How do you get going with a new deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Wildwood	05 Feb 2004
Hi Everyone, Like many other lucky Tarot lovers, I usually get a new deck for Xmas and birthdays - the two are only a week apart for me and so I often get quite a few new decks more or less at the same time. This gives me a problem - a nice problem, but still a problem: I look at the deck quickly, and then I look at another one etc. and soon end up putting one or more away for "later" study - which of course, I never seem to have time for, which gives me a nagging sense of unfulfilment... My query is in two parts: 1. How do you all deal with this sort of thing? Is there an effective way of investigating several decks at the same time, or do you really feel you have to concentrate on one at a time to get the most out of it? 2. How do you actually set about studying your new decks? I know some of you do a reading, asking your new deck how you are going to get along etc. That's cool - but what do you do after that? I'm pretty linear (don't worry, I'm working on it ;) ), so I tend to start with the book if there is one, and work through it with the cards, but sense this is limiting. I want to trust my intuition more...should I just fan out the cards and gloat on them? :) Or, just do some readings? Or meditate on certain cards? What do you do? I know there is no right "one way" answer to this - but am interested in what you do yourselves... Sorry to ramble - hope this makes sense. Wildwood

Le_Corsair	05 Feb 2004
I start by checking that all cards are present and accounted for. Better safe than sorry. Then I spend a long period shuffling the cards, seeing how they feel in my hands. Since I am more a collector than a reader, I don't spend a lot of time on doing readings, but I may do an occasional 3-card spread for myself. I have a big plastic box that I store all of my decks in, and the extra cards are separated out and all placed together, same with the LWB. I may contemplate buying a bag for the deck, if it is nice and the box is less than durable. I don't peform any quirky rituals or ceremonies on my decks. Bob :THERM

Imagemaker	05 Feb 2004
When I get a new deck, I work with it for at least a week. First I lay out the cards and just absorb the imagery, looking at all the new things compared to what I'm familiar with (usually RWS decks). Then I do playful "tell me a story" readings --meaning that I shuffle, lay out 5 to 7 cards, and make a coherent sentence out of them, kind of like a synopsis of a movie or book. Random 3 card example: Emperor/Tower/Six of Swords: "In this episode, a CEO is shocked to discover that his company has been taken over by a corporate raider and that he and his VP will be fired. He decides to fulfill his lifelong dream to move to Florida and work at Disney World, running boat rides. :) By playing with imaginary stories, I'm not asking a question as in a normal reading, I'm seeing how the cards work together, how the figures are positioned, what my imagination can do with the images. If I feel they're speaking to me clearly, I use the deck for "real" readings for myself. (If not, I may put the deck away for awhile as a collectible.) After some practice and if I continue to feel the deck and I can communicate well, I start using them for readings for friends. Sometime I get out decks that didn't speak clearly before and find new things, explore them some more. Sometimes they just never click. Right now I'm exploring the Spiral deck and enjoying our conversations. It has moved into the "reading for friends" category. I'm waiting for the Enchanted tarot to arrive next.

Bean Feasa	05 Feb 2004
If I've bought a new deck in a real shop it's usually on my lunch-hour from work, so I'm afraid my very first encounter with the cards is usually in the loo when I get back to work - I haven't come out as a Tarotist to my workmates (though they've probably all seen me surfing here at one time or another and drawn their own conclusions :)). So I scuttle off to the only place I have any privacy and look through the deck. Usually I can't wait to get home that evening to have a good browse through them, and read the LWB (sorry Umbrae!). I tend to carry them about with me so I'll keep them with me downstairs on the sofa, perhaps with one eye on my fave soap (Coronation St. folks, it cannot be beaten!), then I'll bring them upstairs for bedside browsing. That's it really, that goes on for a few days, which is enough for me to establish what 'type' of deck it is, i.e. one I'll try some readings with fairly soon, or one I'll put aside for study at a later date. I like your idea of the stories though, Imagemaker - I must try that out. :) Kate

Astraea	05 Feb 2004
Hi, Wildwood! When I have the good fortune to obtain more than one deck at a time, I open each and make certain that all the cards are there (as Bob does). Then, depending upon which deck interests me more, I go through each card and get a feeling for it and see what words, phrases or ideas it elicits, and jot those down in my journal. I do three-card readings with the deck for several days as a way to become better acquainted with it. For me, working in this manner with two decks at once doesn't do full justice to either, so I try to restrain myself and study them separately (it doesn't always work). Usually, the decks then go into my collection, since very few work as well for me as four or five decks which have become almost like appendages.

Logiatrix	05 Feb 2004
Hi, Wildwood! Hadn't really thought about it before, but I guess I do have a process of sorts.... First, I look through the cards, taking in the general imagery and making sure they are all there and in good shape. Second, I look through the book, be it little-and-white or other. At this point I will have decided if it's going in the the storage bin, or in a bag for further study/use. If it gets relegated to the bin, I may pick it up again later, or (alas! :( ) just trade it away. If I decide to give it a bag'n'cloth, then I proceed to study the book in-depth, keeping the cards ready and in order for reference. After I'm done with the book, I don't burn it, but rather, I relegate it to the bookshelf for future reference; all LWBs go back in the deck boxes, which go in the storage bin. Now, I'm ready to mix the cards and do a "new deck reading," if I feel like it--sometimes I don't remember to do one before I go on to all manner of readings. I usually give a new deck about a month, using it almost exclusively, to decide if it's a "keeper." PEACE, Tauni :D

SongDeva	05 Feb 2004
I bless the deck, welcome it, and express gratitude for having the opportunity to work with it. I don't talk *to* the deck, I talk *about* it. I open up and let peace flow in, and state my intention to access only the highest realms of light for information. (SOOO new agey, no? :) ) Then I go through the deck, one card at a time, checking out each card, letting my third eye and subconscious get a good look. Then I may try a few readings (on others feels better at first, keeps me honest) or I may do nothing, putting it away until I feel an urge to work with it.

lark	05 Feb 2004
I tend to order decks in clusters. So I have also been known (gasp) to leave a deck or two or three sitting unopened for days. I am a great believer in waiting to pick just the right moment. And when the moment is right I tear open the package with as much excitement as if I just took it out of the mailbox. One solution I've found for getting to know multiple decks is I put then in different places in my house. One on my night table. One in the kitchen. One by my chair in the living room One by the phone. You'ld be surprised at how much time you can spend looking through a tarot deck on the phone. Then when I'm in those places I give my whole attention to that one deck. It's kind of like my Desert Island Treatment. Just me and that deck all alone...getting to know each other. I haven't put one in the bathroom yet but it's a thought.

Emily	05 Feb 2004
I start off with a deck by counting to make sure they are all there. Then I check to make sure there are no dublicates or flaws in the cards - the printing or cutting. I have had a few decks that have been cut terribly. A few cards in my Morgan Greer were cut ragged and longer than the others but a steady hand and a sharp pair of scissors soon put that right. After all the checks then its just a case of shuffling the deck, keeping it close. I don't usually do readings straight away - if I do the new deck spread I do it after a week or so. Really thats all I do to break a new deck in. I am concentrating on just the one deck at the moment - the Morgan Greer - I was spending so much time flitting between decks that I wasn't really taking anything in. Or I was comparing all my decks to the Rider Waite symbolism. Now with the Morgan Greer I have the perfect deck to study and continue to learn on. :)

Strange2	05 Feb 2004
To get familiar with a new deck, I often use it as a comparison deck in concert with performing readings from a primary deck. I typically use one deck as a primary deck for about a month, and after selecting the cards from this primary deck for a reading, I then will pull the same cards from the new deck for comparison. It's a great way to see similarities and interesting new aspects in the new deck, and get comfortable with it. I only use this comparative method for self-readings / meditations, but I would imagine it could be done with readings for others (even after the fact). I have found this method builds confidence and interest in the new deck, and soon this new deck will be calling me to use it as a primary. And the Wheel keeps on turning...

lunakasha	05 Feb 2004
Hi Wildwood! I have the same problem...as it stands right now, I have several new decks (Inner Child, Faery Wicca, Old English, Barbara Walker) that have gotten very little attention from me. The guilt is overwhelming ;) What I have done, which is the bare minimum when I first get a deck, is to spend a few minutes looking at each card and making sure they are all there. I pull out the extra cards so that they don't get shuffled in with the others; the extras are all kept together and used as bookmarks. Sometimes I will do a quick, three-card spread as an introduction to the cards, asking for guidance to come to me through the cards. I usually get a pretty good idea from that first encounter whether or not the cards will be useful for me to read with or as collectibles only. For me, the best way to really get to know a new deck is to spend a significant amount of time with it, exclusively. Right now I am only using my Radiant RW, which I am using for the Joan Bunning online tarot course. When the course is completed, I plan to spend one month exclusively with each of my new decks...hoping that this will allow me to sleep better at night :D :) Luna

The How do you get going with a new deck? thread was originally posted on 05 Feb 2004 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.