a mystery of a missing card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Aug 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

elisa	24 Aug 2002
I am a beginner, and I am afraid that my deck is playing tricks on me… I would like to hear your opinion/interpretation of my strange story: I bought my first deck and played around with it for a few days. At one point I decided to arrange my cards in order to feel how they flow. So I put all aces together, all twos, all threes etc. Because it was for studying them, they were all right side up, not a single reversal. During the process of arranging the deck I realized that the five of swords was missing. I arranged ALL of them and then checked them ONE BY ONE, the card was still missing. My next steps were as follows: - searched the entire house, no results. - Searched the deck again, by taking each card, one by one, and putting it into a new file… the five swords still missing - Told the cards not to play dirty tricks on me - Searched the house just a bit - Told the cards to find the lost one for me, because my patience was “on the edge” - Searched the house again, still nothing (the process so far took about 3 days) - For the first time since the card was lost I do a reading: ask the cards why I lost the five swords (the reading made intuitive sense, but I am really not good enough to tell you exactly why) - I gather the seven cards from the reading and put them back into the rest of the deck, realizing that I put them in upside down. - I shuffle them again, but don’t turn anything around, so the only possible reversals are the cards from the previous spread. - I ask another, unrelated question, and guess what is the first card I draw: MY FIVE OF SWORDS REVERSED – as if it was in the previous reading!!! this is just more than impossible..... It was not in the previous reading! Had it been in the rest of the deck, I must have overlooked it three times. And it must have been reversed this entire time. Really, quite impossible. The situation gives me a total spine chill and tears in my eyes, so I really don’t know what to think about it… Do you know how slippery and “waxed” the new cards are ?!?! They just don’t stick together… Please, help me understand what’s happened. Can a person be this blind? I must have been, but why? Elisa.

jade	24 Aug 2002
hmm, i know that amazing things happen sometimes. i would focus more on the meaning of the card rather than the fact that it re-appeared. so, how does the five of swords relate to your life right now? in light, jade

Cerulean	24 Aug 2002
I hope this story makes you feel better---what you said reminded me of my first deck! When I first bought a deck, I looked online a long time. TarotPassages was then the Art of Tarot and I chose the Ukiyoe-tarot. I called until I found it at a bookstore some 35 miles from my home. It took me a long time...and after I did know tarot outlets, I discovered it was readily available in stores ten to 15 minutes away from me. I studied card by card, so it was about a year before I found out what I thought was the publishing house extra title card was actually part of the deck---the two of pentacles. Wouldn't have been so bad had I kept all the cards intact--I cut up the box to make a bookcover and pasted the 'title card' to a homemade cover for the booklet. After awhile, I invested in another copy of the deck. I also mislaid cards as I was practising, so I finally bought a zip-up style bag and used a small cotton style kerchief for a layout cloth. You can get colorful items at a cheap cosmetic outlet/import store or sewing store. If you want to do a little more sumptuous, silk-lined style bags in a distinctive color with a zipper or drawstring...take the cards shopping with you. After awhile, the feel and wear make a favored deck seem more mellow, like a good book. What tarot seemed to be right for your chosen deck? Are you considering others, if you are distressed by this experience? Hope this helps a little, Mari H.

All Is One	24 Aug 2002
Is this actually your FIRST post? Well ~ Thanks- I needed that. I love that whole experience you related here...it embodies the mysterious and elusive and, yes mischief- making nature of the forces invoked, involved and inveigled (sp? help?- am I making up words again?) in using the Tarot. Did I miss where you said which deck this happened with...got the slippery part- just really wondering, as the swords are a cunning and wily (i.e.-slippery) suit, but SO much nore so in certain decks than in others. Welcome to the Tarot Forum, from all of us!

jema	24 Aug 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Mari_Hoshizaki I studied card by card, so it was about a year before I found out what I thought was the publishing house extra title card was actually part of the deck---the two of pentacles. Wouldn't have been so bad had I kept all the cards intact--I cut up the box to make a bookcover and pasted the 'title card' to a homemade cover for the booklet. After awhile, I invested in another copy of the deck. Mari H. hey the exact same thing happend to me. i always put away those extra cards and use them as bookmarks. so when i wanted to look at my Ukiyoe deck i saw that one card was missing. i searched everywhere but could not find the two of coins. i even wrote US games and they sent me a replacement card. then yesterday as i was packing up the deck to send to Kiama in a trade i went to look for those extra cards (i never found them) but i did find that missing two of coins. i think that when they package the deck they put that card in the front of the pack so everyone assumes it is just an extra card. how tricky of them! well, i am glad my deck will come to a better home, and Kiama, if you read this - be sure to take good care of the 2 of coins card:)

Ravenswing	24 Aug 2002
elisa-- i had a similar thing happen to me, but it was an entire deck-- the experimental deck. this deck would fall out of my hands while i was shuffling, drop out of its bag after i tied it up, and leave parts of itself all over. luckily, i never lost a card. one time it was sitting in its sack on top of my altar when it just spontaneously spewed out. it's calmed down recently, but now and again it does act up. some decks just need attention, i guess raven

DarkElectric	25 Aug 2002
Hi Elisa! My question is this...did you also check the BOX they came in, when you were looking for the missing card? I have had the experience where a card was missing, and it was sort of stuck,in the box they came in. Now I check the box really well when I get a new deck, to make sure there's nothing left behind in there. Then after I count them and make sure they're the deck is intact, I wrap them in a silk cloth. I don't keep my working decks in the box at all. If you had checked the box, and it wasn't there, The Faeiries have a way of playing tricks on us to get our attention. One of their favourite games is to move something you need, and hide it for a while. This happens to me a lot. And I KNOW it isn't me moving the whatever it is, because it always reappears somewhere I've looked, usually more than once, and it is also in a spot I wouldn't leave the thing anyway! Since I don't have roomates, and the cat doesn't have opposable thumbs...

elisa	25 Aug 2002
everybody, thanks so much! I am not the only one, it is good to know that other decks can be as moody as mine! To answer some of your questions: I've never even used the box again, so it was not in the box (and I checked it two times) For the few days when the card was lost I kept the deck out on my desk. That's why I don't see how the card could have "rejoined" the deck. It must have been there. On the other hand, I've checked the deck several times, right? and only seven cards from the previous reading "had the right" to come up reversed... As to the question about the deck: it is the Universal Waite one - classic, popular, but with soft colors. ah, and about the meaning of the card: this is the first thing I was wondering - how does it relate to my life now - and could not really find any relationship. I should keep the meaning in mind and keep my eyes out for the things it could have worned me about. Honestly, I like my deck even more now: after all we went through something together ;-) And I am really glad to hear that other people go through same crazy things.

DarkElectric	26 Aug 2002
Sounds like Faeries to me! If more stuff goes strangely missing, then weirdly reappears, I would say it's them, and they like ya! Ever considered purchasing the Faeries' Oracle, by Brian Froud and Jessica Macbeth?

elisa	27 Aug 2002
DarkElectric, Honestly, Faeries have never crossed my mind before. Perhaps they zoomed through my living room, but not my thoughts! I checked the book you mentioned on Amazon (you can see 28 sample pages) Looks interesting.

The a mystery of a missing card thread was originally posted on 24 Aug 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.