Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot: Discover the Magic in Nature

Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Wonderful Meditative Deck
Review: As a fellow Llewellyn author, I was lucky enough to be given this deck to read from at the London Bookfair this March. The first thing which strikes you about the deck is how visually stunning it is. The colours are vibrant and alive, the images detailed yet clear and extremely beautiful. There is a wealth of imagery from both the seen and the mythic dimensions of nature, from fairies, elves, wild spirited folk, animals, birds and many plants and flowers; the very essence of wildwood and meadow and hill. The pictures speak with a language of their own, resonating on a very deep level. Despite the unusualness of the deck and the innovative meanings and pictures, the cards are not at all difficult to read once you have played about with them for a little while; in fact they speak to a deep part of the reader. For anyone needing the reassurance of a written guide, the accompanying well crafted book explains not just the way the cards can be used, both in spreads and for self exploration, but also expounds a whole spiritual philosophy which offers the keys to a wholesome and magical world view. This is a wonderful card set which will unfold a realm of visionary delight and profound realisation to all who use it.
Author of In The Circle, The Sacred Round, and Praise to the Moon.

Rating:
Summary: A Divination Deck for Spiritual Growth.
Review: I just started working with this deck,and I have learnt so much already.At first,I didn't feel like reading the book,but doing that is most important to understand the deck.It has been accurate,but takes some time to get to know.You cannot use the ordinairy meanings for the tarot,but it reads wonderfully as a divination deck.
It's playful,and friendly.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!
Review: Many of the tarot reviews on this deck are really negative. From a "tarot" perspective, this deck strays quite a bit from the traditional.. so much so that some say it would be better called a "divinatory deck" as opposed to "tarot".

The Majors stray heavily in some cases, using two sets of titles on each card, a title and subtitle.. such as Sky Dancer/Morning Star which is used instead of THE SUN. The minors use a "number + element" system.. If you've read books by Gail Fairfield, you know what I am talking about.

The book is also very different. Instead of using keywords, it tells a narrative, or story, for each card.. a good idea in concept.. but the stories just seem to go on and on and on.. I found this getting quite old after the first few cards.

Well, all this 'negativity' aside, I have to say the art on this deck is some of the mose beautiful I have ever seen. I absolutely adore Palin as an artist. I also love nature and faeries and this deck has a STRONG faerie feeling..

I do feel that this is a wonderful deck.. if you aren't looking for "traditional" and you can get past the book... I think this deck would be PERFECT for the person that reads from intuition. You can get SO MUCH from these pictures.

Rating:
Summary: Wild Spirit Tarot Cards
Review: Ms. Palin's opening lines to the accompanying book gives us the essence of what her deck and her book reflects 'With an understanding of the seasons of Life and the natural enchantment of the Wild Realm, we can gain spiritual guidance.
The cards, like Ms. Palin's book, reflect her exuberance for the 'Wild Realm' with bright primary colors, bold designs and free interpretation of the Journey of the Tarot.
Looking at the obverse of the cards is a quartet of what appear to be two fairy folk reflected across the card.  This is much different from the usual abstract designs or monotones that usually are printed on decks.
The layout of the deck is similar to the Rider-Waite deck, with four suits and 21 trump cards.  The focus of this deck is nature, so the suites are not magic oriented, they are nature oriented, being earth, air, fire and water.  The trump cards also reflect the nature theme, and we have the 'Cunning Man' rather than the magician, and 'Mother Nature' rather than the Empress and 'Lord of the Wild' rather than the Emperor, and so on. 
The colors are bold primary, the designs range from well done 'children's illustration' in feeling, as in the 'Wandering Minstrel' or the fool, to very surrealistic, as all her 'fairy folk'. 
To wander through her cards is to understand her feelings for the natural world and to appreciate her talent for the arts.  I feel it is a beautiful deck and working with it is a joy, as the symbolisms are clearly stated.
The books starts with Ms. Palin's intention for the cards, how to use them and the care of any kind of tarot deck.  She then explores each card, giving very clear and almost poetic explanations of how she devised each card and its meaning.  For example, her meaning of 'Hunter' - Spirit of Clarity opens "Focus.  This moment...strung, drawn, aimed... is all that there is.  As the Hunter, I cannot allow myself to become distracted, for I must achieve what I set out to do here, or I shall not eat tonight."  A wonderful clarity of vision for this card, which shows a hunters face focusing on the draw of a bow. 
Overall, this deck presents itself as a connection to nature through the use of the tarot.  The experience is being drawn into this deck through the illustrations.  The similarity to the standard deck allows ease of use and understanding when augmented with the book. 
This is an addition worth having if you collect decks and a good choice for those looking for a deck to express and grow their inner 'wild spirit'. boudica

Rating:
Summary: Wild Spirit Tarot Cards
Review: Ms. Palin's opening lines to the accompanying book gives us the essence of what her deck and her book reflects: "With an understanding of the seasons of Life and the natural enchantment of the Wild Realm, we can gain spiritual guidance."

The cards, like Ms. Palin's book, reflect her exuberance for the "Wild Realm" with bright primary colors, bold designs and free interpretation of the Journey of the Tarot.

Looking at the obverse of the cards is a quartet of what appear to be two fairy folk reflected across the card. This is much different from the usual abstract designs or monotones that usually are printed on decks.

The layout of the deck is similar to the Rider-Waite deck, with four suits and 21 trump cards. The focus of this deck is nature, so the suites are not magic oriented, they are nature oriented, being earth, air, fire and water. The trump cards also reflect the nature theme, and we have the "Cunning Man" rather than the magician, and "Mother Nature" rather than the Empress and "Lord of the Wild" rather than the Emperor, and so on.

The colors are bold primary, the designs range from well done children's illustration in feeling, as in the "Wandering Minstrel" or the fool, to very surrealistic, as all her fairy folk.

To wander through her cards is to understand her feelings for the natural world and to appreciate her talent for the arts. I feel it is a beautiful deck and working with it is a joy, as the symbolisms are clearly stated.

The book starts with Ms. Palin's intention for the cards, how to use them and the care of any kind of tarot deck. She then explores each card, giving very clear and almost poetic explanations of how she devised each card and its meaning. For example, her meaning of "Hunter - Spirit of Clarity" opens "Focus. This moment...strung, drawn, aimed... is all that there is. As the Hunter, I cannot allow myself to become distracted, for I must achieve what I set out to do here, or I shall not eat tonight." A wonderful clarity of vision for this card, which shows a hunters face focusing on the draw of a bow.

Overall, this deck presents itself as a connection to nature through the use of the tarot. The experience is being drawn into this deck through the illustrations. The similarity to the standard deck allows ease of use and understanding when augmented with the book.

This is an addition worth having if you collect decks and a good choice for those looking for a deck to express and grow their inner wild spirit. boudica

Rating:
Summary: beautiful deck
Review: The main emphasis on Poppy Palin's Wild Spirit Tarot should be on the word spirit. It is a wonderfully spiritual collection of drawings and stories produced and written with a very passionate spirit. The cards images should delight anyone with one foot still firmly planted in the realm of the child. Human, animal, plant and spirit laugh and dance with each other throughout the whole pack. This pack does not contain the archetypal tarot images, yet their counterparts can be found if you look carefully enough. Approach the book and images as if going on a country walk. Tread carefully and mindfully, and you will see much more than blundering through, expecting the woodland creatures to be prostrate in front of you. The book is a guide to the cards, and yet is much more, in being a guide also to the realm of the spirit. Many philosophies from many ages seem to be wrapped up in the stories. The emphasis on letting go in order to gain dominates the message of this tarot. Could be tricky to read if you are expecting the tarot to tell you what you are going to get and when. It requires a rethink on the traditional ideas. Maybe this is where the wild makes itself known. Like the wild nothing is cut and dried with this pack. It is a wonderful achievement. The amount of hard work and dedication is evident in every word and line.

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: The pictures are beautiful, but the cards are a bit too big and the actualy meanings of the cards stray too far from the traditional meanings of tarot too much for my own liking. On the whole, I love this deck for collection purposes.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Learning
Review: This is an absolutely b-e-a-utiifull deck, every picture on the cards is a work of art. They make me feel at peace, as if I were in tune with nature. I want to make a large copy of some of the cards, frame them. and stick them on my wall!

The book that comes with the deck helped me so much: instead of a list of keywords, they explain each card with a story. It's so much easier, although each story is a tad long. I mean, do you get to know a story character by reading a list of their traits, qualities and flaws or by just reading the story? Each story makes you personally connect to every card.

Their are a few drawbacks to this deck, I wouldn't recommend it for beginners, although I chose it because other decks seemed so boring compared to this one, the illustrations of the Wild Spirit spoke to me. They use the elements rather than the traditional Pentacles, Swords, Wands and Cups, and different names for the Major Arcana. Also, the meanings in the book are different from the tradional ones we're used to. I recommend to do what I did, while learning and reading with the deck and book, to add your own notes from other sources.

Even if you'd rather use a more traditional deck, you should defintely add a Wild Spirit Tarot deck to your collection. It's beautiful!

Rating:
Summary: Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot: A Review
Review: This is truly a unique tarot deck full of fantasy and whimsical images. Based on natural forms, otherwordly archetypes, and fairy-tale characters, this deck acts as soul-poetry, a catalyst to bring about a resurgence of the Wild Self. Created by Poppy Palin and published by the well-established metaphysical company, Llewellyn, this deck can bring a new dimension to your tarot reading sessions. Poppy Palin is the author and illustrator of four books on her experiences as a natural psychic. Her work has appeared in many publications. She is a trained artist and professional tattooist, and is also an experienced teacher and lecturer. The kit comes with the richly colored and illustrated tarot deck, coupled with a 336 page illustrated guidebook. As the publisher describes, "In the companion book Stories of the Wild Spirit, the characters portrayed in the cards tell their own stories, using first person dialogue to immerse you in their tales and call forth the power of their energies. This unique approach provides a new way of working with the Tarot for those who learn more easily through strong visual cues and evocative prose, rather than elaborate lists of correspondences."

The Wild Spirit tarot has the same basic structure as more traditional tarot - 72 cards in total with 21 key Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards, sorted into four suits (click on the link to view illustrations of all 72 cards). Ms. Palin has renamed the traditional suits to mirror the four elements: earth, air, fire and water.

It is obvious that Poppy has spent hours contemplating the essence of each tarot card in order to deduce and express this nuance in a fairy-tale/folklore sort of way. For instance, the traditional King of Wands is presented as "The Chiefian" - a handsome fair, bearded Celtic looking man of medieval times, motioning to his regal falcon. In the book, we find out that this card means,...."Come, sit and have some mead with me; let me tell you how I facilitated this project (sic - his thriving community). Well, I have a tremendous amount of energy. I am physically vital, healthy and at my prime, and I wanted to create something that could be fed by this natural flow that courses through me. I have enthusiasm, and I want to inspire others to feel that same drive and ambition. I am not a greedy man. I did not wish to create a fortress for myself and bar others. No, what I saw was a living, breathing circle of friends and families, pooling their resources, sharing skills and creativity. Is that unusual? Well, as a leader I have to be an outstanding man. I don't mean this in a vain way, oh no, but I must have a strong will, a trustworthy and open disposition, and boundless energy to oversee a whole group of people." In essence, the Wild Spirit deck provides an inspiring storyteller interpretation that guides the reader to become enchanted with the spell like magic of each of the cards. Even if someone only drew one card from the deck, a great deal of meaning would be available to them.


This deck invites the tarot enthusiast to linger long and ponder well. To truly "feel" the energy in each of the cards. The bright colors and pleasant illustrations also facilitate this. It is easy to become enchanted by the wonderful images - to be led to a land of wonderful nature creatures and the whispers of times gone by. Well worth the investment, this deck is available for a reasonable price directly from the Amazon website.


Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Wonderful Meditative Deck
Review: What an amazing deck!! I have been searching for a deck with depth and soul for meditation. Its a truly spiritual deck that speaks directly to my soul. The artwork and the "stories" for each card gently guide your spirit to what matters most.

If you are looking for a deck for quick, fortune telling type reading, this one probably isn't for you.

If you thirst for more. If you are looking for a way to feed your soul ... if you are looking for a practice that can open up your life to the spiritual... this deck is an absolute must! The beautiful, fantastical images on the cards, along with the rich, thought provoking stories that goes along with each card makes this an exceptionally magical deck.

If you have tried other decks and just feel like you just aren't getting enough... try this deck. This is the first deck I've gotten (Fifteen year, nine decks, millions of books later) that really speaks to me and gives me what I have been searching for: a deep, magical, spiritual practice.

I highly recommend this deck. It has made such a difference in my life!