A Common Quirk?

I have realized that after many many decks have passed through my hands, that I have a weird little quirk.

When I look through a deck for the first time...they HAVE to be in order.

And if they are not, I get distracted, and don't take to the deck right away at all.
Sometimes for years!
oh...and forget it if there are cards that are reversed!

It's like my brain has to see them in some semblance of order or I don't want to deal with thumbing through them at all.

It's almost like I don't really see them....

The order doesn't have to perfectly numerical...it can be backwards, of have the aces appear at the end of the suits...but it has to be some kind of order!

It annoys me greatly if a new deck, fresh out of the package is randomly mixed!

Am I alone in this?

And do you have a weird little quirk when it comes to tarot?

You are not alone

I haven't purchased any decks yet that haven't been in order (except for Morgan's Tarot which, of course, isn't really a proper tarot). But I have a hard time putting my decks away without first putting them in order. I prefer them to be Majors first with Fool through World, then wands, cups, swords, and pents...in that order. For some reason I want to see the Fool's Journey through the artists eyes and if I don't "get it" or don't understand what the artist was seeing or feeling, I probably won't use the deck much.

Wait...there are decks that don't come in order right out of the box?

I imagine I'd be disturbed if I happen across a disordered one straight out of the wrapper!

(As for why, it's because the very first thing I do with a new deck is to check whether all the cards are in there, and a disordered deck does not bode well...)

I only concern myself with it at first to ensure no cards are missing. I've never seen a new deck that wasn't in some kind of order.

I've purchased many decks that aren't in order from the get-go, and it freaks me out because it often means that there will be two of one card, and none of another. Receiving a deck that's in order, on the other hand, signifies to me that the manufacturer has respect for his product and cares about its presentation. If all the cards end up being there in a jumbled deck, I'm okay with the deck - but wary of the publisher.

yeah, I have had a couple out of the wrapper that were completely mixed. Luckily only one was ever "broken"...(two of one card, and none of another.)

But even if someone hands me their own deck to look at the pictures...I find I can't concentrate unless they are in order.

I'm really not that anal normally....it's just that I need to see them in order to really see them, I guess.

I don't always order my deck back after reading with it...but sometimes...somehow... it makes the readings better if I do!

It's like starting with an ordered deck=an ordered mind, and I can focus a little better.

I usually reorder the cards after reading with them - it feels like pushing a reset button (literally "clearing the decks"). And I understand why you need to have all the cards in order so that you can really see them, since they tell a cleaner, more archetypal story that way. I don't think it's anal, just - as you say - a structural approach that matches mind-to-cards.

Exactly Astraea!

(But they work better as a story... for me, anyway... if the Majors are in backward order...and I KNOW I'm not alone in this! )

Chronata said:

(But they work better as a story... for me, anyway... if the Majors are in backward order...and I KNOW I'm not alone in this! )

Click to expand...

I'm going to try that!

I'm right there w/you in that the deck MUST be in suit and number order. However, my aces MUST be before the two, not after the King. that drives me nuts. I will often put my deck back into order this way after I have finished doing a reading.

Another little quirk I have is that I must shuffle the deck over and over and over again. When I read in the new age shop at my last residence, the boss/owner of the store once commented to me that she has never had a tarot card reader that shuffled the cards as much as I did. I don't even think about it when I do it--I'll just be sitting and pick up a deck to shuffle. Then, before I put them down again, I put them in order.

When we travel via car, anyplace far away, I always have a deck of playing cards and a deck of tarot or oracle cards. When I'm the passenger, I spend my time shuffling the cards and putting them into order, unless I'm reading my latest book.

Worse habits to have, I guess. Also, I guess having a mother who read cards and a father who always gambled and played card games, I was born with having to have a deck in my hands to shuffle!