Welcome to Dark Reads! I’m coming to you today, on my birthday with my very first post for my new blog feature! I am so excited for this and would firstly like to thank the fabulous Liminal 11 for sending me a review copy of the deck.
This is my first Deck From Liminal 11 but it most certainly will not be the last, in fact I have The Modern Witch Tarot and the Modern Witch Journal in my shopping cart as we speak!
Ok lets get into this beautiful Tarot Deck!
Packaging
The Cosmic Slumber comes in a beautifully made slide box which opens at the bottom with a magnetic flap (I do love a magnetic flap!)
The box is really sturdy and the attention to detail is really nice, the inside of the box is patterned with the 4 suits and the cards and guide book fit in really snug. There is a piece of card to hold the book and cards in place, this is my only niggle with the box, functionally it’s perfect but ascetically it looks out of place, it’s just a plain piece of corrugated card which is glued in. The rest of the box is so beautiful so it’s a shame.
I received the Standard edition of the deck which came with a lovely deck bag, It’s really well made and lined, it actually feels like it will protect the cards. It is a beautiful turquoise with embroidered detail on the front.
In the Box
I really love the guide book that comes with this deck. Its hard backed and has color illustrations throughout.
There is a lovely introduction written by Tillie herself with some background on how this deck came to be.
The book gives a whole page for each of the Major Arcana with a color picture of each card followed by the card meaning. For The Minor Arcana there is no image and you get a short card description for each.
The book is beautifully written, the card meanings are RWS based but in Tillie’s own words and I love it.
The font in the book is extremely small, this hasn’t been an issue for me but is something to bare in mind if you struggle with small text.
OK! Lets get onto the cards. I’m not going to do a flip through or show pictures of all the cards. I don’t know about you but for me, a big part of the excitement of getting a deck is discovering the cards. I will show a few cards that I would like to discuss specifically and a handful of my favorites but I will leave the rest to be a surprise!
The theme of the deck is (from the box)
‘if the universe were to sleep, where would her dreams lead?’
The Cosmic Slumber Tarot evokes imagery from subconscious and subliminal states. It’s a Tarot Deck energised by a soulful warmth.
The card stock is very nice, the cards are fairly thick and have a glossy finish. Although they are glossy they don’t stick and they shuffle like a dream! I overhand shuffle and they are perfect, I’m not a great riffle shuffler but found these a little clunky to riffle but think once they are broken in (and if you are good at riffle shuffling) these will be absolutely fine.
The Card backs are vibrant in reds and oranges and are fully reversable
The artwork in this deck is absolutely beautiful. It really does encapsulate the theme of a dreamworld. The imagery is multi layered and it really gives me both the haze and clarity I get from dreams.
For the most part the cards are interpretations are RWS based but beautifilly re-imagined by Tillie. In most cards I feel that there is enough of the original symbolism along with so much more for you intuition to get lost in. I love it.
Here are 4 of my initial favorites from the deck
I just love these! I’m a Scorpio so I am always interested to see the Death card and this one is fabulous, you get the traditional symbolism but I really enjoy the water energy depicted here.
Another 2 cards I would love to mention are The Lovers and The Devil, I like to see these cards together and in The Cosmic Slumber they definitely show nice reflection and duality between the two.
The Court cards have beautiful color themes running through each suit and there is a really nice progression from the princesses through to the kings.
I also wanted to mention, with this deck being an artistic interpretation of the Tarot, especially in the Minors some of the symbolism and imagery doesn’t intuitively translate to the RWS inspired definitions generally, and those in the guidebook with this deck.
This isn’t a negative point, for me this is what Tarot is all about, what I see in an image someone else will see something else and that is the beauty of it. The point I’m making is someone who is learning Tarot and is learning to read intuitively may potentially find this deck a little more challenging to work with.
Just as an example, two cards I remember learning and knowing the meanings of instantly were the Three of Swords and the Three of Pentacles. Everything is there on the card. In this deck I can see the meanings in these cards but if I was a total novice I maybe wouldn’t know visually.
I would have loved to have seen a little more in the guidebook about the art on specific cards and Tillie’s interpretation of some of the Artwork.
The Cosmic Slumber Tarot is a beautiful, cosmic re-imagining of the Tarot, the colors in this deck are just wonderful. The guidebook is very good and I think the quality of the deck is nice too. If this deck speaks to you (how can it not?!) please don’t think twice you won’t be disappointed!
Order your copy here
One Last Thing
These cards just look amazing in a spread, I thought I would share my deck interview spread with you. I think this is the start of a beautiful companionship!
- 1 – Describe yourself – Six of Cups
- 2 – What is your strength as a deck? – Wheel of Fortune
- 3 – What is your weakness as a deck – Ace Of Torches
- 4 – Describe me – Six Of Wands
- 5 – What can you teach me? – The Tower
- 6 – How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? – Six Of Swords
- 7 – What is the potential of our relationship? Temperance
Do you have this deck? I would Love to know what you think!
Please do reach out if there are things you would like to see more, or less of in my future Deck reviews!
Thank you for stopping by.
Dark Reads & Deck Reviews 
Thank you for the review. I’ll be adding this to my collection. I especially like the way in which you spoke directly to the deck. I’ve never done that but will certainly start the practice now. I’ve often approached a question with large-scale significance by reading from several different decks, so I understand how each deck has its own voice, its own perspective, its own purpose so to say. Your reading is definitely a useful way to bring those characteristics out from the very beginning of our relationship with a new deck.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the review! It is such a beautiful deck, I’m sure you will love it!
Yes I’ve got into the habit of doing the ‘interview’ for each new deck as the first reading. Gives a lovely feel for how the deck reads and the types of readings it may or may not be good for etc. 🤍
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I love that you’re reviewing decks. This one has such beautiful colors. I’m in the “getting to know you” phase of The Wild Unknown Tarot and really resonates so I probably won’t be buying a new deck for a bit but I love reading the reviews and seeing the beautiful artwork.
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Thank you! I’ll have more deck reviews coming up really soon!
That’s how I see them. They are such beautiful works of art.
I don’t have the wild unknown but I think it looks amazing.
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Putting the lover card and the death card together was a genius idea. They spark magic next to each other. I am not usually a big lover of that much burst of vibrant colours, but what you did really work to find it a place in my heart.
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Thank you. There is such duality between those cards isn’t there?!
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Yes, you are perfectly correct 🌺
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