The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck and Guidebook

My mother, who passed away when I was only 12 years old, had a deck of Tarot cards she had purchased and begun studying shortly before she died. I remember being mystified by her interest in reading the cards and it instilled this insatiable desire inside of me to eventually figure out how to read them as well. I acquired her deck and kept it all these years as I battled through hardship after hardship after hardship...I never used them and never researched how to use them even until I was in m my late 20’s. I dabbled a bit. Lacking confidence to give anyone a reading besides myself and although I have always felt closely connected with the spiritual realm, I never felt like I was doing it right and the documentation offered to explain the meanings of each card and the layout have been anything but helpful: it feels like you’re trying to read something written in an old world language and that doesn’t produce the best outcome. As I gained more and more spiritual insight and began using what I believe is my talisman and gate key to the unknown, the mystic eye-an antique game I found at a shop many years ago, my interest piqued and I found myself missing cards from my beautiful mother’s deck and hankering for a deck to call my own... This deck spoke to me the very second I laid eyes on it. It actually makes me feel electric when I hold it. It is beautiful...absolutely STUNNING. It is so dark and eerie-it has almost a sad air about it as well. Countering that dark, dusky sadness hand drawn by this beautiful soul, Kim Krans are pops of color on almost every card. Rainbow serpents, fire in the most vivid oranges and yellows I’ve ever seen engulfing the feet of the goat on the devil card. Up against the wall of black it is absolutely breathtaking and entrancing. At the very LEAST, these Tarot cards are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I am so proud to own them and call them mine. Thank you, Kim, for your attention to detail and your perfectly balanced marriage of darkness and light in this deck. It makes me want to meet you and hug you to be perfectly honest! Beautiful deck aside I want to talk about the thing that makes these cards stand out more than any other deck on the planet for me, and that is the guidebook that comes with the cards. This little book is so easy to read and understand. It is beautiful and VERY STURDY! The last deck I bought I didn’t know what the hell it meant. I even googled “Reading Tarot For Dummies” and still didn’t get my questions truly answered. In Kim’s little guidebook she words the explanations so simply and so easily that you cannot help but understand how to begin and how to journey on without making it too complex or too stressful. I desire for this to be a calming, peaceful, enjoyable experience for myself and those around me that I read cards for and I feel like I am well on my way down the right path now as well...with a bad ass deck of cards tucked in my back pocket. Thank you Kim. You’re an inspiration. The forward you wrote gave me chills as my life is busy busy busy and anxiety ridden and chaotic and I find solace in creating. I just have no time to create with all the chaos I am trying to tame...I knew from page one that this was a divine choice. And I thank you for that. Buy this deck. Honestly it is priced too low in my opinion. I would have paid double for the beautiful attention to detail and the excellent instructions to begin your journey. You won’t be disappointed. It’s in the cards. 😍

This is an absolutely intriguing deck. Beautiful cards, but most importantly, it has an very interesting energy about it. I've been contemplating buying these for quite some time, and had been going back and forth about it [I spent a LOT of time watching YouTube reviews (mostly for trying to catch a glimpse for how the guide book was written), and researching]. One woman online said that "this is a deck that will call you out on your bs" (I didn't understand then what that meant). Later, I visited a shop to look around and ask questions. I met a lady who worked there that was fairly well versed in tarot, whom I was getting general advice from about bonding with cards, cleansing, etc. In conversation, she made the comment that she "interviews" her decks. I honestly had never heard of such a thing. But a little internet search brought me to a list of questions that I really wanted to ask my new deck: (1). Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? 2). What are your strengths as a deck? 3). What are your limits as a deck? 4). What are you here to teach me? 5). How can I best learn and collaborate with you? 6). What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? After shuffling, I went over each question in my mind, and then with each question, I set aside a card. When I tell you this deck stands on BUSINESS?! The very first card that I pulled and turned over in answer to the first question was "the tower". I won't go through the rest of the reading....But please believe me when I say I was impressed, and shook all at the same time. I understand what that woman meant now; this (for me, as it seemed for her) is a deck for shadow work. It's energy loving, but no-nonsense. I am elated that this is the deck that I ended up with. I feel such a connection to it, and it has already provided some deep and wild insight. For the deck itself, the card quality is perfect. Not super thick, but not paper thin either. I'm a trash shuffler, but the size and smoothness of the cards means that it's still quite manageable (though, I don't have small dainty hands). The matte finish means no glare on the images, and the colors (when present) are striking and rich. I don't think there's a deck out there that suits my personality, interests, background, and needs better.

The Wild Unknown Tarot cards excel on many levels. Buying Tarot cards without first holding them in your hand is a risk as things do not always arrive as they seem. I’m hoping this review will help. Traditional sized cards are made from a smooth, flexible laminate and boxed with their well-planned guidebook in a beautiful package. Mid priced and high in quality, if you’re buying “the one deck,” purchasing a gift or collecting it is an excellent choice. There are many levels on which to become attracted to Divination cards and just as many reasons. This deck is rich in archetypes and symbolic imagery; hand calls on integrating a wide array of world sources. If you’re a beginner and would like to develop your skill with symbolic interpretation, another deck may serve you better; the Rider/Waite or Marseille Tarots are more consistent. On the other hand if you are looking for an intuitive and rich interplay of emblematic imagery Krans’ will draw you deeply into intrigue and mystery. The Major Arcana, 22 cards that hold sway over the suit cards, is developed in such a way that they soften some of the original archetypal focus. For example, Death in the earliest examples of Tarot is emblematic of the Grim Reaper. Krans image of a departed bird is gentler. Like the former, it calls for change and clearing, but it doesn’t evoke a foreboding of divine combat, largely a Judeo/Christian concept, which emphasizes a deep contrast between life and death. Hers takes on an indigenous lilt with a portrayal of cyclical time, and nature as deity. She keeps the traditional elemental symbolism in the Minor Arcana but includes specific animal icons. As with her Major Arcana, Krans does not employ human representation leaving out the impact afforded by body language and gender, powerful aspects in traditional Tarot. Animal symbolism such as in the Devil/Goat and the Chariot/Horse are consistent, although the converging forces lack physicality to go along with their materialistic and spiritual vitality. Krans replaces the page, or Knave of the court with a daughter, turning the court into a family, this creates a more equal court. I find The Wild Unknown to be a beautiful and well-presented addition to the Tarot tradition, philosophically and artistically, despite what I have indicated as potential challenges with symbolism. I prefer to approach the Tarot for intuitive self-guidance as well as symbolist complexity. I find Krans’ imagery to be particularly compelling for journeying and dreaming as well as gleaning psychological and spiritual insight. This is not my only deck and as a reader I see the benefit of having several to work with, but currently it is my favorite, and I spend a lot of time studying it.

Love this deck! Great quality and beautiful art

I wish I could write a second review, but I can’t, so I’m adding this to the review I wrote two years ago. This is unusual. Please bear with me. I know it’s TL, DR, but I plead with you to stay with me. I’m 61 years old and in poor health despite best efforts by myself and my medical team. I don’t know what time I have left on this earth plane. Let’s just say that due to several chronic illnesses—none of which are terminal—I’ll most likely be living out my natural days in a monstrous maelstrom of pain, crushing exhaustion, zero energy, weakness, nausea, immobility, frequent falls, migraines, being bedridden, and many other things I would not wish on my worst enemy. Also, when you’re chronically ill, you’re (well, *I* am) often hopelessly lonely. Cut off from people who are busy living their lives, and I never have any news about my life because I'm struggling every day just to stay alive. My illnesses keep me from being relatable. So my quality of life is pretty much nil. I am not a psychic. I’m an intuitive person and an empath who reads cards. I’ve read tarot since 1994. I collect decks because I love the art and often I like the different perspectives—different images, intuitions, energies, etc. I’ve switched “favorite” decks time and time again. Over the years I’ve honed my preferences for two decks—dear friends—that are my go-to when I need clarity, honesty, and insight. When I need to dig deep. When I need Truth. Over the past several weeks I’ve been in despair, physically, emotionally, mentally due to the effects of aforesaid cursed chronic conditions. I thought—I’m smarter than this. I reached for my Wild Unknown deck. As I shuffled, I thought and mulled over the state of my life. I planned to ask some very hard questions. Very hard questions and expecting very hard answers. I was more than ready to look the hard answers in the face and deal with them here and now. No going back. I shuffled. Asked my Very Hard Questions. Received answers. Did a number of different spreads, each asking various points/scenarios of my Very Hard Questions. As expected, the Wild Unknown gave me the unvarnished Truth. The Wild Unknown was honest and straightforward with me, as always. Again--a good friend. But…something else also happened. I felt the energy moving around me, holding me in a soft embrace. I was receiving compassion. I felt the support of the cards and the energy, woo-woo though that may sound. I dropped my face in my hands and wept. Hard. I hadn’t been able to cry in forever, it seemed. This deck understands me like no other. The Wild Unknown told me to not do anything drastic. To try to hold on. That there will be glimmers of light here and there. That life will continue to be the hardest thing I've ever done, but that there will be rewards worth waiting for. That the deck, spirit guides, animal guides, angels, whomever, would continue to work with me, to support me. In all my years of reading & study, I’ve never had that happen with a tarot deck. The Wild Unknown is indeed a powerful, magical deck that will support you when you need it. I swear by it. Many, many blessings to #KimKrans. Thank you. =-=-=-=-= February 2021: I’ve read tarot off and on for 25 years but had recently taken a break from reading because I had developed a problem. I could read accurately for my husband and myself, but whenever I read for someone else, I *read* the cards, but couldn’t *say* what I saw in the cards. Rather, I was telling the querent what they wanted to hear and not what I saw in the spread in front of me. I believed this happened in part because of my tendency to ruthlessly overthink *everything*. Alarmed and confused, I put my cards away for a while. Fast-forward a few years. I developed chronic illnesses, and in my search for answers to awful symptoms, I learned a lot about the mind-body-spirit connection. I realized that I’ve been living in my head for most of my life, which affected my ability to listen to and trust my intuition, and therefore affected the quality of my tarot readings. Somehow in my Amazon browsing, the Wild Unknown Tarot popped up. I hadn’t heard of it before because I—how should I put this—I wasn’t “active” in the tarot world. I hadn’t bought a deck in years, but felt strongly and peculiarly drawn to this one, so I purchased it, along with another deck that was clamoring for my attention. The Wild Unknown is the real deal. I’ve finally found *my* deck. The artwork is beautiful and, while understated, still holds incredible detail. This deck genuinely speaks to me. I love the fact that this deck features animals, nature, and energy, and that there are no people (which probably says something about me, lol). In my experience, this is not a negative deck at all; rather, it’s blunt, forthright, and truthful. It’s a no-BS deck that takes no prisoners. The severity of some of the images (e.g., 5 of Swords, 9 of Swords, 10 of swords) is so straightforward that it slices through my overthinking brain and allows my intuition to radiate forth and just read the cards. The stark beauty and accuracy of the artwork really, really helps me to read from the heart, from my soul, rather than giving voice to my overactive monkey mind that's wondering if I’m reading correctly. Ms. Krans has numbered Strength and Justice according to the Tarot de Marseilles method of numbering. It isn’t incorrect; it simply isn’t RWS. Also, this is not a racist deck. Regarding the information in the book about skin, hair, and eye color relating to different types of people, this interpretation is actually very traditional. I’m surprised Ms. Krans puts this information in her book because, while it *is* traditional, it’s also very old-fashioned and outdated. As a woman of color, when I first learned tarot, I pretty much ignored the implied racism of 15th century Italy (where tarocchi originated), and just read the cards. The skin/hair/eye color issue had always seemed redundant to me anyway. Regarding the court cards: I appreciate that Ms. Krans uses family relationships in lieu of the traditional King, Queen, Knight, and Page. There are other decks out there that have similarly changed the titles of the court cards for modern sensibilities. The Wild Unknown Tarot has helped me grow as a reader, as it blasted through the intellectual roadblock I used to experience when reading for others. This deck is truly a gift to me. If this deck resonates with you, don’t hesitate to buy this. A huge thank-you to Ms. Krans for such an insightful and honest deck. Update 5/17/21: Ok, I've finally made the leap from just reading for myself to reading for other people ;) I don't have words for how laser-accurate and emotionally moving these cards are. Even for the hard answers, I get a feeling of empathy--that the readings/the cards somehow have my querent's back even if the answers are hard news. I'm blown away by how much I, my intuition, and this wonderful deck work together. Beautiful art, beautiful font, beautiful and stunningly intuitive images. My intuition is absolutely *not* at a loss of words with the Wild Unknown. Ms. Krans, my hat is off to you. Thank you.

I resisted buying this deck for a long time. My resistance was based on two things: first, it was so wildly popular that I was reluctant to be part of a fad. And second, one of the cards features a worm cut in half by a sword, an image that initially creeped me out and caused me to avoid the deck. But it kept coming into my line of sight, and many of the cards are so poignantly beautiful that I just had to have it. This boxed set is an incredible bargain. It is beautifully made. Within the outer protective cardboard sleeve is the large, sturdy box, which has a flap with a magnetic closure. I love that; it's so easy to open and close. A silk ribbon lifts the guidebook out, to reveal underneath the actual deck, in its own box. That box too has a silk ribbon to help you easily lift out the cards. The guidebook is all hand lettered, and offers some excellent interpretations. They really get to the heart of the matter. Some Tarot books give so many possible meanings to the cards that they almost have no meaning at all. That has its place, because we all know that meanings shift and change depending on the individual, the other cards in the layout, etc. But it can also be refreshing to have a simple, straightforward, no-holds-barred "this is what's happening" interpretation. This is an honest, tough-love deck, in my opinion. I don't think it's a deck I will go to when I (or a client) am feeling emotionally very fragile. It incorporates all the raw, primal, honest energy of nature-- not fluffy, airbrushed nature but blood-and-bones nature-- and you really need to be ready to hear and accept the raw truth when you use this deck. Some days I feel very drawn to use it; other days I feel I can't handle it. It's that kind of deck. But that's part of what makes it such a great deck. Reading for oneself is always hard, because we have a tendency to want to see in the cards the outcome or the meaning we desire, and so it's difficult to be objective. With this deck, you really have no choice. It's going to get right to the heart of the matter. If you're ready to face the deepest truths, this is your deck. For that reason it's a great deck for shadow work, for working with our innermost fears and secrets. In this sense the deck can be very healing, used with journaling, meditation, etc. The artwork is stunning and absolutely unique. Some people have likened the pip cards to the Marseille deck. I can see that, and yet they aren't really in the stylized, almost geometric patterns of the Marseille. If you study the card, there really IS a picture there, though the absence of any human figure or even an animal figure makes it more difficult to perceive. The Major Arcana are especially beautiful and evocative. One of the most unique Tarot decks that I've seen or own.

I just received this order this morning! It was ordered on 11/28 and delivered on 12/1 so, as always, I am very happy with the short wait. This is by far the most beautiful tarot deck I have ever seen, especially for the price. The packaging was beautiful and comes in a very pretty keepsake box. The book accompanied with the deck has some really cool tarot spreads with directions on how to read them however it does not really go into depth on what each card means. I would have also liked to see the interpretations for reversed cards because I think this is an important feature that adds depth to your readings. However, you can just look up the reversed meanings of each card online and find them there so that isn't a huge deal. I was worried about the way the matte finish on the cards would feel in my hands but it's very smooth and buttery. The cards do not stick to each other. The images in the cards are vibrant and very beautiful with a lot of depth. I know several people have complained about the card stock being too thin but in my opinion it's the perfect weight for people with small hands. The thinner the card stock is the smaller the deck is which definitely makes it easier to hold. I would have liked the size of the cards to be a little smaller because they are kind of wide for my hands but that's just because I have really small hands, so if you have normal sized hands you will be fine. These cards are really good for people interested in finding decks that steer away from the usual male/female illustrations, animal lovers, or for people tired of not being able to find cards with racial diversity. The only real issue I had was a small packaging error where my world card was bent in the box but I just bent it back into place and put a large book on top of it for a few hours and now it's fine. It has a slight wrinkle in it now but I feel that it adds character to the deck so I love it all the same. These are absolutely amazing cards so if you are on the fence just do it! You will love them!

The box arrived in perfect condition, the colors are vibrant, and the book is well written. I've seen some reviews where people complain about how vague the explanations are for each card (and, admittedly, they rather are and there's no reverse explanation), but that's the point. This isn't an obvious deck like some of the other more popular styles, it's called the Wild Unknown for a reason! This deck is so blunt it's like getting hit by a building. It will go straight to the heart of the matter, whether you want to hear the truth or not, and it will not shy away from telling you off for asking too many questions (usually, the 7 of Swords is what comes up when I'm being facetious like that, they're delightfully snarky). The vague descriptions in the guidebook allow you to figure out what every card means for that particular reading, instead of forcing the reading to the rather narrow implications of the cards. They're incredibly flexible in how you can interpret them, which gives them a bit of an edge in my opinion. Obviously this means they're not really meant for people who need that constant assurance that yes, they memorized the card correctly. The Wild Unknown is more for people who can think in the abstract and look at the images in different ways, using the context of the reading to pick out the minute details of each image. Back to the 7 of Swords, when upright there are 6 swords floating above a fox curled up as if sleeping, but with one eye open and rather obviously hiding the 7th sword in the image. This can mean something's hidden from you that you need to find or seek out or whatever in order to do the thing or solve your problem. OR it can mean that someone or something is an active threat against you, keeping that watchful eye open and waiting for the right moment to hurt you. OR it can mean YOU'RE the fox, concealing your intentions from others for reasons (good or bad or neutral, I don't know the context of your reading), and this may be a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know, I don't know the context of the reading. OR, if you're like me and ask far too many questions when the cards are being chatty, it simply means "You're being annoying, we're not going to give you any more answers, at least on this subject, go do something else". OR it can mean something else ENTIRELY because I do not know the context of the reading this card showed up in. And that's just a few possible UPRIGHT meanings of ONE card. The WHOLE DECK is like this. You have to be supremely careful how you read the cards to make sure you're getting it right. If they like you, they'll make the meanings more obvious. If they don't, best of luck to you, friend. On the plus side, I can honestly say I've had better conversations with this deck than with some people.