The Wild Unknown Tarot

I have many, many decks, but nothing like this one. If I had to classify The Wild Unknown Tarot, I would say it is a nature-based, contemporary deck. To be honest, I really didn’t think it was going to be for me but how wrong was I. I absolutely love this deck because I find it strikes to the core of the issue at hand. People don’t tend to choose it for readings and yet if I pull it out to go deeper into an issue, or I just show it to them after their reading, most become drawn to the images.

As I keep flicking through in order to write this review I just keep thinking “Wow, I love this deck!” but I’ll stop gushing now and let you see and decide for yourself. Before I do though, let me just say that there is something about holding and working with this deck that feels very different to just looking at the images as they appear on the screen.

The Wild Unknown Tarot Cards

The cards come beautifully packaged in a large magnetic closure, slip covered box. The cards are further contained in a sturdy box of their own. This is great if you’re limited for storage space. Since the packaging is high quality I was surprised that the cards themselves are quite thin. That in itself hasn’t ended up bothering me but I must admit this deck is difficult to fan. It shuffles fine but it doesn’t slide. So, rather than offering a smooth fan to select from, at best the cards form fan-like clumps that I need to fiddle with to spread out. When I started by saying that I have nothing like this deck, that includes how they feel physically. The cardstock is very different.

People do not figure on any of the cards. Most cards rely on animal associations; however, some use landscape elements, the sun and stars, lines and colour, or a combination of these to purvey meaning. They are definitely suited to intuitive reading. The more you look the more you see and I feel they depict emotions really well.

For example, on the 5 of cups, don’t you just want to tell the horse to hold his head up so he can see the light rather than focusing on the darkness? He seems so beaten, so defeated. There’s no need to show upside down cups here. In comparison, on the Chariot, the power and energy of the horse is tangible.

You may notice a red tinge around the edge of the cards. That is because I have edged both my deck and the book. I know some people don’t like deck modifications but obviously I’m not one of them. I love edging decks and if I feel compelled to, I also trim the borders. As you’ve probably noticed already, I have left the borders in tact in this deck. I think it would feel too small if I trimmed them and to be honest I don’t really notice them. The cards are a standard tarot size – 7cm x 12cm.

Anyhow, back to The Wild Unknown Tarot. This deck uses the traditional cups, wands (sticks are used in the illustrations to represent the wands), swords and pentacles. Kim Krans has renamed the court cards to daughter, son, mother and father. She explains that she did this because she felt users would be able to link them to people they knew. I find it does make them more relatable and this idea is in keeping with this deck’s modern take on the tarot. The Major Arcana retain the names you generally expect to find. Justice is 8, and Strength is 11. Since numerology informs aspects of my reading this is relevant to me and to be honest I prefer these Majors when they are numbered the other way but I respect the creator’s choice and read the card accordingly.

The Wild Unknown Tarot Book

I’d describe The Wild Unknown Tarot Guidebook as a LWB on steroids purely because of its size, not because of the information contained within. It is definitely adequate though. It offers a brief rundown of the difference between the Major and Minor Arcana and it includes brief descriptions of the various suits.

In describing the court cards, the book offers an overview of the family dynamic. For example, the wands family are a vibrant, well-loved family that can make dangerous enemies. I think that offers a great entry point into the court cards. You can picture what the son, daughter, mum and dad would be like in this family. I’m not a fan of the addition of physical descriptors though. In the case of the wands family the book suggests they have light skin and hair. That may well be just me but it feels too generic, too limiting and just a tad off. Can certain nationalities who are naturally born with very dark hair only belong to the swords family. I don’t think so. It doesn’t resonate with me at all and so I don’t use it. But, that is my personal opinion and how I read. Anyhow, moving on.

I like the section titled, “What to ask.” The suggestion to consider what you want to know and why you want to know it before trying to formulate your question is really great and something I will incorporate to help people clarify their question. The book then offers advice on shuffling and cutting the cards, before going on to introduce a few spreads.

Spreads

The book suggests six possible spreads, so there is something for everybody.

• A card a day (1 card)
• Past, present, future (3 card) as well as some of the many possible variations
  • who was I, who I am, who I will be
  • body, mind, spirit
• Clarity spread (4 cards)
• Connection spread (5 cards)
• Celtic cross (10 cards)
• Year ahead spread (13 cards)

I did readings using the 3 card “who” spread, the clarity spread and the connection spread and I found each beneficial. The clarity spread is said to be, “a go-to spread for getting clear about any type of perplexing situation,” and I agree that the use of the overall card with three clarifiers is a great way to gain understanding.

My favourite would be the connection spread. It is a great relationship spread as it offers a simple, yet effective way to explore the dynamics between two people. I can see myself using and offering this spread in my tarot practice. I should add here that I already use the Celtic Cross regularly for readings. As the book suggests, it is powerful because it is thorough, addressing all aspects of a question. I have read and heard that some readers aren’t a fan of the Celtic Cross – I am not one of them.

Next, card meanings are presented in their suits – wands, cups, swords and pentacles, followed by the major arcana. A black and white card image is shown on one page with the card title, key words and meaning on the adjacent page. The explanations are brief but offer a great starting point. The book does not offer meanings for reversals.

Overall, this is a great deck. If you’re looking for a no-nonsense nature-based deck then it’s probably pretty obvious that I would thoroughly recommend this deck. Kim Krans has also created The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Oracle and The Wild Unknown Archetypes deck.

Publishing Details

Deck Creator:

Kim Krans

Pictured version:

Published by Harper One 2016

Website:

thewildunknown.com