This little gem of a book is one that doesn’t often get much mention. If you are interested in working with the Golden Dawn Tarot system, and particularly with the Thoth deck, you may find that it is worth hunting down.
It was Published in 1990 by Skoob Books and is no longer in print. The Author is Gerald Suster who was a British writer and historian. He published biographies of Aleister Crowley (The Legacy of the Beast) and Israel Regardie (Crowley’s Apprentice) and in this book takes a no nonsense approach to tarot. In the forward he writes:
“Many books – far too many – have been written on the Tarot. Some are good but most are pointless.”
…and then later…
“Most people know that the Tarot is often employed for the purpose of vulgar fortune telling. Here you might be told that you will meet a tall, dark stranger of unique aspect who is devoted to music and desires much of great import from one who is worthy – and a few hours later you encounter a one-eyed, banjo-strumming busker with a bad case of sunburn who demands your money with foul-mouthed menaces.”
He is not one to suffer the ‘new age’ treatment of tarot and writes with refreshing simplicity despite the complex subject matter. Having only 107 pages, it’s not an incredibly deep book, but it makes a deep subject accessible and is a good introduction for those wanting to read and explore more about the Golden Dawn and/or Thoth systems.
Below I’ve copied the contents page. I particularly liked the brief chapter on mythology and this book is certainly in my top ten tarot books list.
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