Welcoming a new deck

Hi! I just got a couple of new decks in the mail and I'm wondering what are different ways people here welcome new decks and begin using them for readings.
One of the decks I got is The Deviant Moon Tarot which is pretty intense. I unwrapped it, looked through all the images, shuffled for a long time,pulled one card (What is the most important thing for me to know about this deck? I got The World), and have put the cards beside my pillow. Since it's just after the full moon, I thought it would be appropriate to leave the cards beside my bed until the after the new moon at which time I will do a deck interview readings (FireRaven's deck interview posted in the Spreads forum is fantastic). Then I will begin using the deck when I feel like it is the best one for the purpose (self-reading only to begin).

I put my new deck underneath my pillow and sleep on it for a night. I am not sure what this does but I just heard that this is the traditional way to welcome in a new deck. Maybe someone knows more about this than I do.

I pull decks out of their wrapping eagerly, then pore over them lustfully, and throw some cards out and see how they behave. Then I shuffle thoroughly. Then I often decide I want to compare them with another deck I have and know well, so I re-order them in order to make finding specific cards easier. Then I try to read with them and wonder why I get long sequential runs of cards until I remember, and randomise them again <grin>

It's all about lush enjoyment. No deck stays aloof after you've loved it comrehensively.

If it is a deck I know I shall want to use, I get all the cards out of order, choose a nice, suitable bag from my stock of bags, and once it's out of order and all bagged up, I'm ready to go.

No rituals, no new deck interview spreads (those "what kinds of readings are you good for?" type of thing), no meditation, nothing.

If it's a deck I am not going to use for the moment, it goes on the shelf, and awaits the day I wake up with a sudden urge to take it down and use it!

I do about a billion readings with it as soon as I get it. I'll do a short 3-card spread or something, then stop and glance through all the cards, then reshuffle and try to find someone to let me read for them, then stop and look at the cards again and maybe the LWB, then I try to find more people to read for, or do some more readings for myself.

I like to put 'em to work, straight away!

I look through the cards then I shuffle it and use it.

Sulis said:

I look through the cards then I shuffle it and use it.

Click to expand...

Me too. Though I often put it on a shelf first, pending things like work, etc...

I don't really have any special rituals or anything like that. Once a deck arrives I gleefully open the packaging and look through the cards. I like to sit and shuffle the deck whilst I'm chilling out. I don't read with it just get used to having it in my hands.
Then once I feel I have shuffled it enough it goes with the rest of my decks to await its turn to be used.

first i look through all the cards, enjoying the new awesomeness

then, i ponder if it is a candidate for trimming

if so, out comes the trimming gear.

lol

i do have to let it sit for a wee bit before actually reading with it in any case though. plus i have a ocd thing about trying out decks in order i get em, so if i get a few close together, some have to wait their turn for a while...

I pull a card to see what the new deck has to say to me. No question... it's very open-ended. Then I write that down and compare it to the cards other decks have given me. It sits on the nightstand for awhile, so we can get better acquainted, and I play with it for a few weeks. Eventually it gets absorbed into the Hoard, where it can live with its brothers and sisters.