Accidentally bent a card while shuffling...

Hi...

I'm a little concerned. I have accidentally bent the Empress card of my Thoth deck while I was shuffling overzealously, getting ready for a reading and there is a very visible crease in the upper left hand side of the card..

Although I did buy the deck a little over ten years ago...

I can't help but to wonder if anybody else has damaged a card and if so, will you get bad luck?

I've also heard that a mint-condition deck is an unloved and unused deck and the battered, stained decks speak of being loved and used for a long time.

I'm confused...

I'm sorry to answer in a completely prosaic way. The cards themselves are not at all sacred to me. They're dear to me just as my books and other possessions are, but their real value is inside my head and in the world at large. If the Divine could be angry because somebody bent a piece of printed cardboard (albeit with a beautiful and meaningful picture printed on it), I'm sorry but I really couldn't respect the Divine. I'd find it pedantic in a human and I expect more of the Divine.

Accidents happen. We sometimes damage things we love. That hurts only you, certainly not the Divine. I'm sure of that. Don't get carried away by pessimism, fear and guilt. The Empress card tells you to embrace life and that's what you should do.

Your deck now shows that it's been used and that time passed since you bought it. Great! We all get some wrinkles over time. Our inner soul doesn't, and the archetypes don't, either.

So IMO, everything's fine.

PS: I'd never say a mint condition deck is unloved. Some people like their decks pristine, others don't. We're all different and shouldn't judge others.

Nemia said:

I'm sorry to answer in a completely prosaic way.

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Thank you very much for your reply...
I see no reason to apologize, I deeply appreciate that you were straight up and completely honest..And I've actually breathed a sigh of relief after reading your post as you've just made me realize that I'm acting silly and need to calm down.

Ugh. I really hate when something happens to my cards. I'm not superstitious about it, though. I just kick myself for being careless. Fortunately, until I moved into an RV, my stuff was just worn with use rather than damaged but in the RV there were a couple of decks that got damaged enough that I had to replace them because they weren't nice to use anymore.

If the crease doesn't interfere with shuffling or interfere with drawing from a fan, then I'd keep it. But if you're the primary user of the cards and you work by drawing from a fan in readings for yourself, I think you might want to eventually replace at least the damaged card, if not the whole deck.

Grizabella said:

Ugh. I really hate when something happens to my cards. I'm not superstitious about it, though. I just kick myself for being careless. Fortunately, until I moved into an RV, my stuff was just worn with use rather than damaged but in the RV there were a couple of decks that got damaged enough that I had to replace them because they weren't nice to use anymore.

If the crease doesn't interfere with shuffling or interfere with drawing from a fan, then I'd keep it. But if you're the primary user of the cards and you work by drawing from a fan in readings for yourself, I think you might want to eventually replace at least the damaged card, if not the whole deck.

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Hey there Grizabella.

I hope the new year is treating you nice so far. I deeply appreciate your insight and the fact that you've taken time to reply. I don't use my Thoth deck as much as I do my llewellyn deck. I try to keep self readings down to a minimum and if I do self readings, I just take them with a grain of salt and/or use my results for my storytelling.

I just work so hard in taking care of my cards that I flipped when I saw that I've bent my Empress while shuffling.

It's good hearing from you and thank you again for your insight.

Both Nemia and Griz gave such lovely insights.

I'd have to add that if the bent card interferes with the way you use the deck comfortably (i.e. it sticks out distractingly from the deck, etc.), you could go ask someone here on AT if they have an extra card they'd be willing to send you.

This thread is technically for missing cards, but you could sound off there.

You're very welcome. I just dug out my Llewellyn a few minutes ago to start using again for awhile. It's such a beautiful deck and I love the card stock. I had lost the book for it and then bought a used copy but it seems not to have made the move to Washington with me so I'm going to order another copy.

But anyway, I'm sorry you creased the Empress from Thoth. I'm glad it wasn't in the deck you used the most. That would have compounded the dismay, wouldn't it?

DoctorLecter84 said:

I can't help but to wonder if anybody else has damaged a card

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Of course. We all have. A mint-condition deck always looks to me like an unloved deck, an un-lived-in deck.

and if so, will you get bad luck?

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<curiously> How do you suppose that would happen?

You make your own luck. If you are optimistic, you attract good luck. If you are fearful that things go wrong, then things go wrong.

That happened to me with my Mystic Dreamer deck...I agree with those who have posted before me though, it's irritating, yes...but as for bad luck...nah...and as long as it dosnt interfere with anything, it shouldn't be a big deal...

I think the reason it bugs me so much is because its the ONLY one that is damaged...if all the cards were a bit more tattered i think id enjoy it cuz then my deck is what i would consider "lived in" lol

Nisaba makes a good point there. I agree that it's the signs of having been loved and well-used make a deck precious. In fact, for a long time here there were people who were purposely trying to make their decks look damaged and well-used by dunking them in tea, running over them with a car, dragging them sharply across table edges and all manner of abuse.

If I were to go to a sitter with a beat up old deck, it would speak to me of someone who was well experienced and knew their deck frontways, backways, and through and through so I'd feel confident of a good reading. Of course, it could also mean somebody had bought a new deck and tortured it, but an honestly well-used deck would be spotted by an experienced Tarot user. I think if the sitter knows the cards well, they'd spot a fake aging.