Tarot: Mirror of the Soul: Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot [Tapa blanda]

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.

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.

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.