why do you buy

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Mar 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

cjtarot	15 Mar 2003
hi all. need a little help. When I buy material for bags, cloths and just things I like, I do it for a reason. The material for bags has to match the feel of the deck, same for the reading cloth. For quilts, it's becuase it makes me feel "at home".. Why do you buy..this poll will be a GREAT help so please answer honestly. Cj

Hedera	15 Mar 2003
Hi cjtarot, I voted 'to match the deck' , but quite often I find myself buying a bag just because I really like the look of it, then switch some decks / bags around to match. Also, some bags that I got for a certain bag ended up not fitting the deck I had in mind. They usually turn out to be right for another deck, though. :) (if not, I may end up buying decks to fit my bags....) I do want my decks in a bag that I feel matches, if only to make it easier to find them!

Astraea	15 Mar 2003
I sometimes buy bags that I like, and then wait until "their" decks come to me. If I'm buying a bag for a specific deck, I make sure that they complement one another -- seems to honor the integrity of both the deck and its home.

RedWood	15 Mar 2003
I chose cuz I like it...Mine dont have to match..This doesnt bother me..Some decks feel right in some bags..some dont...most do match in one little aspect to teh bag..even tho from teh outside of the deck and bag..you cant really see it..but when you delve into the cards its like OHHHHHHHHHHHHh

Wisp Wings	16 Mar 2003
Hi CJ: I too make Tarot bags. I haven't ever marketed them on the net yet. Mine are not truly in the norm of what so many of the tarot bags prints are like and can serve several purposes. I base many of mine on matching them with decks. But the meaning of matching to the decks isn't just with the vision of eye sight, equally and I think, more often it is matched to the tone of the deck. For instance, if I have a period deck where the characters in them aren't modern day, but from many centuries past, I work to use fabrics that reflect that same feel. With the Robin Wood deck, I always envision a forest green and I go with elegant fabrics of forest green for them. Some one else said they have bags waiting for the deck to come for that bag. I do that too, having several bags that I am keeping for myself now waiting to birth the decks (lol). Lastly, you may be interested in this tidbit. I once read on preferences for what the bags should be made from. This was interesting and varied. I was surprised to learn that many like and use leather. Tradition talks of only silk to wrap them with or put into and then into a wooden box to ensure protection from unwanted spirits. Other's agree that silk or 100% cotton is fine. An overall agreement was as long as 100% cotton lined then whatever the outer fabric was fine. It was what that is literally first to be touching the deck needed to be natural. My personal believes on this, I do keep mine in a wooden box, but mostly as just being secure and to give them a place of honor and respect. I would love to have some silk to use, but 100% silk is so costly. I mainly think due to the reason that the purist believe as silk or cotton fabric only is they are wanting something from the earth and is natural. I look at that as this, the cards which is the reason for all of this, as they are the "tool", they today aren't made 100% all natural, yet we are able to read as well as ever. So I think since we are living in a modern world we can be a bit giving in what stores them as well. I do line my bags with 100% cotton for three purposes. First and foremost due to lining them it adds strength to the life of the bag, secondly 100% is cost effective and thirdly for the people wanting what is in direct contact to the deck itself to be natural, I address that need with "natural earth made cotton". :-)

Emily	16 Mar 2003
I usually buy them to match the deck, but I like deep purples and blues anyway so most of my bags and all my tarot cloths are those colours - most decks match these colours too :) I like velvets, silks or tapestry type material (stitched/embroidered) for the bags but patterned cotton for the spread cloths. Also they must look old, with pull-tie tops not zips or velcro. I've never made a tarot bag but have made rune bags which follow the same line but I like brown/autumn colours for runes bags and cloths lol :)

coldsuns	16 Mar 2003
I dont have a Tarot Bag! Is hard to find one here. There is only 1 type and very common now. I'm waiting for more to come!

Bings	16 Mar 2003
I also make all my bags and try to have them match the deck they will go with. My Sacred Circle is in the most unusal bag I have made. It is out of deer suede. My Legend: Arthurian Tarot is in a very soft blue cotton. Wild Spirit is in a green denim. I'm now looking for a period piece to go with my Renaissance deck and my Fey has not yet arrived in the mail so I'm unsure what it's bag will be like. Dianne

Icestorm	16 Mar 2003
The key for me is that there are only a select few decks that I really like, that conform to my feelings and beliefs. Hence, the tarot bag that also 'suits' me will undoubtedly also suit my decks! -LoL.

coldsuns	16 Mar 2003
Ooo..Bings must be very good at sewing? Great "housewife"! ^_^

Silverlotus	16 Mar 2003
I like the material to match my deck both in feeling and in pattern. For example, I use cjtarot's fabulous green velvet bag for my Robin Wood deck. Both have a soft feeling, and the fairy on the bag matches the magical feeling of the deck. The colours also blend nicely. I made a bag for my Osho Zen using a silk-like redish material with a peacock feather on it in a very similar colour. The bag shimmers in the light, and I think it matches the Zen feeling of the cards in that the meaning of the cards can change depending on your mood or the "light" through which you look at them. It is tied with a gold coloured ribbon to match the colour on the back of the cards. My other decks are all in bags I created from cross stitch. I found pieces of linen that match the deck in colour and then stitched a design that fit the mood of the deck. They are all lined with a light purple material (my favourite colour), and tied with a silverly-white ribbon.

anjocoxo	16 Mar 2003
My tarot bags are all basically the same: I make my own bags, they're all white, and I usually embroid (sp?) them, to make the difference, usually they have "tarot" written on them. But I'm doing a new one now, and I'm planing to embroyder a star, moon or sun (haven't made up my mind yet). Anyway, I'm planing to buy some cloth in order to do more bags (although I have few decks), a beautiful, coloured cloth... have to start looking for it.

WolfSpirit	17 Mar 2003
I voted "it has to match the deck". I made most of my bags, some I bought. Sometimes I make a matching bag and then it matches the deck in colour, feel of the material etc, and then I find a ready made bag that totally matches the deck - so I have to have that bag :laugh: and switch my bags around. For example for my wolf pack deck I had made a bag with a brownish natural material until I found a bag with the picture of wolves on it which I liked even better. I also still have an old velvet top that will make some nice bags that can be used for several kinds of decks - so that can be bags that I use until I find the perfect matching bag. It's just fun trying to find the right bag.

bec	17 Mar 2003
my real reason for buying, or I should rather say creating. Only got one bag, and when I made it it was for holding pensils and stuff for shcool. Piece of black cloth ripped of some old trousers, sewed it in hand only and wrote my middle name BUSACK on it. When it had served its purpose as "penalhus" dont knowthe word for it, I didnt use it for a long time till I got me first deck. Since then that has been its purpose. So what I really would like to answer: it has to do with the feeling the bag gives and what it becomes.

Khatruman	17 Mar 2003
Not sure if the matching choice was exactly what I wanted...perhaps that it must complement the deck. If it is a Celtic or fairy type deck, then something similar... just has to have the same feel of the deck itself...

rota	17 Mar 2003
I know what kind of bag a Hello Kitty Tarot goes in: it would be pink vinyl, with a carrying loop and a zipper, and have a Kerokeroppi sticker on the side. But what suits an H P Lovecraft deck? a creepy unreadable glyph burned into black leather with ties made of octopus tentacles? The Manara deck? sheer purple nylon, with fetching cutouts, trimmed in lace, and a closure made out of a garter clip. :D

scheherazade	18 Mar 2003
I say yes, it has to match the deck, in general color and the sense of mysticism it gives off, but more importantly, I go for material. I like velvet on the outside, silk or satin inside. Usually the outside should be black or blue, inside, violet.

Cocobird55	22 Mar 2003
I have some decks that I bought the deck and the bag or box at the same time. I also have some bags that I bought because I like them, and eventually they all found the right deck to go with them. Mostly I look for something that feels right for a deck. My Gendron, one of my favorites, went from bag to bag, and none of them felt quite right. FInally I found a patchwork velvet bag at a Renaissance Faire, and I knew immediately that I'd found the right bag. Sometimes I think I've found the right bag for a deck, but then find a better one, so I play musical decks with my decks and bags.\ Sue

The why do you buy thread was originally posted on 15 Mar 2003 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.