Blank cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 08 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

EricTheHermit	08 Feb 2005
Hi, All - How many of you have decks that included one or more blank cards in addition to the standard 78? My Robin Wood deck came with one blank card. Do you consider blank cards as just leftovers from the cutting process, (after the cards are printed) do you think of them as decorative add-ons that serve no real purpose (like the Jokers in packs of regular playing cards) or do you use them in readings? I've heard that some readers do use their blank cards, and when they come up in a reading, they mean introspection on the querant's part - that the querant has to look inside himself / herself for the answer. What do you think about blank cards? - Eric

snowy25	08 Feb 2005
I myself don't use the blank cards, but sometimes I forget to take them out before a reading. I keep the cards I do read with between the blank card(s) and the LWB. I once did a reading for a friend, who is beginning to study the tarot. In the reading she insisted that this card would stay in the stock. So me having read a few things about it was surprised when it turned up in the reading. This card and the position matched the discription of guidence/ The force guiding her. And was telling her some one beond this life was helping her with the situation. This was the only time when the card came up so I hope there are more people who can help you with this question. Good luck

Emily	08 Feb 2005
I use the blank cards as deck protectors - one in front of the deck and one at the back. I think they are just left-overs from the printing process. :)

Jewel-ry	08 Feb 2005
I use them as book-marks :) ~

NewWithCards	12 Feb 2005
LMAO...simple as that "i use them as BOOKmarks" not unusual, just random

Lillie	15 Feb 2005
Deck protectors. Same for the extra cards that have lists of other decks etc. I've never thought of using them. But now I am... So much stuff on this site I would never have thought of!

Annabelle	15 Feb 2005
I only have one deck with a blank card--the RWS. I have some other decks with extra cards (such as the unicursal hexagram card in the Thoth), but only the RWS came with a plain, blank card. I personally try to remember to remove the blank card before shuffling and doing a reading; however, my boyfriend deliberately leaves it in. If it comes up for him, he tends to use it as a sort of "chaos" card...an "anything could happen at this point" type of meaning.

The Blank cards thread was originally posted on 08 Feb 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.