The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit cards can be used in conjunction with the Wild Unknown Tarot or as a stand alone oracle deck. Kim Krans doesn’t stray from her usual detailed-ink-drawings-with-pops-of-colour style and yet even after creating three decks, each card is unique. If you like animal decks or either of the other two offerings in this series, then I’m confident you’ll appreciate this one. It encourages “an exploration of our inner contradictions, our complex natures, and the endless mystery of who we are.”

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit is a 63 card, elementally-based animal oracle deck (Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Ether). Earth, Air, Water and Fire each have fourteen cards, whilst Ether has only seven. Each of the Ether/Spirit cards align with a chakra. Unlike The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck, here each animal’s chosen elemental association is linked to their habitat rather than their energy. Thus Earth has animals found in fields and forests, Water animals, not surprisingly live in rivers, lakes and oceans, Fire inhabit deserts and grasslands, and those associated with air are linked to the sky. Ether/Spirit is represented by otherworldly animals.

As the name suggests, and the creator confirms, The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit doesn’t include domestic animals therefore dogs and cats are out, Lions, Cheetahs, Panthers and Wolves are in. The Horse gave me cause to pause but it’s nice to think of them as wild and free. That makes the plaits in its mane a tad I contradictory though.

Nevertheless I appreciate the many variations in the artwork. Most cards are immediately recognisable by the emphatic and purposeful lines that background them in conjunction with the minimalist colouring. However, there are variations as can be seen when comparing the Dolphin and the Elephant pictured above, and the Tiger and the Earthworm pictured below. That being said, each card in unmistakably Kim Krans and they all work together in a cohesive manner.

Two spiders feature in the deck. One simply titled Spider, the other Tarantula. One, the Tarantula, is considered Fire because it is often found in grasslands and deserts, whereas Spider is classified as Earth. I love the rainbow web on Spider, but Tarantula definitely has a commanding presence which is difficult to ignore even on a quick flick through of the deck.

When I look at the Gazelle I’m always surprised it’s lying down because I always associate it with movement. I think I’ve been influenced by all the documentaries that show gazelles running away from the lions, the cheetahs and everything else that considers it food. There’s something in that I’m sure. Just because you may have to do something doesn’t mean that’s all you have to do, all that you do actually do, or all that you should be judged upon. Okay, so that was just a personal light bulb moment for me. So obvious and yet so easy to forget in the moment.

Anyhow, moving on, it’s interesting that the Cheetah is shown in full flight. I guess that’s the point. The energy being portrayed is different. When I look at both cards, the colouring and the circles evoke feelings of a hot sun beating down. The Gazelle seems to have subdued the heat. Yet, still, as I look at the two cards side by side on my desk as pictured below I keep thinking, “turn you head and see the immanent threat.” Do you get the feeling I may I need to face a few things. I do.

I find the energy the animals give off, and the way lines are incorporated make these cards easy to interact with. They communicate on so many levels. Even if you removed the animals, you could still derive meaning from the way the colours and the line work is presented.

The cards are printed on low sheen, fairly thin card stock that is unfortunately quite easy to bend out of shape. They are a bit clumpy until broken in but at 7 x 12cm they’re easy to shuffle. I like what I could best describe as the rawness of this deck. The imperfect yet perfect hand drawn borders that the ink work and colour subtly push past; the handwritten font; and the way the elemental symbols and the lettering are black or white to suit the card rather than the other way around, all make me feel as if the creator has just handed me her original work. I feel fortunate to be working with it. I have to admit that the cardstock adds to that feeling and yet I believe the indie version cards were much thicker. Strange how things turn out.

And here, I have to mention the packaging. I have watched people complain about excessive packaging of decks so my opinion here might not be popular but I love the way The Wild Unknown Spirit Animal, in fact all the decks in this series, (The Wild Unknown and The Wild Unknown Archetypes), are packaged. Is the slip case necessary? No, but I love the holographic dragon skin outer and the solid, book-sized, magnetic closure box it protects. I know people think having a box within a box is unnecessary but I loved opening the box, removing the book with the ribbon to find another box that holds and protects just the cards. Tuck boxes may be the the least imposing packaging but I’ve never heard anyone say, yay I love a tuck box. And, I have no intention, or need, to throw away any of these boxes, so???

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Book

The 207 paged book is well put together too. For me it further suggests that a lot of love and thought went into every aspect of this deck. The little things like the hand drawn dragon scales inside the front and back cover and the handwritten nature of the book overall makes it feel like an incredibly well funded indie deck that met very little design interference. As I alluded to earlier, I know it was originally an indie deck but my copies are all the mass market editions. I have a lot of decks but the ones in this series are the only ones packaged in this way. It really feels like a passion project.

The book even opens with a personal story before reminding us of the integral role animals have played in our history, our mythologies, and most probably our own lives. The writing style is direct, questioning, inviting and conversational which makes for an enjoyable read.

It covers “Understanding the Deck” and “Using the Deck”. The “Using the Deck” has a section called “What to Ask” which suggests to focus on the questions your heart wants answered rather than your head. Sound advice even if it seems nonsensical. Our heads can sometimes keep us asking the same question in a multitude of ways whereas the heart is likely to know the true question.

There’s also a “Shuffling and Cutting” section. It’s funny that so many books tell you to shuffle and cut and then deal the spread from the top of the deck. I’ve always shuffled then fanned my deck so I can manually select each card. I find it takes the pressure off the shuffle for both me and my clients. I shuffle cards multiple times a day, most days of the week. That is not many people’s reality though, so handing them a deck and telling them to shuffle can be a bit intimidating. Did they shuffle it enough to mix the cards well? This way I can reassure them it doesn’t matter. Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to suggest you do you and adopt whatever method feels right for you.

The “Deeper Insights” section is well worth reading because it adds additional layers to the cards. I love that she encourages people to learn about the animal in its own right rather than through a “spiritual” lens. I believe we gain powerful insights and a greater appreciation for the animal and the world around us when we do so. I also believe we can draw greater understanding from our readings when we know more about the animal, its habitat, its diet, how they communicate, whether they are monogamous or polygamous, and so on. Then we can connect with whatever the animal conjures up for us rather than relying on generic meanings alone.

Each card has a black and white, slightly smaller than full size, image on the left-hand page with the title, the element, keywords and meaning, followed by “When in balance,” “When out of balance,” and “To bring into balance” keywords on the right-hand page.

The Ether/Spirit section is different though. It provides the initial keywords and a longer meaning section followed by information on how the otherworldly animal links to the particular chakra. All in all the card meanings section give you plenty to consider without overwhelming you with information.

Spreads

You’ll also find five spreads in the book:

Card a Day
Past, Present, Future (3 cards)
The Path, The Obstacle (2 cards)
Relationship Spread (4 cards)
Year Ahead Spread (13 cards)

There is no real general spread option included but they are easy enough to find on the internet so it isn’t a huge issue. We are spoiled for choice on Pinterest alone. To be honest I tend to use oracle decks to accompany tarot readings rather than using them in their own right but many people don’t. Therefore more spreads may have been beneficial. After all, The Wild Unknown Tarot has several more.

Nonetheless, as someone who has all three decks in the Wild Unknown family, it is pretty obvious I like these cards. Like Kim Krans’ other decks, this one takes a different approach to many others, which for that reason alone, makes it well worth considering. And, if like me you like animal themed decks, I believe it would be a wonderful addition to your collection.