Getting to know new decks

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

Darla	15 Dec 2003
Hi everybody, When you buy a new deck (or maybe several :D) what do you do to get familiar with it? Do you start right away to use it for readings or do you have other methods? I like to "jump" into some of the cards. This way I can get a feeling for them. I also pay much attention to the Fool's journey as it is presented in this deck. The last deck I purchased was the Gothic Tarot of Vampires and with this one I felt an urge to write a story to the cards. When I have some time I will definitely do that in a couple of days.

Majecot	15 Dec 2003
I always play with the deck for several days, looking at each card, before I actually use it for readings. I shuffle a lot to make sure they are "warmed up". I have to get to know a new deck first. Writing a story about the cards is an excellant idea!

Kiama	15 Dec 2003
I particularly enjoy going through each card one-at-a-time, and inspecting them closely, looking at the images, symbols, tiny details, to get a feeling for what that card in that deck means. (I find that often different decks have teh same card that can mean slightly different things, or focus on different aspects of the same meaning.) When I have done this, I like to once again, go through the deck card-by-card, and take notes about it in my Tarot journal. I maybe do a three-card spread to get a feel for what it is like to use the deck. Kiama

WolfSpirit	15 Dec 2003
I can take some time before I start using a deck for readings (and some I never read with...) Ah nothing compares to going through a new deck for the first time :) I feel when I am ready to read with a deck, this comes sooner with decks that look a lot like traditional decks or decks I already have. I just look at the cards a lot to get familiar with them, sometimes I consult the book but only after I have studied the card on my own.

Moonbow*	15 Dec 2003
The first think I do is lay all the cards out on a table in order to look at the colours and any continuation there may be within the suits. I have to keep the deck in order for a while so that when I'm looking for a particulary card I dont have to go through the whole deck for it. I generally read the accompanying book or LWB in bed and look at the card I'm reading about. This can go on for a while until I feel that I know the deck quite well. After the initial reading of the book I dont like to go back to it often because I try to read intuitively, that's why I spend a bit of extra time at the start. I agree with Kiama that each deck creator or writer can have a different slant on the meaning of the cards that's why I do this. Moonbow*

firemaiden	15 Dec 2003
This is a fun question, Darla. I used to tear open the wrapper as if undressing a bar of Poulain dark chocolate... and just cram the whole thing into my mouth and chomp chomp chomp... I mean SORRY... what I MEANT to say was... I used to greedily pour through the whole deck just as soon as I opened it. Now I like to do it differently. First of all, I have to clean up the whole house and do the laundry before I can "deserve" to open it... Then I only look at only a few cards. Because I figure I will only be seeing the cards "for the first time" once, and that virgin time has such a special power, you know, it unleashes all kinds of demons, and should only be performed by a true magician... OOOPS SORRY What I MEANT to say was, the first time seeing the cards is very special, new insights come up, so I prefer those insights to happen in a reading, and save the rest of the cards to discover later in new readings. I won't read with it as if it were just any other deck -- I will read only the pictures and say the first thing that comes to mind. (It might have nothing to do with the traditional meaning at all). Last night I saw cards in the Breugel Tarot that I had never seen before, and I think I've had it about a month. That was cool.

TemperanceAngel	15 Dec 2003
I try and shuffle my deck (RWS) everyday for 2-4weeks, without letting anyone else touch it. Once my energies are shuffled, then my deck is ready to get out there and read. If it is not (RWS), then I wouldn't be so fussy as I wouldn't be using the deck 'professionally', more for myself/interest/fun :D XTAX

Jewel-ry	15 Dec 2003
I can go several weeks without using a deck. My Crystal deck has been hanging around ages, in order, unused. I will go through it several times, card by card until I feel that I have studied the cards to a certain point. This doesn't mean that I know them really well but just that I get to a 'point' with them. I can't define this point, I just know when it happens and then I will do a three card reading and from there I will use the deck more and more. I sometimes will lay them out as moonbow says, just to look at colours, stories etc. J :)

Star Spirit	15 Dec 2003
Perhaps I should get well acquainted with my new deck, maybe that would solve my dilemma :D

Rusty Neon	15 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by firemaiden Then I only look at only a few cards. Because I figure I will only be seeing the cards "for the first time" once, and that virgin time has such a special power, you know, it unleashes all kinds of demons, and should only be performed by a true magician... OOOPS SORRY What I MEANT to say was, the first time seeing the cards is very special, new insights come up, so I prefer those insights to happen in a reading, and save the rest of the cards to discover later in new readings. I'm impressed, firemaiden. Sounds like you have real patience and willpower, unlike moi.

firemaiden	16 Dec 2003
Oh, if the truth be told, Rusty, it might be that I am too impatient. For some reason, I used to have the patience to look at 78 cards all at one sitting, and now I can only focus on a few. I think I demand much more from a card now then I used to. I want it to talk to me, it takes time, and patience. It wears me out. :D

Darla	16 Dec 2003
I'm impressed too, Firemaiden. I could never ever be patient enough to just look at a few cards. But it's cool that you want the first glanca to be special.

Majecot	16 Dec 2003
I do go through the deck at once, looking at the cards several times in a single sitting. After I have had my fill of gluttoney then I starting to focus on the majors first. I do have some decks that have not been opened yet because I feel I need to devote more time to a single new deck. And really get to know it before I make friends with another one.

Emily	16 Dec 2003
When I get a new deck the first thing I do is to count it to make sure they are all there, then I check the backs, had a couple of decks with paint marks/mistakes on the back, then I go through them card by card. I like to keep them in order for at least a couple of hours :D , looking at each card seeing what I get from the images but once thats done I shuffle and keep the deck near. I only start to use the deck once I'm sure its handled well. Sometimes I do a new deck spread but usually its just a 3 card PPP I do. The Morgan Greer is the only deck that I've broken these rules with, I counted, I checked, I used lol - all within the hour I think. :)

Urd	19 Dec 2003
Being that I just started to use a new deck recently, this thread is of great help. I should spend some time w/my new deck... not doing any readings... just looking at them....

Jewel-ry	20 Dec 2003
We will all be able to give you lots of advice on this subject after CHRISTMAS Yahoo J :)

Diana	20 Dec 2003
I kind of quickly look through the deck just to see if I think it is worthwhile using it for a reading. And then I shuffle - briefly - I don't spend ages shuffling in order to put in my "energy" - I don't believe (anymore) in such stuff. As I fan my cards, and don't flip them, they don't need to be shuffled as if my life depended on it. And then I just start reading. Then if I feel the need to study another card in relation to one of the cards that has been drawn, I'll go hunting for it. But this can mean that some cards go quite undiscovered for quite some time. I never know when I'm going to be surprised! I love to discover the cards this way, in a pratical manner, and not just theoretical.

KelarSkye	22 Dec 2003
Well, the last new deck I bought before going to a bar with my friends and I opened them and looked at them (couldn't help it) and some friends asked me to flip cards for them, so I did. I was unsure if I should, but I think it was a good thing because that one is my "tote it wherever" rough and ready tarot deck. I guess it is kinda social. I just got a new deck and I have only flipped through it once. I did stick it in my purse and take it with me the other night, incase I was inspired to look at it (or show it off to a friend who would dearly love the images), but it stayed in my purse and is now back home. I am hoping to have time to look through it and try to figure out a shuffling method for it (it is larger than my other two). Then I will try a few 3 card spreads with no particular question just to see what it says. I am not sure how this one is going to read, it is very different from my last one. And the last one is very very social. I guess I am telling you that my deck leads me. And I am on deck 3 right now, each has been discovered differently each time.

snuffy	01 Jan 2004
i'm only on deck two, but i know exactly what you mean by letting each deck guide you. with my second deck, i tore open the plastic and immediately tried to slide the top card out of the box in order to more easily coax the others out. much to my surprise, even after numerous attempts, neither the top card nor any other card would come out from the box when i tried to pull at it/them! CRIMETY! it was then that i accidently turned the box upside down and every-- and i mean EVERY-- card (as well as the LWB) came spilling out onto my lap. i like to believe that it was something other than gravity playing that little trick on me ;)! nevertheless, this deck has given me a very nuturing, mentor-esque feel. i say that it began teaching me its first lesson before i even got it out of the box-- literally! :D <3 snuffy

LadyMedusa	01 Jan 2004
I usually let the deck lead, sometimes I look through the cards quickly, sometimes I take my time, sometimes I read the book, in the mix sometimes I don't. I love a deck with an attitude! I have one of mine to thank for leading me to use r------ls. LadyMedusa

The Getting to know new decks thread was originally posted on 15 Dec 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.