How do you bond with your deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Jun 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Iv'e always been asked how it's possiable for me to have a relationship with my tarot deck. I say easy ^__^ I believe the two of us are partners. It wouldnt be right to just do a reading and thats it your done with your deck until an other reading is needed. I feel that doing something like that is an insult to your deck. The tarot teaches us so much about ourselfs, therefore we must show it respect and love ^_^ I often shuffle my deck while whatching tv listening to soothing music or whenever. I also lay them out at the of my door when it rains. I love the energey that rain produces and I think its a treat for my deck. Then of course I talk to them and sometimes I just pick some cards and admire their beauty. Well this is just me what else do you all do with your deck? Menmay

LittleWing	19 Jun 2003
i bond with them by relating all my life experiences, and the people i have come accross to them.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Thats so wondrful you and your deck(s) must be close. thanks for your reply little wing ^_^

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
What else do you guys do to be more intune with your deck(s)??

LittleWing	19 Jun 2003
i also find that music evokes so many emotions - - i look at my cards while listening to music - - and the cards speak certain feelings etc.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
I feel the same way!!

LittleWing	19 Jun 2003
especially when you listen to music you have not heard for years and years ...... and memories come flooding back ....... and certain cards jump out as you look at them ...... speaking of these times and experiences.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
^_^ thinking about this makes me want to jump around and play some old music!

LittleWing	19 Jun 2003
just yesterday ..... i was listening to some old tapes ..... 1980's power ballads!!! soft metal/love songs ....... dreaming of 1985!! - i tell you, it stirred up many things ..... including how sexy i find the devil card after listening to alice cooper's poison!!!!!!

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Tee hee I love the 80's thats my era man!! I know exactly what you mean about the power that most music has on us and on our decks.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Is there anything other then music that helps you bond with your decks???

samantha	19 Jun 2003
Hi Menmay. Well , this is kind of bonding....... If I am doing a reading for an overseas friend then I will "wrap" one of their letters around the cards for 5 mins or so ....to let them get better acquainted ! The only down side with this , as I discovered , is that the subsequent reading can take on the energy of what was going on when the letter was being written.....You have to put a" clause"into this proceedure , and then its ok !

Alissa	19 Jun 2003
When I first get a deck, I first go through all the cards, just checking them out. I almost always find either a Significator for that deck, while paging, or sometimes several cards that present themselves, so I put them together. I sleep with the deck under my pillow the first night. This is bonding for me at times, as certain decks (ora at least, my knowledge of their presence) have seemed to color my dreams that night. I dunno why I do that. I'm just romantic I guess. lol

Lionheart	19 Jun 2003
I am much the same as Alissa, when I get a new deck or purchase a used deck, like most of us here, can't wait to get home and go through them immediately. I familiarise myself with each card, this usually takes some time, I try to have as much contact as possible with the cards shuffling and have been known to sleep with them under my pillow. Donna

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Thats so unique the both of you have interesting ways of bonding. I often thought about sleeping with my deck but I've never done it. Now that I see that Im not alone when it comes to that idea I'll to it ^_^ Also the whole reading for freinds over sea, is so cool!!! The idea of wraping your cards in a letter they wrote. Is so intersesting, Its good to hear that you all love your decks!!

divinerguy	19 Jun 2003
How do I bond with my deck? Hmmm ... Normally, a little dinner, some dancing, maybe a drink or two. No wait, that's something else. I open up the box and feel the cards, then I smell them. Then I look through all the cards. I'll know right away whether I want to read with them.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Nice divinerguy its wonderful that you can tell if your going to read your cards or not.

Umbrae	19 Jun 2003
I like to shuffle them during nine innings of baseball...then and only then do I look at them. Sometimes I just carry them with me...jacket pocket or briefcase. My car deck just lives in my glove compartment...different decks...but they all love baseball.

Menmay	19 Jun 2003
Umbrae thank you for posting I think its cute that you and your cards share the love of baseball ^_^

Emily	20 Jun 2003
When I get a deck first thing I do is to count them to make sure they are all there then go through them one by one, getting familiar with the cards - this can take anything from 1/2 hour to an hour. I keep them in order at first, laying the deck out in its suits to see all the cards because once I've used a deck its never ordered again. Once all this has been done then its shuffled, when I'm on here or watching tv. I have slept with decks next to the bed, I had an unusual dream about the Prince of Swords in the Thoth deck, good dream, not happened again. And usually I just keep new decks close and this is how I bond with them. :)

Sulis	20 Jun 2003
It depends if it`s going to be a reading deck or not. Reading decks get a special bag and silk scarf to live in. I also go through the cards and `stress` them by bending them, not on a table edge as Umbrae has suggested in a previous thread but by using my fingers and thumb. I then get rid of that chemically new deck smell by smudging each card with sandalwood or amber incense. Finally a little bit of Reiki clears any unwanted energies the cards may have picked up on their way to me. After all that and of course studying the cards themselves I usually feel quite close to my deck. I usually know straight away whether or not I`m going to use a deck for regular readings so most of my decks haven`t had such special treatment. Love and light Crystalmynx xx

Sobeknofret	20 Jun 2003
I sleep with the deck under my pillow. I know that the deck is ready to go when I start dreaming about it. Usually the dreams are fairly innocent, about reading with the deck and so on, but dreaming about the Tarots of Casanova was a totally different experience. There are a few people I will never be able to look in the face again without turning red and embarassed... })

Diana	20 Jun 2003
I just take out the deck, look at the cards. If I like them, then I've "bonded". If I don't like them, then I keep the deck for reference purposes if it's worth it, or get rid of it. The first time I use the deck, I shuffle it a little bit longer so as to make sure that the cards are nicely mixed.

Menmay	20 Jun 2003
Thank you all so much for posting, its fun to hear what others do with there decks. ^__^

WolfSpirit	20 Jun 2003
With a new deck I always first check if all the cards are there...just a practicality. And then I really really get to look at the cards. I want to be familiar with all the cards before I start using the deck, I never read with a deck straight away but at a certain point I get the feeling: this is it, then I start using the deck (although some decks I never use for readings). Then I still have to decide what kind of bag I am going to get the deck. So I look at the colours, theme of the deck, and check what materials I have and make the bag. Although sometimes I see a ready bag (often on ebay) and I think: that is perfect for deck X, then deck X gets that bag. I think it is part of the bonding process to find a nice bag for every deck (and it is just fun to do)

Wildchild	21 Jun 2003
The very first thing I do is touch and look at each card. Sometimes I would smudge them and sometimes not...depends on how the energies coming from the cards. I usually carry the deck with me in my bag if I'm not at home. Sometimes I sleep with them under my pillow and sometimes I leave them by my bedside. One thing I do with all my decks is that as soon as I get my new deck, I start knitting a silk bag for it. During that time, I would take out the cards and look through them often. By the time I'm done, the bag and cards belong together. During that bonding time, I can usually feel if I'll be using the deck for reading or other things. I have a few decks that I've never read with but I still love them all the same.

sagitarian	21 Jun 2003
Oh I'm an impatient child when it comes to a new deck!!! I HAVE to go through it right away! Then afterwards, I shuffle them over and over to feel them, and to begin our energy exchange. I love the feeling of shuffling a new deck! It really is awesome, the feeling of that new energy never explored before. Shortly after that, I do a new deck reading (3 card spread) asking more specifically what will our relationship be together, or what will I learn from our relationship? Then proceed with the reading. After that, I work with them as much as possible, doing readings with them (all my friends LOVE me to read for them, so it's cake for me to find guinea pigs for a new deck, if they really need a reading though then I'll break out my faeries and let them talk, that's my clearest guiding deck I have ever found for myself). Also I do daily card readings with them, just pulling one card a day to see how that day's events are going to go. Sometimes I'll record this in a journal, more times then not, I don't. Sometimes I'll also pull a dream card, asking "is there anything in particular that I should meditate about before going to sleep, or be thinking about as I go to sleep?" and pull a card. Some cards tell me, your exhausted, just sleep, and let your mind wonder. Other times, it will show me something like my husband and I, how we are looking for a house, or stressed for money, etc. And I will think thoughts (perform white spells) to help that along, or prayer work too. When I do this, I sleep with the deck under my pillow, and lemme tell ya, I've had some whacky dreams by doin this! LOL. So more or less, I just really work with them, play with them, and carry them with me (almost) everywhere I go. This is an awesome thread, thanks everyone!

dadsnook2000	21 Jun 2003
For each of my tarot decks I wood carve a three dimensional deep-relief figure of one of the cards, paint it and mount it on a book-shaped box -- in which I store the deck. Having this visual reminder always in view helps me focus on the card and the deck, bringing it more to life. Dave.

Trogon	22 Jun 2003
When I saw the title of this thread, my first thought was of some kind of an accident with a Tarot deck and a bottle of super glue, culminating in a trip the to hospital... to try to save the Tarot deck of course. I tried sleeping with my Tarot decks, but then they wouldn't respect me in the morning... ahem... Okay... enough lame humor... For the most part, as others have mentioned, I "bond" with my new decks by going through them... studying the cards. Shuffling them, learning them. Though, last October, in a thread titled "What's the first thing you do when you get a deck?", Strange2 mentioned the idea of getting to know your new deck by smell. Divinerguy also mentioned this. I've gotten to where I like to sniff Tarot decks too... hmmm... a new addiction? Just what I need...

punkangelgcm437	22 Jun 2003
Well...unlike most people here, I only have one deck. Its my baby and I love it so much. Usually, it sleeps on my night table next to my bed (cant go under my pillow...my arm goes under there and they'd get knocked out). Then during the day I keep it at my computer (since Im at it soo much). I tried to play basketball with it a few days ago...but it wouldnt catch the ball. It couldn't throw very well either...maybe basketball just isnt my decks game. :-D Shuffling throughout the day...with music. My deck cries when I play No Doubt's "Don't Speak". (That is the best song lyrically ever penned...I promise you. Anyone else Love that song??) My deck just knows...she's just the coolest. (Well..we'll call he rmore she than he.)

TCarbonell	23 Jun 2003
I'm not sure that i have conciously tried to bond with my deck, but for some reason, a few weeks ago, I got it in my head that my deck wanted to be treated 'differently'. I've always just kept them in a bag. LAtely I've been reading with them alot, and I guess i've come to know them better. I decided to give them a little 'treat' and i bought a crystal and a moonstone, and a prettier back to store them in. believe it or not, since then, i've been getting even better readings!!! i think the cards like to be honored. and we should do that when we can. tha'ts been my experience.

LadyMedusa	24 Jun 2003
Ahh...new deck...well first off I go thru the cards not to quickly. Then as I try to get the book for each deck I read it cover to cover. Another look thru the deck perhaps re-reading the authors intentions on a few cards. Together we look thru the available boxes on my deck shelf and pick one that fits.Next we the deck and I go shopping at the fabric stores in search of material that "we" feel would make a lovely sleeping bag for it, and if needed some felt to line the box. I usually carry it with me for about a week, take it out whenever I have a few moments giving any cards that seem to want it some extra attention shuffling it frequently. I sleep with it under my pillow at first also. I solved the knocking it out problem by tucking them in the underside of my pillowcase. I then introduce it to the family on the shelf. I try to spend some time with at least 2 decks other than the one I am currently studying each day. Even if it's just to shuffle for a while I am on the computer reading the days postings here. I try not to let any of them feel neglected. LadyMedusa

The How do you bond with your deck? thread was originally posted on 19 Jun 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.