- Deck name: Wild Whispers Oracle: Messages from the Desert
- Author and artist: Nat Girsberger
- Publisher: Rockpool Publishing
- Recommended retail price: £18.99 (Amazon UK)/ $19.29 (Amazon US)
- ISBN: 9781922786258
- Date of publication: 13 March 2025
- Country of origin: Australia
- Reviewed by: Beth Rees (Instagram: https://instagram.com/neurodivergenttarot)
Artist Background
Nat Girsberger is a Brooklyn-based Swiss artist whose art aims to ‘interpret the unseen’. It encourages those who encounter it to connect to their own potential and ‘go beyond what they thought was accessible’ in their own minds. Girsberger ‘s name may sound familiar because she’s also the creator of the visually stunning Radiant Wilds Tarot Deck (released in September 2023).
Girsberger’s inspiration for the Wild Whispers Oracle Deck was the desert (with specific mentions of the Californian High Desert Joshua Tree) where she received downloads of ‘earth omens and desert messages’ during a time of personal reflection and pause. The title, she said, came to her ‘light as a raven’s feather’ during a difficult time in her life, but she wasn’t sure what the project would look like until she was called to the Mojave Desert and heard the Wild Whispers herself. She describes her transformation as an ‘alchemical process’ and encourages us to use the heart of the desert to find our inner light.
First impressions
This 44-card deck is immediately eye-catching and colourful, using deep reds, oranges and browns to pull you into the warmth of the desert. The retro-futuristic collages and use of light and dark really capture your attention, the personal journey and transformation of the creator. I was keen to start using it and see what it had to share with me.
Guidebook
There is an extensive 156-page guidebook with an introduction to the creator, how to use the deck, the deck structure and comprehensive descriptions for each of the 44 cards.
The deck is split into four passing phases of the day (sunset, sun nadir, sunrise and sun zenith) which ‘act as a compass’ to navigate your way through the cards. Girsberger weaves the elemental power and presence of the sun throughout, providing in-depth explanations in the guidebook. These descriptions in turn are split into phases which helped me a lot. As someone who wasn’t previously aware of these phases, it was interesting to learn about each of them, although it would’ve helped me to have a keyword for each for further understanding.
The ‘Card Structure’ section is also detailed and provides an overview of the alchemical process made up of seven parts: Whisper, Introspection, Elements, Embodiment, Practice, Emblem, Integration. For the card meanings, I felt a lot of love and care had gone into writing them. They include an affirmation, a question, elements to look out for, suggested action/practice, a symbol and a poem per descriptor. This is why there are roughly 3 pages per card – so there’s plenty to digest!
The Deck
The cards are 9cm x 3.81cm x 12.8cm and are standard Rockpool card stock with lovely gold edging. My hands are a bit small, so I did find them tricky to shuffle (but that’s just me). The deck comes in a two-part box which is easy to open, and has a buttery soft feel.
On doing a deck interview with Wild Whispers, it became clear that it wanted me to use my intuition as soon as I picked it up (no jumping cards!). It allowed me to get quiet and enjoy the shuffling sound of the cards. As someone who on occasion struggles with inner noise, this sense of calm was hard to come by.
But on picking my six cards and turning them over, I laughed out loud.
The first card (What is your most important characteristic?) was ‘Intuition’ with the second card (What are your strengths?) being ‘Awareness’. Nothing like a glaringly obvious reminder to start off with! I took this as encouragement to be aware of when the outer environment gets so loud that I can’t hear the inner one, and so making space to get quiet. The third card (What are your limitations?) was ‘Renewal’ which I saw as the deck helping set me on the right path towards transformation but not doing all the work for me. When asked ‘What are you here to teach me?’, the ‘Repetition’ card appeared as a reminder that ‘Patterns long to be broken’ and that new cycles can bring growth. The best thing I can learn from working with this deck is ‘Nuance’; that things are more complex than they seem. This resonated as soon as I saw the guidebook info: ‘Receive all the colours of the spectrum, staying open to every one of your emotions… Diversity ultimately makes life special’. It spoke straight to my neurodivergence as something to take pride in. Finally, the potential outcome for our relationship was ‘Wholeness’, leaving me with ‘Don’t compare your sunrise to someone else’s sunset.’ which was a positive and warm way to end an insightful interview.
I enjoyed getting to know this deck and liked the simple keywords and poeticism of the guidebook. I felt like it took me on a calming journey. I also admired the creator for sharing about her personal challenges that led to the creation of this deck which then added another layer to the cards.
I was struck by the originality of the imagery but found it tricky at times to translate and connect to. The alchemical process went a bit over my head too as I didn’t really know anything about it to start with. However, I did learn about the process through the guidebook which was interesting.
I feel like this deck would be great for those interested in alchemy or with prior knowledge of it. It would also be great for those readers who enjoy a more abstract, intuitive deck as there’s plenty of scope for interpretation in the cards.
You can purchase the cards from Rockpool Publishing HERE.
More about Nat Girsberger:
0 Comments