Wild Unknown Tarot Deck: A Complete Guide
Wild Unknown Tarot Deck: A Deck That Speaks Through Animals
Open a Wild Unknown Tarot deck and the first thing you notice is absence. No kings in robes, no queens on thrones, no crowds of human figures filling the frame. In their place stand animals, trees, feathers, branches and blades of light, drawn in black ink with small touches of color. The wild unknown tarot deck, created by artist Kim Krans and released by HarperOne as a keepsake box set on November 8, 2016, keeps the familiar 78 card framework of tarot and rebuilds the pictures from the natural world. This guide, part of the How to choose a tarot deck hub, looks at how the deck reads, how its court cards work, what the art asks of a reader, where the deck came from, and what the guidebook offers, with a worked example near the end.
Reading With Animals Instead of People
A traditional tarot card tells much of its story through a human scene. A figure reaches, waits, mourns or celebrates, and the reader follows the gesture. The Wild Unknown Tarot removes that shortcut. A card may hold a single animal, a branch, a feather or a blade, set in wide white space, and the reader must sit with the image before the meaning arrives. That pause is the point of the deck. It slows a reading down and asks for attention rather than quick recognition.
The framework under the pictures stays familiar. The deck follows the structure described in the Rider Waite tarot deck guide, with the same suits, the same numbered cards from Ace through Ten, and the same Major Arcana sequence. A reader who already knows that system will not need to learn a new one. The meanings also stay close to the traditional system, so a card learned here still makes sense in another Rider Waite Smith deck. What changes is the route to the meaning. Instead of reading a face or a posture, the reader reads a creature, a plant or a natural object, and then connects that image with the card position in a spread.
This way of reading suits some questions better than others. A daily draw works well, because one spare image can hold a whole morning of thought. A question about a mood, a season of life or a creative block also works well, because the images invite reflection rather than a fixed answer. A reader who wants a detailed scene with many figures to pick apart may find the spare images thin at first. The deck rewards patience, and the first weeks with it can feel quiet. Readers who stay with it often find that the quiet images grow louder with use, as each animal gathers personal associations over time.
The Court Cards: Daughter, Son, Mother and Father
The first thing a new reader notices is usually the court cards, because they break with tradition in a visible way. The Wild Unknown Tarot does not use the titles Page, Knight, Queen and King. It uses Daughter, Son, Mother and Father instead. The Daughter of Wands stands where the Page of Wands stands in a traditional deck. The Son of Wands stands where the Knight stands. The Mother of Wands stands where the Queen stands, and the Father of Wands stands where the King stands. The same pattern holds across all four suits, so the deck holds 16 court cards under four family titles.
The family titles change how the court cards feel in a reading. A Daughter card reads as a young energy, learning and curious. A Son card reads as a restless energy, moving and testing. A Mother card reads as a mature energy, steady and nurturing. A Father card reads as a mastered energy, calm and authoritative. The four cards in each suit also share one animal family, so the Wands court cards are all snakes, and the Cups court cards are all swans. That shared family makes the progression easy to see, because the same animal appears at four stages of growth. A reader who is used to the traditional titles should learn the mapping once, and then the deck reads as smoothly as any other.
Learning the mapping is worth doing early, before the first full reading. Take the sixteen court cards out of the deck, lay them in four rows by suit, and read across each row from Daughter to Father. Notice how the animal stays the same while the posture and the energy shift. Once that pattern is clear, the court cards stop feeling strange and start feeling like a family, which is exactly the idea behind the names.
Ink, White Space and a Few Charged Marks
Kim Krans drew the deck in a spare, minimal style that uses a few charged marks: feather, branch, fang, cup, blade, moon and flame. Most cards use black ink lines on white, with color used sparingly, so a touch of red or gold carries weight. Large areas of white space surround the central image, and the effect is a deck that feels both ancient and modern. The art asks the reader to look closely at a small number of marks rather than at a busy scene, and that focus changes the pace of a reading.
Some cards show how far the animal approach can go. The Fool shows a young bird perched on a branch, about to step off. The Magician shows a leopard with tools arranged before it. The Empress shows a colorful tree under a crescent moon. Each image keeps the traditional meaning of the card while replacing the human figure with a creature or a natural form. The result is a set of pictures that feel personal rather than formal, and that leave room for the reader to bring personal associations to the card.
The minimal art has a cost as well as a charm. A reader who likes rich detail may find some cards hard to read, because the images give few details to work with. There is no crowd scene to study and no facial expression to follow. The guidebook helps here, because each entry describes the image and offers reflection questions that open the card up. Over time, most readers build a private vocabulary for the animals, and the cards that once looked empty start to feel full.
History: One Artist, a Self Published Run and a Box Set
Kim Krans is an artist, author and creator, and the Wild Unknown Tarot is the work that brought her deck to a wide audience. She began drawing the deck during a period of personal change, working in the spare style described above, and the personal origin shows in the finished deck. It was not made by a committee or a marketing team. It was made by one artist, working through a difficult period, drawing animals and natural forms during a time of deep introspection. That history explains why the deck feels intimate and direct, and why the guidebook reads like a conversation rather than a lecture.
The deck first circulated independently, in a small self published run sold through her website and select shops, and it built a devoted following among readers who wanted a deck rooted in the natural world. HarperOne then released the deck as a keepsake box set on November 8, 2016, with a 208 page guidebook, and the deck has stayed in print ever since, with a pocket edition released later. The publisher describes it as a New York Times bestseller, and it is widely recommended for readers who love nature art and a personal, hands on approach to tarot.
The Guidebook: Hand Lettered Entries and Reflection Questions
The guidebook that arrives with the box set is a 208 page book, hand lettered and fully illustrated, written by Kim Krans. It leads the reader through shuffling and cutting the cards, creating spreads, and the meanings of all 78 individual cards. Each card entry gives keywords, a description of the image, and reflection questions to carry into a reading. The guidebook also includes three new spreads designed for the deck, which use the natural imagery as a starting point for reflection. The How to shuffle tarot cards guide covers the same ground in more detail for readers who want it.
The book earns its place by how it teaches. Entries stay short, direct and personal, without the formal tone of many tarot books. A newcomer can open any card entry, work through its reflection question, and use the keywords as a first foothold. With more practice, the book stays shut more often and the picture does the work. Hand lettered pages give the book the feel of a journal rather than a manual, and the pocket edition ships with a smaller guidebook for readers who want a deck that travels easily.
A good way to use the book is to read one entry fully each day, rather than flipping through the whole book at once. Read the keywords, look at the image, answer one reflection question in writing, and then put the book down. After a month of that habit, the deck starts to feel familiar, and the entries become a reference rather than a crutch.
Who the Wild Unknown Tarot Suits, and Who May Prefer Another Deck
Nature lovers will feel at home here first. The deck fits a reader who wants a personal tool rather than a formal one, and who enjoys filling in meaning from a small set of marks. A morning draw works well, because one quiet picture can carry a full day of thought, and the same holds for journaling and meditation. The deck also fits a reader who knows the Rider Waite Smith system already and wants that structure dressed in new pictures. Readers who want bright modern scenes and diverse people often prefer the Light Seers tarot deck guide.
Other readers will want something else. Detailed scenes with many figures, traditional human imagery, or pictures that stay close to the Rider Waite Smith originals all point toward a different deck, and so does a wish for the familiar court titles or a large guidebook with long entries. Sparse pictures can be hard to read, because the images offer few details to work from. Taste decides here, and a deck is a personal tool. Before buying, look at a few cards and notice whether the images feel welcoming or distant, then start with the deck that feels welcoming.
An Illustrative Example: A Three Card Draw With the Wild Unknown Deck
This example is illustrative, not a real person's story.
A short example shows the deck in use. Picture a woman named Ingrid, who is fifty two and works as a librarian, and who is asking whether to move to a smaller town. She draws three cards from the Wild Unknown Tarot. The first card is the Mother of Cups. The guidebook keywords point to emotional steadiness, care and compassion, and the image centers on a single swan form in open space. The second card is the Four of Swords. The keywords point to rest, pause and recovery, and the image suggests a still place where nothing needs to be decided yet. The third card is the Star. The keywords point to hope, renewal and a clear direction after a hard stretch, and the image carries a sense of light returning. Read as a set, the three cards tell a clear story: care for what matters, rest before deciding, and hope about the road ahead. Ingrid writes the three keywords in her journal, and she decides to spend a week in the smaller town before making any decision. The deck did not predict the outcome. It gave her three images to reflect on, and the images shaped how she approached the choice.
Looking After the Wild Unknown Deck
Set aside an evening for a first look through the deck. Go through all 78 cards at a slow pace and mark the images that catch your eye. From the next morning, pull one card a day, read its entry, and write the reflection question in a journal. Learn the court card mapping first, since Daughter, Son, Mother and Father are the largest change from a traditional deck, and a reader who learns the mapping early will read more smoothly. The How to shuffle tarot cards guide covers the basic shuffling techniques for anyone who wants them. The cards are printed on a sturdy stock that stands up to regular shuffling, and the box protects them between readings. To keep the deck in good condition, keep it boxed between readings, away from damp and direct sun, and shuffle with clean hands.
Slow use brings this deck alive. With each week of daily draws, the small marks grow familiar, and the pictures begin to open up. After a few months, the animals feel like old friends, and cards that once looked simple start to show new details. A deck drawn daily turns into a trusted tool, while a deck left untouched stays a beautiful object. The Wild Unknown was made for use, and it serves daily practice well.
How to choose a tarot deck hub gathers guides to other decks. This deck follows the system in the Rider Waite tarot deck guide, while the Thoth tarot deck guide shows a deck that departs further from tradition. Shuffling is covered in the How to shuffle tarot cards guide, and the Light Seers tarot deck guide covers the bright modern deck.
If a card from this deck keeps coming up for you, you can talk it through with a real reader here: First 3 minutes FREE — every time, for every reading, with all advisors.
Try a One-Card Tarot reading and see which animal image from a nature based deck speaks to your week.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the wild unknown tarot deck different from a traditional deck?
Animals, plants and natural symbols replace the human figures of a traditional deck, and the court cards use the titles Daughter, Son, Mother and Father instead of Page, Knight, Queen and King. The framework underneath stays the same, with 78 cards in the Rider Waite Smith structure, so the difference is in the pictures and the court titles, not in the system.
Who created the wild unknown tarot deck and when was it published?
The deck was created by artist Kim Krans. It first circulated as an independent, self published deck, and HarperOne released the keepsake box set with a 208 page guidebook on November 8, 2016. The deck has stayed in print since then, and a pocket edition was released later.
How do the court cards work in the wild unknown tarot?
The court cards use four family titles: Daughter stands for Page, Son stands for Knight, Mother stands for Queen, and Father stands for King. The four cards in each suit share one animal family, such as snakes for Wands and swans for Cups, which makes the four stage progression easy to follow once the mapping is learned.
Is the wild unknown tarot deck hard for a beginner?
It can be harder than a deck with detailed human scenes, because the spare art gives few details to work with and the court titles need to be learned. It still works for a beginner who loves nature art and is willing to sit with the images, because the structure follows the classic Rider Waite Smith system and the guidebook explains each card in plain language.
Does the wild unknown tarot deck use the Rider Waite Smith system?
Yes. It uses the same suits, the same numbered cards from Ace through Ten, and the same Major Arcana sequence as the Rider Waite Smith system, and the meanings stay close to that tradition. The change is on the surface: animals and natural forms replace human figures, and the court cards carry family titles.
Last updated: November 12, 2026
