The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck and Guidebook (Official Keepsake Box Set)

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.

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 enjoy the look and feel from this deck. I always liked the creators spreads she includes in the guidebook. I would say one would need to be more intuitive based on their readings when using this . Remember the court cards in some schools are a family page= daughter son = knight and the rest of the suit is what the knight goes through. Which is I am not mistaken it's swords where it's the daughters journey( this is just some nuanced info that can help your reads. The animal imagery could be difficult for those readers who don't connect with animal imagery but I do like the tenderness of this deck , different from other reviews describing the energy to be a bit pungant. I would recommend using her archetype deck if you enjoy this but have hard time using the animal imagery

there are no words for how stunning this deck is .the entire composition and structural design of this keepsake box,was very well thought out in it's inception and execution .when i first saw this deck used by Aquarian Princess (if memory serves)i only admired it , in jest . the artwork , the color scheme .she truly bared her soul when designing this .forever on the journeyLauren 💜🕊️ thank you for guiding me to this08/08/78 🍃 06/20/24