Cosmic Tarot
Downloadable Files
Cosmic Tarot
Score: 4.50 (votes: 2)
Reviews: 1
  • $26.95

The pen and ink artwork, colored with muted pastel create a deck full of imagery that is both appealing and accessible to all tarot readers. For each of the 78 cards, the booklet by Norbert Lösche, provides interpretations on the individual level, the community, and the cosmos. Several sample card layouts are also described.

About Norbert Lösche
The creator and artistic designer of the Cosmic Tarot was born in 1951 and currently lives in Aachen, Germany. He is a self-taught artist. He originally began his professional life as a surveyor, then studied the history of art before taking up painting. It was an interest in the esoteric that led him to the tarot -- an interest which found the perfect means of expression in the creation of the Cosmic Tarot.

Also available: Spanish Cosmic Tarot.


Specs
    • SKU
      CS78
    • Weight
      0.68 lb(s)
  • ISBN
    978-0-88079-395-7
  • Size
    Cards measure 2.75" x 4.75"
  • Language
    EN, ES
  • Artist
    Norbert Lösche
Also by the Same Artist

What Customers Are Saying About Cosmic Tarot

I've tried many decks before picking up my first set of these cards. I use them so often I'm purchasing my third deck! I had a lot of trouble understanding the meaning behind the tarot cards until I picked up Cosmic Tarot. Everything suddenly became clear. The pictures are nice to look at and not confusing. They symbolism is clear and helpful. The court cards make more sense than any other deck out there. I highly recommend this deck for anyone.

-- Sadie, on Amazon


The artwork on these cards is quite extraordinary. It is certainly one of those instances where the on-line scans do not do justice to the artwork. The title card explains that Norbert Losche is a self-taught artist. I believe the technique used to create the cards was to use pen and ink. The illustrations are rich in detail and symbolism. The figure drawing is faultless and the use of color is quite spectacular. In the suit of wands the dominant colors seem to be pink and yellow, while in the cups suit there is a dominance of blue and green. The other suits and the trumps are more varied.

It seems with this deck his intention was to create a deck based soundly on the Golden Dawn system. In some ways it is like a fully illustrated version of the Golden Dawn's 'Book T', with the exception of the Court cards. The Major Arcana would appear to be fairly much in line with the symbolism used by Waite in his own deck with only a few exceptions. The Hierophant appears quite differently and more like a mystic than a Pope. He holds a card in one hand and looks to his right and we see a ray of light in his line of vision. The Hermit is a younger man sitting in a yogic posture with eyes closed. His lamp is beside him on the ground and a star above radiates light. The Wheel of Fortune is another elaborate design showing a huge wheel in the night sky. The planets are arranged in such a way as to fit onto the Qabalistic tree of life. A ring showing the zodiacal glyphs surrounds the six ancient planets surrounding the Sun in the centre. The artwork on the majors, like on all cards, is intricate and full of detail.

The Court cards seem to illustrate stars of the silver screen era. While there are a few I can pick, many are unfamiliar to me. Almost all are blessed with incredibly good looks. All figures are shown in a portrait style with the upper body only. Again they are intricately detailed. The cards are linked to different astrological signs but in a different way to the normal Golden Dawn attributions. The creators’ attributions are quite unique I believe. He links the four Cardinal signs to the Kings, the mutable signs to the Queens and the Fixed signs to the Princes. Most of the figures have a symbol of the associated sign on or near them. For example, the King of Cups has a crab pinned to his lapel to represent Cancer. In the background of the Queen of Wands we can see an archer at the top of a tower, representing Sagittarius.

The Minor Arcana are fully illustrated but quite different in many instances from the Waite-Smith minors. I have heard them described as more like the Thoth meanings. Personally, I believe that Norbert Losche has attempted to provide illustrations based on the Golden Dawn meanings from 'Book T', which is where the Thoth and most of the Waite-Smith meanings also come from. In many of the minor cards we can also see zodiacal or planetary glyphs or symbols which link the astrological associations made by the Golden Dawn. While at first someone familiar with the Waite-Smith system may find these cards quite different, anyone who was familiar with the underlying Golden Dawn meanings could quite easily make sense of them.

The Six of Cups shows a couple sharing a quiet moment together. There is the sense of intimacy as well. This fits with the Golden Dawn title of 'Pleasure'. The Four of swords shows four men sitting down and sharing a drink. There is a camel tethered in the background. Four swords are laid out on a blanket in front of them on which is the glyph for Jupiter. The Golden Dawn title for this card is 'Rest from Strife'. On the Thoth deck Crowley titles is 'Truce'.

Of course, for those readers who read more intuitively, these images provide a perfect visual and symbolic landscape as the colors are rich and the images are very detailed. I would recommend this deck for beginners as well as more experienced readers, and certainly for collectors. The deck provides a solid framework with its basis in the Golden Dawn system and also has plenty of scope for intuitive interpretation. The artwork is, in my opinion, almost unequalled in modern tarot decks. Having now been in print for almost 25 years is a testament to both its substance and beauty.

-- Sapienza, Aeclectic Tarot


The Cosmic Tarot is a deck you'll want to consider as an everyday reader. Overall, the images are evocative, but still retain the balance needed for productive readings. Nudity is at a minimum, and is tastefully portrayed. The images themselves are pen and ink, with pastel colors dominating the palette. The court cards consist of portrait drawings of persons who bear remarkable likeness to Hollywood stars. However, they are not so similar as to be distracting. The pip cards are detailed enough to allow for intuitive readings based upon the image alone.

My favorite card is probably the High Priestess. Her deep penetrating gaze peers over the waters, and stands amidst a smaller drawing of two lovers, a crescent moon, and the book of alpha and omega. The card back is probably one of the best designs I have ever seen. A star field contains an elaborate pentagram, with a rising sun and moon. At the center lies a white rose. The artist, Norbert Losche, is self taught, which is remarkable, given the aesthetic quality of the drawings.

-- Gary Higgins, Aeclectic Tarot


Hands down my favorite Tarot deck. The images are rich with symbolism that anyone can understand, and that's important when you're a novice reader.

The cards do have a 1930s or 1940s Hollywood feel to them; the images are supposed to portray specific actors and actresses from that era, but I personally don't notice these resemblances when I'm doing a reading. I think the artist just happened to hit on the right face for each of the various cards. What is noticeable is how the blue, black, and white colors and the shading effects used in the art seem to deepen and enhance certain symbolic elements of each card.

-- Breezy0413, on Amazon

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