For today’s draw from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection, we’ll be looking at The Wild Unknown Pocket Tarot by Kim Krans, published in 2021 by Harper One.
6 Points About This Deck
- Artwork – The artwork in The Wild Unknown is hand drawn natural imagery made with no tools, ie. rulers and such. It’s gorgeous, and feels very personal. Colours are sparse, making their impact even more powerful when they do appear. As Krans says in the accompanying book, “I wanted the imagery to speak to a world of wild nature and mystery … a place where the darks are truly dark, and the lights are bright and expansive.” She succeeded.
- Booklet – For a pocket-size deck, this fully illustrated 207 page (also pocket-sized) booklet is impressive, with a description of each card, as well as an explanation as to how the deck came to be, some general info on Tarot, and a number of spreads to get you started.
- Court Cards – Instead of Page, Knight, King, and Queen, the Wild Unknown names its Court Cards Daughter, Son, Father, and Mother, again, creating a more personal feel to the deck.
- Tarot System – This deck follows the Marseille or Thoth ordering of the Major Arcana with Strength being #11 and Justice #8. And though the card descriptions basically follow the Tarot ideas of the Golden Dawn, the Wild Unknown is not a clone deck. What’s most striking about it is that there are no humans in any of the cards. Oddly, I find that refreshing.
- Readability – Despite there being no humans pictured in this deck, the Wild Unknown is quite readable, and offers very human advice. Even without looking at the definitions in the booklet (which are very helpful, by the way), with the darks being dark, and the lights being bright, all the trees and animals in each card make clear what it is they’re trying to say.
- Pocket-Size – There’s a full-size version of the Wild Unknown deck as well, first published in 2012. I have that deck too, and have always really liked it … but I’m very much enjoying this pocket size version. It fits so nicely in my palm, it’s easy to shuffle, doesn’t take up much space, and I love the tin box it comes in. This little version has reignited my love for this deck.
All in all, the Wild Unknown is a beautiful set of Tarot cards, whatever size you choose.