A Soft and fuzzy deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Dec 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

emillkim	02 Dec 2004
Reading the previous thread on "Tarot Myths" has led me to some questions. If (according to some) the cards themselves 1. Don't require special handling (a special storage receptacle for example) 2. Can be handled by others with impunity. 3. Are just plain old cardboard with pretty pictures. Then implicitly, the following facts would consequently be true: 1. Purification of the cards from negative energy using sage, salt, or ceremony is pointless. 2. Any good practitioner can just rip off the plastic wrap of a new deck "fresh off the press" and start reading. These last two don't just sit right with me. Maybe I see my cards with the same soft-minded sentiment a baseball player carries for his worn glove. It just seems that there is something significant in a deck that has "gone the rounds" with you... Let me know what you think

Sulis	02 Dec 2004
I agree with everything you've said. I do think the cards are just plain old card board with pretty pictures. I do think they can be handled by others with impunity. I don't think they require special storage receptacles. I don't think they need cleansing with salt or sage to clear negative energies. I do think that a good tarot reader can read from a brand new pack of cards straight from the box. None of these things are needed for the cards to work but tarot isn't all about logic is it? There's magic in tarot reading, whatever that may mean to you. If it were about logic they'd be teaching it in schools because it works. I think these little customs, rituals and ceremonies people have which they connect to their cards are just human things to help the reader to connect with the magic. Do what you gotta do I say. Love Sulis xx

IDN	02 Dec 2004
I think it is "sentiment" and what fits nicely inside your "comfort zone". If the cards are that "special" (in a physical sense)- how can they just be mass produced in their thousands. and still remain special. My belief is that the "thing that makes them work" is the "randomness" of the shuffle, and (somehow) how that randomness relates to the question posed. So, you could shuffle anything and get interesting results. Also, if it's "Your" interpretation that really matters (as is stated so many times)- that again takes the mystery away from the physicality of the cards themselves and places it with the process you undertake (question, shuffle, read). Despite the above, I really love tarot cards as very special things, just not in a "superstitous" way. Just my thoughts, Regards, Ian

WhiteRaven	02 Dec 2004
Here's my take on this and it's coming from one that works with energy all the time. 1. I do believe that cards pick up energies from others. That is why I feel that it's an asset that a Querant actually touch them and handle them because the cards are picking up their energies for the reading. Everything is made of energy. 2. Because one...they pick up the energies of others, two, the vast majority of the time you have a Querant or even yourself that is asking questions because of some issue that is in their life...issues usually mean negative energies and three, like anything else, something with that amount of energy should be recharged...for those reasons I firmly believe that cards should be cleared after each reading. I also believe that sitting them in a safe place...altar for example, keeps them "safe" from negativity. Mine are sitting on my altar within a circle of sweetgrass at the moment with a rose quartz sitting on top of them. That deck is the one I use for the moment for readings...not studying. The ones I have out for study are next to me...all the time. And there are even times that I feel the need to have my deck sit next to me while I sleep. Yes..I know...I'm quite odd and unique type of person... what can I say! lol ;) :)

Flavio	02 Dec 2004
emillkim wrote: 3. Are just plain old cardboard with pretty pictures. Yes, that's what the cards are cardborad with ink, we Tarot lovers give them special meaning and value in our lives. Quote: Then implicitly, the following facts would consequently be true: 1. Purification of the cards from negative energy using sage, salt, or ceremony is pointless. 2. Any good practitioner can just rip off the plastic wrap of a new deck "fresh off the press" and start reading. In my opinion any ritual is useful only if you believe in it, those persons who perform the purification rituals believe in it so for them such ritual is not pointless. As for reading fresh off the press maybe that is not possible just because new decks require some time to study it.

HudsonGray	02 Dec 2004
'Yes' to what you've said. The cards are just cards, it's the stuff we do that makes them special to us inside. Our subconscious needs to play around a bit to do the connections, which is why so many little rituals work so well for people. You're playing with your inner child who has the connections needed to help actually do the readings. The deck itself doesn't require anything (other than to keep it from being damaged, that is). We all do what we feel best for it. If purging with sage and velvet bags feel right for us, then we do it.

Lurea	02 Dec 2004
When I read the cards I am allowing information from *somewhere else* (you could say the Divine, my higher self, or the collective unconscious :) ) to enter my conscious mind where I analyze the information and act or not act on it. This is something that gets easier with practice, as if I were slowly carving out a pathway between my mind and the *somewhere else*. First a path, then a trail, maybe someday it'll be a road! :D For me, ritual helps this process along. Others here probably have a four-lane highway into the meanings of the cards, so they can just open the cards, throw 'em out, and read! :)

The A Soft and fuzzy deck thread was originally posted on 02 Dec 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.