Sunday 31 March 2013

Tarot goes Hollywood: The Cosmic Tarot

The Cosmic Tarot by Norbert Losche, US Games 1988, is my deck of the week. One of its distinguishing features is its use of movie stars in the cards. The box says, 'Seventy-eight cards feature stylized renderings of familiar figures.' As this is my tarot of the week, I thought it would be fun to have a look at some of these cards. There is no definitive source telling us who is meant to be depicted on each card, but it helps to remember that the deck was published in 1988, so you won't find Jennifer Lawrence or James Franco anywhere!

The most obvious ones:
To me, the above are most certainly Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, Greta Garbo and Elizabeth Taylor.




A little more room for doubt in the last two, but to me they look like:
Sean Connery, Charles Bronson, Dustin Hoffman and Kirstie Allie.


Much room for debate about these:
I see them as a young Frank Langella (wearing a period hair piece ha ha), Melanie Griffith, and Elizabeth Shue.

But who are these guys?:

Are they movie stars, too? If so, who are they? That Prince of Wands might be a young Tom Cruise...but the others, I have no idea. Maybe they were young 'potentials' in 1988 who are now forgotten? Do you recognize any of them? It could be that they are not based on real people. 

It's funny that this deck has so many entertainers in it. The reason I bought it in the first place comes from a TV show. There's a scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where Willow's witchy stuff is being confiscated because she has become addicted to magic. They do a quick close up of the box that they're chucking her stuff into, and a boxed Cosmic Tarot plops into view, just for a second. And in another episode, Tara is seen using the Cosmic Tarot. So of course I had to buy it. It's a really lovely deck, can't fault it. I look forward to using it this week. 


12 comments:

  1. I think the Princess of Pentacles is Brooke Shields after an eyebrow wax, and the Queen of Swords is Isabella Rossellini :D No clue on the others, though...

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    1. The Queen of Swords is actually Isabella Rosellini's mother, Ingrid Bergman, as Anastasia in Anastasia (1956, 20th Century Fox).

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  2. The Queen of Cups reminds me of Marina Sirtis the English Actress who played Counselor Troi in Star Trek The Next Generation. The Princess of Cups reminds me a little of Maggie Gyllenhall although 1988 is long before her time (she played the Mum in Nanny McFee 2). The Nine of Wands is definitely a young Marlon Brando. The Prince of Wands Douglass Fairbanks Snr possibly?

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    1. All of those work for me. :)

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  3. Could the Princess of swords be Daryll Hannah, the Queen of swords possibly Carol Vorderman lol xxxx :-)

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  4. Anonymous3.6.15

    The Princess of Cups is Greta Garbo XD

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    1. She's probably meant to be but I think she is a dead ringer for Elizabeth Shue.

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  5. Anonymous20.11.15

    10 of Cups is a painting by Bougereau, the Bather.
    Queen of Swords is Ingrid Bergman, mother of Isabella Rossellini, who played Joan of Arc - and her emblem was crowned sword.
    Princess of Cups is indeed Greta Garbo.
    Prince of Pentacles is IMO Alain Delon.
    2 of Cups are Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

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  6. Anonymous22.6.16

    quind of late for this, but I always thought the queen of wands looked more like Joan Collins than Liz Taylor -must be the hairdo

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  7. Anonymous4.11.16

    Prince of Cups is definitely Leonardo DiCaprio. King of Swords funnily looks like Shia LeBouf.

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