Hornsteiner Astrological Tarots
by Ursula Hornsteiner
 
(including Aries Tarot, Taurus Tarot, Gemini Tarot, Cancer Tarot, Leo Tarot, Virgo Tarot, Libra Tarot, Scorpio Tarot, Sagittarius Tarot, Capricorn Tarot, Aquarius Tarot and Pisces Tarot)
 
While not a true tarot in every sense of the word, these small but lovely fortunetelling decks are among the nicest I've seen.  Published in Germany back in the days when it was "West Germany" (that tells you how old it is!) these decks were made in a series of twelve, one for each astrological sign.  The deck is mainly the same, except there is a batch of 4 ascendant cards that come with the deck that affects different signs different ways.  Essentially, the idea is to purchase the deck which corresponds to your sun sign, and use it for yourself.  Directions are scanty since the concept is intuitive in nature.
 
The claim made on the back of the boxes is that anyone can use these decks, no previous knowledge or experience with fortunetelling cards or tarots is necessary.  The deck comes with a series of small cards which have instructions printed on them.  There are a total of 7 cards dedicated to this purpose, one of which is entirely taken up with a chart of birth ascendants.  You can get information on your "daily ascendant" with these, as well as using them with other readings.  5 cards are taken up with describing various layouts and how to use them.  In other words, there are NO divinatory meanings provided for the cards themselves.  Keywords appear on each card at the top and bottom of the image (in reverse at the bottom) and that's all she wrote.
 
The cards themselves are small, the size of standard poker and bridge cards, and handle and shuffle easily.  A typical semi-gloss coating covers and protects the cards, which are printed on regular playing card stock.  The back design is overly simple, a two-color design with the astrological symbol in the center, upright and reversed so it can be viewed the same from either end.  With the titles printed in reverse on the bottom, as well, one might conclude that the deck is meant to be used with reversals, but there's nothing mentioned to that effect in the instructions.  The deck is broken into several parts:

• 6 Character Cards (these are denoted with a yellow "stripe" which is the text box for the keyword title)
• 6 Ascendant Cards (these have four signs each on them, with various combinations of 4 zodiac signs)
• 35 Life Cards (these are denoted with a blue "stripe")
• 7 Instruction Cards
• 1 Title Picture.

 I was confused somewhat by some of this arrangement, since there are, in my Scorpio deck at any rate, only 32 blue stripe cards and three hot pink striped cards.  I found no explanation anywhere for the three hot pink striped cards.  However, they seem to fit in well with the blue striped life cards.  And the title picture is either missing in my deck, or it's the box cover or something like that.  Since this is translated from German, I can see where there might be some errors in the translations of things.
 
For each Astrological Tarot deck, the Life and Character and Instruction cards are the same.  The only difference is in the Ascendant cards.  Different ones are included in different decks to work with each specific sign.  Are you confused yet?  Since this is not a true tarot deck, there are no courts or suits, no Major or Minor Arcana.  There are also no books to help you find your way.  If you can't find the answer within you, you're just lost.
 
In defense of the deck, the artwork *is* highly intuitive and chances are very good that you will be able to figure out what they mean to you doing a simple type of reading.  For a more in-depth type, I'd still prefer to use my old standby, the Rider-Waite.  Fortunetelling cards are generally more in the line of a game rather than serious divination, but this one actually is geared towards introspection and finding your path in life.  Very serious stuff for this little deck.
 
The Hornsteiner Astrological Tarots are very hard to find anymore, since they have not been imported for sale into this country in many years, so if you happen to see one for sale, grab it.  Even if you never use it for anything but a collectible, it's probably going to increase in value.
 
Click here for pictures of the different astrological decks
 
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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
Hornsteiner Astrological Tarots, copyright Promarket GmbH - D - 8919 Utting
Altenburg-Stralsunder AG
Fasanenweg 5 - D - 7022 Leinfelden