I have bonded with many decks but I have only ever done the serious "study habit" with a few. If I journal with a deck - which I hardly ever do - then obviously it means I have dedicated quite a bit of time and effort into a deck and invariably it reaps rewards. I have only ever done this with the Thoth, Navigators of the Mystic Sea and the William Blake. I also did it when studying the Dodal with Herzog. But that was merely a notebook with numerological associations and sample spreads. Most of the studying and analysing we did in a thread here
However, a deck like the Victorian Romantic I feel truly bonded with and I never journalled with it. The companion book is so good, I simpy read it and kept reading with the deck and feel that, after the Thoth, this is the deck I feel most comfortable with. So I don't think journalling is absolutely essential.
But sometimes I am unsure about a deck; I have a period of *loose*, non-commital bonding with it to see if it is going to be a deck I shall invest more time in. In that case, I carry it around with me, look at the images in my spare moments, sit up in bed at night going through it, maybe do a draw for the following day. I have so little time, but can usually feel if it is a "journalling" kind of deck. Sadly, nowadays, so few decks come along that threaten to knock the old favourites off their perch.
But reading with, shuffling, looking at, thinking about... that's the most you can do really. I never meditate with cards (like all the books say you should) as I have never found it to be particularly useful. Thinking about cards when I'm out & about, in the café, on the subway, this is always useful for me...
