We don’t do a huge number of deck spotlights on this site, however I couldn’t not write about the final deck in the Wild Unknown Series, Alchemy, by visionary artist Kim Krans.

And even though we’ll be talking about the deck at length, I wouldn’t regard this article as a review in any way. These will be mine and Tim’s personal thoughts, ideas on how we plan to work with the cards, and any stirrings that come from our initial impressions. We are huge fans of The Wild Unknown series and regard both the Archetypes and Animal Spirit oracle as some of our most loved and most used decks. When we caught wind of this newest installation, we were extremely excited to get our hands on it, and even more thrilled that it overtly tackles alchemy; a subject that underpins much of our work, conversations and contemplations, especially as of late.

If you've been in the tarot world for awhile, and unless you've been living under a rock, you've undoubtedly stumbled upon a widely known and regarded deck called The Enchanted Tarot, illustrated by Amy Zerner and written by Monte Farber. Now I don't mean you've owned it or even worked with it, but you've probably come across some of its images in your travels at one point or another. 

It's now been 25 years since its initial release and to commemorate, the deck has been repackaged with a few tweaks to breath it new life. I'm in the camp that certainly knew of this deck and had seen it through the years, but never actually worked with it. So when I came into the opportunity to receive it for prospective review, I was thrilled to dive into without any prior knowledge and to provide, truly, my first impressions of this modern classic.

I'm lucky enough to be able to write this blog post because that means I've got my hands on the prototype of a brand new tarot deck by designer Arthur Wang; True Black Tarot. It's currently being funded on Kickstarter so if it calls to you, make sure to check out the campaign!

Because I'm working with a prototype, I can't tell you how a full deck reads, but I can give you my initial impressions on what I've been able to sample. Visually, it's nothing short of stunning - but that's just on first glance. They say the Devil is in the details and if that's the case then Satan himself must have a hand in this project. Everything has been done with such care and quality, and the more you look at each card, the more you see, but there is more here than just design. The cards themselves are crafted with very thick stock using enhancements that allow some details to seemingly shimmer and glow. There are no borders (often a preference for us readers) and the edges are hand-painted black - yes, hand-painted. I'm obsessed - and I think you will be to. I mean, just LOOK AT THEM!

Deck Information: Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham and Paul Kepple as published by Quirk Books, 2012.

The Zombie Tarot is the brainchild (yup, I kinda punned) of Stacey Graham (writer and professional tarot reader), illustrator Paul Kepple and publisher Quirk Books. I decided I needed this deck after having it continually pop-up for me during my regular course of online activity. The images immediately appealed to my senses and I quickly sought out a more complete view of the deck so I could make my final decision. With all my planned purchases, I like to do research, and part of that research includes getting my eyes on a good sample of images including majors, minors and the courts.