Customer Reviews

Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot: Discover the Magic in Nature

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This was my first deck and I was delighted with it...at first. Although it is beautiful and a joy to handle, I found myself getting confused and wanting a more traditional approach for learning. I also found some of the cards rather dark and frightening.

This is a wonderful, beautiful deck; hypnotic to work with. But I would recommend a more traditional deck for beginners, as there is much more information available for the traditional symbolism while learning the art of tarot.

I am still working with the deck, and expect I will use it more often as time goes on.

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.

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.

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!

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.

As a tarot collector, reader and lover, I bought this deck set because of the eye catching tarot graphics and with an open tarot reviewing mind.
This is a lovely deck, more so if you are fairy inclined.
There is a strong fairy flavor blended in amongst the artwork.
The art in this deck is very very good. For that, it gets 4 stars.
Once into the accompanying book that comes with the deck set,
I was left wondering.....The book itself tells a story for each
card in the major and minor arcana. It is not traditional in tarot interpretations. You will find none. This may throw beginner tarot readers looking for the quick "what this means" explanations.
It will not tell you what each card means. It offers you a story
instead. Interesting, but very different, especially if you are
attempting to use the book for tarot meanings, confirmations.
In my opinion, the book will either bore you after one run through with it or you will find the whole "a story for each card" concept may be exciting in a novelty type of way (?) I personally had a hard time aligning the story with the card (s) I pulled. Basically I found the story takes you away from the card. I was left, after reading the story, feeling non commital. It didn't move me into any form of higher clarity for the stories sake and the accompanying book just didn't seem
to resonate with the deck.
I think the deck will be more popular if used on its own than with the accompanying book. Go with your own interpretation and intuition first.

Waking The Wild Spirit is the most beautiful tarot deck I have seen. Poppy Palin's extraordinary paintings conjure up images of the richly storied aspects of ourselves, and enable us to slip smoothly into the realm of the deep self. Her sense of colour and detail drew me inexorably into the cards, and left me awestruck with admiration. The accompanying book steps away from the more traditional methods of interpreting tarot cards. Each card tells its own story, from the perspective of the archetypal image, and reels us into a world that is filled with magic and possibilities. I highly recommend this tarot deck, both for beginners, and for experienced tarot enthusiasts!