Light Grey Art Lab's Cosmos Tarot and Oracle Set

treelet

This deck is shipping as of today and the Light Grey Art Lab has released a preview video that covers the entire set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4_BQ756rnc

I'm normally not a fan of collaborative decks, but all the art is obviously very professional and some of it very stunning. The production value looks to be rather high with lots of gilded detailing and thick cardstock.

I'm not sure how this will read as a tarot deck, but the oracle cards are intriguing. Something that struck me was that the major arcana are represented by the primary zodiac constellations (along with extras like Andromeda and Phoenix for the World.) It seems very few, if any, of the major arcana have their traditional astrological associations, but I can see at least some thought was put into these new assignments. For example, The Magician is Aries while The Emperor is Leo. That may bother some and I haven't decided if it bothers me yet.

I passed on their first deck because it seemed like a deck made for art/illustration lovers primarily, not tarot readers. I'm not a collector so I try to be cautious with what I buy and I'm still on the fence about this latest effort. It looks like they put much more thought into this deck for a tarot reading audience, so that's encouraging.
 

rylla

I would jump on it if it would be a tarot deck (it seems like a very well done beautiful deck except for one card shown on the middle of the presentation which looks very cartoony in comparison to the others and is a complete turn off for me) . But I really think it isn't. I'm not sure if they even kept the 22 majors and 4 suits format...I think the name of the deck is deceiving...(my apologies if I am mistaken - I've seen the cards only on the youtube presentations - none of them in close details).
 

treelet

I would jump on it if it would be a tarot deck (it seems like a very well done beautiful deck except for one card shown on the middle of the presentation which looks very cartoony in comparison to the others and is a complete turn off for me) . But I really think it isn't. I'm not sure if they even kept the 22 majors and 4 suits format...I think the name of the deck is deceiving...(my apologies if I am mistaken - I've seen the cards only on the youtube presentations - none of them in close details).

They have the 22 majors and mention in the video that the 4 suits are there, along with the 4 court cards. Judging by the imagery however (I've watched the video several times at this point) it deviates rather wildly from any traditional system that I've seen. The first horse card shown, for example, is traditionally the 8 of cups. That can be okay, however. I think it's healthy for a tarot reader to have at least one deck that asks you to stretch your intuitive and imaginative powers to work outside whatever rote learning you've internalized. That said, the big question then is does this have a fully fleshed system unto itself or is it a hodge-podge assortment of images unto which "definitions" have been enforced? I don't know. I'm hoping it's the former and the creators have made something truly unique and interesting, even with an air of novelty about it.
 

Scarlet Woodland

I'm gonna go for it I think. Wish the international postage was a bit lower but such is life. It's interesting and opulent enough that I'm willing to take a bit of a risk on how usable it'll be.
 

treelet

I'm gonna go for it I think. Wish the international postage was a bit lower but such is life. It's interesting and opulent enough that I'm willing to take a bit of a risk on how usable it'll be.

The book gives me a lot of hope. It looks to be a lot of information there and a full page for both the major and minor arcana cards, which is always a good sign. Also, the inclusion of multiple unique spreads, including spreads that make use of the oracle deck, indicates to me that they've probably taken the time to work with everything as a functional system.
 

HallowedNight

I'm so so so so excited for this deck to get here!!! I really hope shipping doesn't take too long, though I've been waiting for months, so I guess a bit longer won't hurt. :p I'm actually really looking forward to having a sort of 'non-traditional' deck in my collection, as the closest I have to a non-traditional deck right now is the Wildwood.

I haven't watched the video yet because I want the cards to be a surprise, but...we'll see how long that lasts! I can't wait to have this deck (or decks, I guess) in hand~
 

Walrus

Yeah, I started watching the video and then stopped after the oracle deck so that the tarot could be left a surprise. VERY excited by what I saw though :D
Like Treelet, I think it'd be great (and preferable) if the deck had its own system going on, but I suppose time will tell.
 

Nemia

I think I'll have to save my money for this one! I'm a hobby stargazer and asked some time ago whether there are decks that show the specific constellations. I bought playing cards which show the constellations faithfully, and I intend to use them as oracle - as personal oracle based on the mythology and symbology of the constellation and its season.

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Playing-Cards-Jonathan-Poppele/dp/1591932424

And there's always the Celestial which doesn't appeal to me for some reason.

But it seems that this Cosmos deck could be what I was looking for. The constellations are clearly visible, not in a vague, unclear whirl like in the Celestial. And the art is good (except for one card in the middle that stuck out and I guess Rylla and I saw the same card....). I'm very intrigued by this deck.

(If you love the stars, do yourself the favor and watch the planets meeting. It's a spectacular time for star gazers, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are really close at the moment.)
 

daphne

(If you love the stars, do yourself the favor and watch the planets meeting. It's a spectacular time for star gazers, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are really close at the moment.)

(Is there a thread here discussing this, I have no idea how/where to look?)