"Sealing" your deck

I was wondering about something my teacher said but I don't seem to see anywhere else...

She calls it "Sealing the cards" between uses. She pulls out the Sun and the Moon and puts them on top and bottom of the deck. she suggested I could also use the Fool and the World.

Do you feel the need to "seal the cards"?

Personally, I am a little confused how 2 specific cards can protect your deck from anything, but am really curious if others do this little ritual. I did it for a little while after she taught me, but now I don't.

No, I don't do anything like that. If it makes you happy to do so, go for it. But in my opinion there will be no effect on the cards themselves.

Amitisti said:

I was wondering about something my teacher said but I don't seem to see anywhere else...

She calls it "Sealing the cards" between uses. She pulls out the Sun and the Moon and puts them on top and bottom of the deck. she suggested I could also use the Fool and the World.

Do you feel the need to "seal the cards"?

Personally, I am a little confused how 2 specific cards can protect your deck from anything, but am really curious if others do this little ritual. I did it for a little while after she taught me, but now I don't.

Click to expand...

I don't "seal" my cards either. I do keep them away from "negative energies". I don't like other people, especially if they are angry, touching my cards.

No, I don't "seal" my deck. I just put it in its bag till the next time.

You'll find that there are tons of myths and superstitions about Tarot. I think it makes some people feel like they've got something really woo-woo going on that makes them mysterious and special when they treat their deck that way and since I know I'm anything BUT mysterious and special, I just don't do it. They're paper and ink. They're not entities.

Oh, wait----isn't it me who always saying "the magic is in you, not in the cards"----isn't that saying the opposite? That we are special and mysterious and have woo-woo going on?

Sigh.

But truly, no I don't seal my deck in any way or do anything else superstitious like that.

All these little rules are useless and a waste of time in my opinion. To each his own I guess...

I've never heard of such a thing. Never had any troubles with my decks in the 20+ years of reading and not having such rituals.

If it makes you feel better to "Seal" your deck, continue. Otherwise, don't bother with it anymore.

Grizabella said:

No, I don't "seal" my deck. I just put it in its bag till the next time.

You'll find that there are tons of myths and superstitions about Tarot. I think it makes some people feel like they've got something really woo-woo going on that makes them mysterious and special when they treat their deck that way and since I know I'm anything BUT mysterious and special, I just don't do it. They're paper and ink. They're not entities.

Oh, wait----isn't it me who always saying "the magic is in you, not in the cards"----isn't that saying the opposite? That we are special and mysterious and have woo-woo going on?

Sigh.

But truly, no I don't seal my deck in any way or do anything else superstitious like that.

Click to expand...

while I don't believe that the rules and rituals make any real difference, i do like performing them - all part of the fun, and, well, just in case....but if I were going to choose cards to put on either side of the deck to protect it, I'd probably pick something like the devil and the magician -- or the empress and the high priestess...

I havn't heard of this before.

I really wouldn't have the time to go through the deck to find the sun and moon cards as the perfectionist in me would then feel compelled to put the whole deck back in order every time!

I always feel the need to shuffle before putting the cards away as it feels like I am "clearing" the deck from the last reading. I know it won't make any difference as they get shuffled again before they are read with next time but it's something I started doing and now can't stop. It's more of a signal to my brain to say I'm finished rather than anything to do with the deck.

edited to add: just thinking about it, if it is necessary to "seal" the cards in this way for protection or any other reason then I wonder why a tarot deck when it is in it's "virgin state" as it were or put back in correct order that it hasn't been designed with a "protective" card at the beginning and end.

I would say go with what you are happy with, the one thing I have learnt here in my short time at AT is that there is no "right" or "wrong". I guess it's a personal superstition or something that that has been taught or passed down but actually has no real reasoning behind it. Just my opinion.

I think it's unhealthy to get too anal about a deck of cards, but if one finds a little ritualistic activity to be edifying, why not?

I haven't heard of "sealing", but I usually put the 2 extra cards that come with a deck at the top and bottom. The top card often looks kind of like a book cover for the deck. It's not spiritual, but I imagine that the inside 78 cards are a teeeeensy bit more physically protected.