This box set is small enough to drop into a shoulder bag or backpack without taking up too much space, and it is not overly heavy. I didn’t know that before I wrote the bulk of this review, which tells you that the deck really is aptly named. The focus on dreams and the subconscious is present in every part of this deck, from the descriptions in the guidebook to the art to the unique spreads.

However, the traditional Wands suit in this deck is named Torches, and with the imagery of torches, I am guessing that suit is still Fire. I think this would largely be a friendly beginner’s deck, but it need not only be; I’m sure that experienced readers will also find value in exploring these cards. WordPress has recently changed its user interface and I can’t figure out how to resize pictures, so my apologies if the photos on this post are messed up.She also notes that if a card falls out while shuffling, that’s meaningful and it should be included in your reading, which I always do.

Includes also some brief explanation on the Major and Minor Arcana, as well as some beginner reading on how to read tarot and a good number of different spreads. For the most part the cards are interpretations are RWS based but beautifilly re-imagined by Tillie. The deck also comes with a triptych standing frame where you can slide in any three tarot cards to set out on your tabletop.And if you want to read the cards with their traditional meanings, the guidebook will help with that as well.

With 78 hand-painted cards, each brimming with colors and emotions, this deck comes alive in the hands of those who seek to explore the realms of the unconscious mind. Most of the symbolism in the Cosmic Slumber deck is at least reminiscent of the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck, which means it will be immediately intuitive in many ways to experienced tarot readers.

Walden describes her Cosmic Slumber Tarot as being about “connecting what doesn’t fit together” and the feeling of “sensing you are in another reality, but accepting it. There’s the gradation from cool tones to warm, bottom up in The Moon, the contrast of warmth in the mid and background in The Chariot with the cool tones in the foreground. Dreams and magic are both about letting yourself be drawn to what feels right, and that can make them difficult to explain or describe, even when it might make sense in your heart or your gut. Each card carries meanings; inspired by dreams and our link to the universe and what it is trying to communicate.

The art is absolutely beautiful, a gorgeous reimagination of traditional RWS imagery that infuses charm and fantasy revitalizing the cards.Application of color also means your eyes travel from the pants, up to the hair, and then to the two torches in the upper third of the canvas.