Accessory cards in readings?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Jul 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Le_Corsair	27 Jul 2003
Has anyone here ever accidentally left the accessory endcards in their deck and actually dealt them out for a reading? Did you go through with the reading as is, or abort the reading, or take a mulligan on the misfit card? While we're at it, what do you do with the accessory cards and LWB's: keep them with the deck, throw them out, or what? I personally use the accessory cards for bookmarks. Bob :THERM

Centaur	27 Jul 2003
The Hanson-Roberts deck comes with an extra card with a woman on it opening out her hands to a window that states 'for all believers'. If I remember correctly! Anyway, I once left this in the deck for a reading, and it appeared as the outcome card for a relationship spread I was performing for a friend. She did not trust her boyfriend, and thought that he was cheating on her. I chose to interpret the 'extra' card as referring to her lack of faith, and the fact that her faith in him would grow, and she would believe in him. I thought it slotted in quite nicely, and I am sure someone, somewhere was playing a neat little trick! I pin the accessory cards on my little pin board! :) They make for nice little decorations. And the LWB's? They are so little I have lost mine :( C

Hedera	27 Jul 2003
I don't think I've ever accidentally kept them in; I did keep in the 2 extra Lovers in my Cosmic Tribe, but I've decided that that wasn't an accident. ;) For the decks I intend to use and/or study, I usually find/buy/make (hah! :D) a bag, because I always worry about creasing the cards when I put them back in the box. I fold open the boxes, so that they are flat and can be reassembled easily, then I keep them with the LWB and sometimes the extra cards in a shoe box. (which looks almost full, but really, I swear it's not! It's just that the deck boxes are a bit springy, so they look a lot thicker than they are. Honest....;) ) Sometimes I use the extra cards as bookmarks, if they're pretty and I have no intention of trading the deck and the deck isn't rare.

Astraea	27 Jul 2003
I remove the accessory cards and put them in a separate decorative box, and do the same with the LWBs (after glancing at/reading through them).

Nevada	27 Jul 2003
Huh. I've left one in by accident but didn't have it come up in a reading. I found it when I was sorting through the cards, after having done numerous readings with it in there. Since it wasn't intentional, I think I would have aborted the reading if it had come up, or drawn another card to take its place. But my first instinct is to abort the reading. However, one of our Thoth decks has lost its Futility card (7 of Swords), and I'm now considering using one of the accessory cards as a fill-in for it, rather than throw out the deck. This would be a deliberate substitution, so my feelings about it are different. Haven't tried it yet though. One or two of our earlier Thoth decks came with three different Magician cards (two were paintings that were later rejected by Crowley if I recall correctly), and we considered leaving them all in for readings, but it was just a passing thought. We never actually tried it. Brightest Blessings!

truthsayer	27 Jul 2003
i was able to sell my extra cards to a person who wanted them for craft projects. hhmmmmmm...i wonder if she needs anymore...

MeeWah	27 Jul 2003
I also use the Hanson-Roberts on occasion; especially when reading for younger folks & usually leave in the card labelled "To All Believers" unless I am moved to remove it. When it appears, how I read it depends on its position in a throw & surrounding cards. As an outcome card, I treat it similarly to how I have understood the blank rune in Ralph Blum's first rune set. It has meant the outcome is not yet available, possibly due to things being in transition or in progress. In any position, may indicate a lack of viable information or a need to rely on Faith. It has been read as another chance being offered to make redress; time to turn over a new leaf or page; that nothing pertaining to the matter at hand is written in stone.

LadyMedusa	27 Jul 2003
I keep the original boxes in a small storage box on the top shelf of my closet. I keep the extra cards and LWB in the bottom of the box each deck sleeps in so I dont loose them. I do occasionally use the cards as a bookmark when I am reading a companion book. LadyMedusa

SingingTarot	27 Jul 2003
Yep, bookmarks for me too... I think it would be fun to incorporate them in readings if they just showed up because I forgot them. Usually I find them a good home in one of the 15 books that sit next to my bed. But I have been thinking of incorporating some in collages. Alice

The Accessory cards in readings? thread was originally posted on 27 Jul 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.