When purchasing a new deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 08 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

prcoqueto	08 Mar 2002
Hi There! I'm currently looking for a deck to purchase for a friend. Once I buy the deck for her, is there any special rituals that she should do before using the deck? Thanks

truthsayer	08 Mar 2002
that depends on your friend. if she likes breaking new decks in w/ rituals there a loads of them. some that i have done are: 1. reorder and shuffle the deck as often as i can to acclimate myself to the deck and vice versa. 2. sleep with the deck either inside my pillow under my mattress or on my nightstand. 3. do a blessing ritual 4. i've heard of ppl cleansing them w/ smudge i'm sure other ppl have other ways. sometimes i don't do anything. if a deck feels extra special then i do special things. a lot depends on my mood and how much time i have. i don't consider it a requirement. what i do consider a requirement is not really a ritual but seems a practical practice for various reasons. each deck to have its own bag or box to call home. it seems to make them happy. i keep my decks in a especially appointed place so i can find them when i need a deck. i learned this after loosing my first deck b/c i moved so many times in my twenties. i like keeping herbs or incense or cyrstals near them for protection and charging. just feels like the right thing to do. hope this helps some. if you want rituals for tarot, eileen connally's books must have every possible ritual for any tarot occasion.

Razz	08 Mar 2002
I really like handling the deck and touching it. So that it feels comfortable in my hands. I know this probably sounds very weird. There are some decks I really like because of the artwork, but they don't feel right with doing a reading. So I touch the deck as in shuffling or just handling the deck looking at each of the cards. Seeing how it reads as I touch it. I know that I should keep the decks wrapped, but I don't always, but I do keep them close by me at night. Razz

nexyjo	09 Mar 2002
there's probibly as many "new deck rituals" as there are people. i usually look through the deck in the order that it came. i study each card for a while, and do this several times. then i'll start shuffling for a while. sometimes i'll just leave it at that, sometimes i'll go back and shuffle more. then i just start using them. well, actually, that's pretty rare come to think of it. i pretty much use only my robin wood deck, with an occasional use of my tarot of the cloisters deck. the rest i just look through every now and again, and them put them back on my tarot shelf. luv and light, nexy

Jewel	11 Mar 2002
Prcoqueto, what a nice gift!!! the one thing I would recommend is that you get her a deck you know she is interested in having, decks can be a very personal thing. As for rituals ... well my ritual is as follows: 1) get in the car with a big grin on my face as I protect the bag that contains the deck. Or, in the event that it was a mail order, slowly close my door so I am left alone with the deck. 2) Immediately destroy protective plastic wrapping, carefully open the box, extract the cards (while holding breath) then take off the shrink wrap and grin again. 3) Whether driving or sitting on my bed I look through the cards in the order they came. If the cards did not come in numerical order I usually frown for a brief moment. 4) Once home (or if already there) I immediately proceed to put the deck in proper order (I like majors Fool-Universe, Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles from Ace-King). 5) Look through the deck again, now that it is in proper order, very slowly letting my eyes glide over the artwork. 6) Put the deck back in its box, feeling all excited because I have a new deck, put the deck in my bookcase. As a collector I just do not have enough time to really bond with all my decks, but I do dream of doing it with each some day ... only problem is, is that I keep on getting new decks *LOL*.

truthsayer	11 Mar 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel Prcoqueto, what a nice gift!!! the one thing I would recommend is that you get her a deck you know she is interested in having, decks can be a very personal thing. As for rituals ... well my ritual is as follows: 1) get in the car with a big grin on my face as I protect the bag that contains the deck. Or, in the event that it was a mail order, slowly close my door so I am left alone with the deck. 2) Immediately destroy protective plastic wrapping, carefully open the box, extract the cards (while holding breath) then take off the shrink wrap and grin again. 3) Whether driving or sitting on my bed I look through the cards in the order they came. If the cards did not come in numerical order I usually frown for a brief moment. 4) Once home (or if already there) I immediately proceed to put the deck in proper order (I like majors Fool-Universe, Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles from Ace-King). 5) Look through the deck again, now that it is in proper order, very slowly letting my eyes glide over the artwork. 6) Put the deck back in its box, feeling all excited because I have a new deck, put the deck in my bookcase. As a collector I just do not have enough time to really bond with all my decks, but I do dream of doing it with each some day ... only problem is, is that I keep on getting new decks *LOL*. ROFLMAO!!!!!!!! jewel,you are a jewel and way too funny! i'm also beginning to wonder if you are my tarot twin. what you described sounds like me w/ a new deck. i bought the sacred rose deck saturday but since i drove up w/ holy rollers and snuck off to the new age store on foot, i had to sneak it into my bags. it was sunday before i had time alone to sit down and soak in the ambiance of the sacred rose. lovely deck! still have it by my computer to admire and glance thru again. in fact, i'm not sure how many decks i have around my computer to admire at will but it's getting really cluttered! maybe i need to put a few in my bookcase. i just don't want them to think i've forgotten them! i wouldn't want to hurt their feelings! LOL :D and this is from a woman who says the cards are just cardboard w/ pictures painted on them!! silly me! ;)

prcoqueto	11 Mar 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel Prcoqueto, what a nice gift!!! the one thing I would recommend is that you get her a deck you know she is interested in having, decks can be a very personal thing. As for rituals ... well my ritual is as follows: 1) get in the car with a big grin on my face as I protect the bag that contains the deck. Or, in the event that it was a mail order, slowly close my door so I am left alone with the deck. 2) Immediately destroy protective plastic wrapping, carefully open the box, extract the cards (while holding breath) then take off the shrink wrap and grin again. 3) Whether driving or sitting on my bed I look through the cards in the order they came. If the cards did not come in numerical order I usually frown for a brief moment. 4) Once home (or if already there) I immediately proceed to put the deck in proper order (I like majors Fool-Universe, Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles from Ace-King). 5) Look through the deck again, now that it is in proper order, very slowly letting my eyes glide over the artwork. 6) Put the deck back in its box, feeling all excited because I have a new deck, put the deck in my bookcase. Wow Jewel if my friend gets half as excited as you do, it will be worth the effort! Now I know what to get you for x-mas. LOL ;)

The When purchasing a new deck thread was originally posted on 08 Mar 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.