Describe a typical day with your Tarot deck

I just glanced through a thread about which Tarot deck you carry with you. I don't carry any with me at the moment, but I have a very tiny little deck of cards that came attached to a mini-book by a ribbon. They're so tiny I can't actually shuffle them, so instead I put them in a little plastic soap box and shake them. I don't use them much because they're so small I can hardly see the pictures on them.

I'm eventually going to get myself another, smaller deck and a sturdy case to carry around in my purse. But this raises another question: why would I do that? I mean, practically speaking, how would I mesh regular Tarot practice in with the rest of my day? I must admit, I'd probably feel a little...weird, you know, pulling out a deck of cards at work, or in the cafeteria. So for those of you who DO bring cards with you wherever you go, why do you do this? How does it fit into your day? Do you read for yourself or for others? Do you use them to generate conversation with others? Or do you find yourself having to explain what they are (and are not)? Do you run into any strange looks or people crossing the street to avoid you? Do people grab their kids by the hand and shoo them away from you? LOL I'm just not sure when and where it's appropriate to say, "Well, let's just ask the cards then, shall we?" and pull out a deck, or your pendulum or your crystal ball or whatever you use. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to do just that! I just have a poor track record of doing and saying things that are sadly inappropriate...because I have no sense of social propriety. LOL

Any comments, opinions or insights?

I carry my deck with me because I just don't want to be without it... I work in an office and sometimes if I get a chance on a coffee break I will take a look at a card but usually the pouch just sits between keyboard and monitor. Nice and close but not where I can spill on it The deck goes where I go - it's as simple as that.

I read with it at home, I shuffle, I do odd one card draws. Sometimes I talk to it...

I don't use that deck to read for others - they get a choice of any of five or so that I put out for them to pick from. The ones I put out depend on how I feel that day. I usually carry one of those decks in my work-bag so that if a colleague at the office asks for an unarranged reading at lunch I can oblige (they normally make an informal appointment and I can take a few decks in for them).

But my own deck - just about attached to me permanently

My Tarot decks have made a home sitting on a table in my dining room area. NOT the dining room table mind you. I'm at home a lot with my daughter so the cards are too.

When I go somewhere there is no reason for me to take them along because my 16month old is with me and well she would want them if I took them out at all.

So my 3 decks sit on a table with my candles, incense and buddha statue.

My decks are always around, always at my fingertips, whether I'm at home, in the wilderness, at work, at the diner, at the grocery store, at the local bar, parties, friend's houses...all the time, always. It's different decks all the time, though. Lately, in the past month or so, I'm conscientiously trying to rotate and really use all of them. I have a deck I use for personal draws, and I do a one card reading a day. Generally, that's the one that gets tossed into my purse, too. Lately, it's been the Universal Fantasy. I always keep a few floating around my living space, and on my person.

As far as socially... I was timid about it for a long LONG time. They never left the house, in fact. Now, I bring them with me, and they enter into many situations seamlessly. At work the other day, my friend Maureen mused out loud "I wonder if Don will catch a bear this weekend". She was telling me all about how her boyfriend was hunting bear in Maine. As she was talking, I slid the cards out of my purse, and was shuffling and pulling before I even realized it (it was a resounding "heck no", by the way). It's just a natural thing for me, whether it's unnatural or weird socially doesn't cross my mind anymore. My friends love it.

I started by just having them with me, out and about. Then, by shuffling, studying or looking at them, in public. Like, at the diner or on the bus or train or something. Just having them out in public, in your bag, in mundane life might get those gears turning. Sometimes (like with me, at work) people are naturally curious, and start asking questions. It's generated good word of mouth business, too. I don't charge my close friends, but when I read well, on the fly for them, they spread my name around, and it leads to paying clients.

i have a couple of decks with me always unless i have only a clutch bag on a night out then its bare minimum.

i often play with my cards on the tube on the way to work, sometimes its just because i have finished the newspaper and it keeps me busy if i dont have a book.

I usually have a play at lunch if i am not going out (although sometimes i go to the local coffee shop for time out) at my desk, sometimes for others int he office or sometimes for others in the office.if i am at work i usually am surfing the web or working and reading the cards during my lunch hour so i dont do my paid for readings then as it wouldnt be as focused.

if i am meeting friends then and they are late or i am early its a great timewaster, or if i am on the train home i usually get them out for a play.

In the evening if i am watching TV then i also have them or something like knitting or sewing to keep my hands busy, but i dont usually watch TV.

i think in the beginning it can be weird, but people are used to me bringing out my hobbies. my boss doesnt take the mick as much as he did when i brought my crosstitch into the office to work on in lunch.

there is alot of difference of opinion on where is appropriate to bring out your cards, i personally in the old martini song "anytime, anyplace, anywhere". I dont push it in peoples faces, but i also dont hide it. if someone didnt like tarot and expressed that, i wouldnt bring the cards out infront of them, and i likely wouldnt pull them out in church either (the odd occasion i am forced to attend a family event).
i feel naked if i dont have a pen and paper in my handbag, and the same goes for a tarot deck.

intuition897 said:

I don't carry any with me at the moment, but I have a very tiny little deck of cards that came attached to a mini-book by a ribbon. They're so tiny I can't actually shuffle them, so instead I put them in a little plastic soap box and shake them. I don't use them much because they're so small I can hardly see the pictures on them.

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That'll be the Nova. Simple illustrations, black backgrounds? the Chariot is a guy on a bicycle? The Nova. Lovely little deck. I like to use it by cupping them all in my hands, shaking them like dice, and releasing them. The cards that fall upright are the ones I read, the upside-down ones are not relevant. Of those, the ones closest to the centre of the -er- mess are more important, those on the fringes less so.

It's a bit like the tiny little enamel Burmese locket my all-time favourite girlfriend gave me twenty-five years ago, smaller than the top joint of my little finger, which had inside it eleven elephants carved out of slices of mother-of-pearl in intricate detail. The whole point is not to use them or look at them except very rarely, but just to know they are there. A friend of mine has this same deck on her keyring as a talisman (when she works, she works with the Thoth).

intuition897 said:

I'm eventually going to get myself another, smaller deck and a sturdy case to carry around in my purse.

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<doubletake> There is a smaller deck? WANNIT! WAAA!

intuition897 said:

But this raises another question: why would I do that? I mean, practically speaking, how would I mesh regular Tarot practice in with the rest of my day? I must admit, I'd probably feel a little...weird, you know, pulling out a deck of cards at work, or in the cafeteria. So for those of you who DO bring cards with you wherever you go, why do you do this? How does it fit into your day? Do you read for yourself or for others?

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I have one deck that lives permanently in my bag that doesn't get pulled out every day, but it's there just in case. Not only just in case I decide I need it, but also just in case the house burns down or I get burgled by someone with an interest in Tarot. If I actually *plan* to pull out a deck (when I'm not out with my full working-kit specifically to do readings), I'll often throw a second deck in with it and use them both, or either-either.

At work, I wouldn't pull a deck out during working hours, but there's no problem during tea breaks or lunch breaks. Going to a work cafeteria or even a non-work cafe, I can't think of anything more pleasant than a meal, a coffee and a spread. Most people leave you alone: those who don't, express support of some kind. The sole instance when that didn't happen (and I pull cards out in cafes *often*) was when I had my Golden Klimpt with me: it features a lot of nudity, though little or any of it is actually erotic or sexy; and I was sitting in a cafe with a coffee going over the deck because I was about to review it. There was hardly anyone else around - from memory a single couple, at a table far away. A waitress who was evidently about 12 years old <grin> walked past me a couple of times. I paid her no mind - I was busy. Eventually, apologetically and unhappily, she interrupted me and said something like: "Excuse me, could you put that away, please? The pornography is bothering the other customers". The other customers didn't look bothered. She looked miserable. I put it away. It's the only time anyone has ever been bothered by my pulling a deck out in public.

nisaba said:

That'll be the Nova. Simple illustrations, black backgrounds? the Chariot is a guy on a bicycle? The Nova. Lovely little deck. I like to use it by cupping them all in my hands, shaking them like dice, and releasing them. The cards that fall upright are the ones I read, the upside-down ones are not relevant. Of those, the ones closest to the centre of the -er- mess are more important, those on the fringes less so.

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Yup, that's the one. And that's a great idea for creating a spread!

nisaba said:

It's a bit like the tiny little enamel Burmese locket my all-time favourite girlfriend gave me twenty-five years ago, smaller than the top joint of my little finger, which had inside it eleven elephants carved out of slices of mother-of-pearl in intricate detail. The whole point is not to use them or look at them except very rarely, but just to know they are there. A friend of mine has this same deck on her keyring as a talisman (when she works, she works with the Thoth).

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That is cool!

nisaba said:

<doubletake> There is a smaller deck? WANNIT! WAAA!

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LOL.. no I mean smaller than my regularly sized deck! I used to see it as a nearly useless deck because I have to squint to see it, and I couldn't shuffle it "properly". But I think it's more a matter of just getting used to the images so I don't have to squint, and trying your spread method.

nisaba said:

Going to a work cafeteria or even a non-work cafe, I can't think of anything more pleasant than a meal, a coffee and a spread. Most people leave you alone: those who don't, express support of some kind. The sole instance when that didn't happen (and I pull cards out in cafes *often*) was when I had my Golden Klimpt with me: it features a lot of nudity, though little or any of it is actually erotic or sexy; and I was sitting in a cafe with a coffee going over the deck because I was about to review it. There was hardly anyone else around - from memory a single couple, at a table far away. A waitress who was evidently about 12 years old <grin> walked past me a couple of times. I paid her no mind - I was busy. Eventually, apologetically and unhappily, she interrupted me and said something like: "Excuse me, could you put that away, please? The pornography is bothering the other customers". The other customers didn't look bothered. She looked miserable. I put it away. It's the only time anyone has ever been bothered by my pulling a deck out in public.

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OMG, that is terrible! Pornography?? I would've been hard pressed to keep my mouth shut. I would've wanted to tell her that Gustav Klimt was indeed a rebel...about a hundred years ago. I'm sorry but I just find it so sad that people can still be so horribly repressed! Pornography?? It's ART!

I always have a deck or two with me, I'll quite often just pull a card and write about it in my journal whilst having a coffee. If I'm travelling anywhere, on a train or in the passenger seat of a car, I quite often find myself just shuffling and looking at the cards, then writing down any thoughts that pop into my head, usually observations about the cards.

Sometimes the deck never leaves my bag, but I like the reassurance of knowing that it is there.

I'm never bored if I have a tarot deck with me.

I don't feel quite so insane at this point!

And I love the comment nisaba made about being burgled by someone with an interest in tarot! I dare say the average burglar would be totally distracted if he/she entered my home, if not down right intimidated...They would probably be afraid to actually 'take' anything, they'd be too busy trying to get out!

I don't work outside the home, so that isn't an issue for me, but at home, my favourite deck is always close by. It's very unusual to find me watching t.v. without a deck in my hands, and if it's a new deck, you might find it sitting nearby with a large clear quartz cluster sitting on top of it. If I'm sleeping, you'll find it under my pillow. Some of my best communication with the deck comes while I'm sleeping...

There's just something comforting about having the deck within reach.

I'm addicted to always carrying at least one deck around everywhere with me too. My bf (who scoffs at Tarot) even reminds me to pop a deck in my bag (or even his rucksack, if we're going walking.)
It's a comfort-blanket thing.
I only occasionally use it on 'normal' days when out, but feel safe from boredom or unease just knowing it's to hand!

Nisaba - as for tiny weeny decks, my smallest is one I cut out from the inside flaps of the cover of the softback "Tarot Workbook" by Juliet Sharman-Burke. The tiny facsimiles of the whole deck are the only reason I bought it! It only cost about £4.
They all fit into a small section of my wallet, in a little organza bag that came with a crystal I bought.

My usual lightweight carry-around deck is my little Zerner-Farber: sweet-looking & pretty, but packs quite a punch!