primary power is in the extensive and exhaustive list of symbolic correspondences between … anything and everything. Want to add a supportive incense to your scrying session? Want to know what Greek God or Goddess connects to a certain force? Perhaps you want to get more familiar with the colors of the tarot and what’s going on?
Liber 777 will hook you up! You can download a PDF of it via the link below
The Qabalistic Tarot by Robert Wang
Robert Wang is a well-known tarot scholar and perhaps most famous for his Jungian Tarot deck. This book is a fantastic resource for Qabalistic Tarot, covering the Tree of Life in some depth, providing descriptive commentaries on each card, and describing how the two connect.
This textbook contributed significantly to my understanding and is a main resource for the content of this course. While, over the years, I have found some inaccuracies and disagreements with Mr. Wang’s expression, I still suggest this as a “must read” for any aspiring tarosophist.
A tarosophist is a person who engages with the living wisdom secreted in the symbolism of tarot to live life more deeply.
Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo DuQuette
Lon Milo DuQuette has an impressive pedigree and direct connection to Crowley’s system of Hermetic Qabalah. He left the world a treasure by offering his commentary on the Book of Thoth, one of the most widely used decks in the world. He manages to make the obscure clearer and the complexity manageable.
Like Robert Wang’s text, Mr. DuQuette uses some space to describe the underlying worldview and experiences that supported Aleister Crowley’s work on the Book of Thoth, which is a rich enhancement to our overall understanding of the meanings held in the cards. If anyone practices tarot with the “Book T,” this is a must-read.
This text has been another major resource informing the presentation of this course.
Mystical Qabalah
Dion Fortune is an author and occultist who profoundly influenced modern metaphysics and new-age thought. In Mystical Qabalah, she walks the reader through an in-depth understanding of the spiritual implications of the Hermetic Qabalah, including deep dives into each sefirah.
While this book mentions tarot, tarot is not the purpose of the text. This is a resource for those who resonate with the structural and alchemical sources of tarot symbolism.
This book contributed to the content of the course by deepening my understanding of Hermetic Qabalah and the Tree of Life.
Mastering Traditional Astrology
Astrology informs tarot and is a major part of Hermeticism, but one does not have to be an astrologer in any way, shape, or form to use tarot. However, if you want to really dig into some of the more nuanced relationships and symbols of the tarot you will eventually want to study astrology. In which case….
Mychal A. Bryan’s introductory textbook on traditional astrology is awesome, if intense. It is not about Hermetic Qabalah or tarot in any way. However, Mychal’s personal practice in the Western Mysteries colors his presentation of astrology to make this text a coherent companion in our work.
When I can fit it into my schedule (and budget), I will enroll in the Oraculous School of Astrology for more training. If you’re interested, check it out! Maybe I’ll see you there.
