Do you let other people handle your decks?

[aibhlin]

A friend was over the other day and asked if he could look at some of my decks and was surprised to find that I had no problem with this. He said that other friends of his who studied the tarot wouldn't even let him touch the boxes they came in. This seem a little odd to me. I let other people look and touch my decks if they like (as long as it's people I like...), I wouldn't let them use them for reading on their own though (if they were so inclined...). Regardless of this, if I'm doing a reading for someone in person I always let them shuffle the cards, and sometimes I even let them lay out the spread to try and get their perspective and only theirs reflected in the cards. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Anja]

I used to let people touch my deck until a friend who is a tarot reader/psychic said that she doesn't let people touch the cards that she uses on herself. She has several decks and it's fine for people to touch those, she does sage them after people have handled them though, but she wants the decks that she uses on herself to remain pure. I'm not sure if pure would be the right word to use. So now, I have my favorite deck, and I won't take that one anywhere or let people touch it.
Anja

 

[Sulis]

I have no problem with people touching my cards

I'm often quite surprised at how reluctant folk are to touch them - I don't know what they think will happen if they do.

 

[Little Baron]

I like my decks to be exposed to as many different people as possible. I like it to absorb all different kinds of vibrations; to reflect as many different rhythms as there is within it's 78 walls. A shabby edge shows a well worn deck physically, but I think that a few of my decks have a nicely worn character by the amount of people that have shuffled them, the many different candle-lit rooms they have been used in, the many journeys and waters they have travelled over wrapped in silk in my bag, the many faces of surprise or contentment that have peered within the frames of many cards over the years. I don't let just anyone play about with my cards, but respectfully, I have no problem with peoples curiosity. It is a bit like handing over your baby to a complete stranger, hoping they will not drop it, but 9 out of ten times, I think it aids the deck and makes it even stronger in layers.

LB

 

[cheekyminx]

I let people touch my deck, but not just anyone though.

Some people are reluctant though, its quite funny. I agree with Sulis, it is strange. Perhaps these people think of it as Witch craft, the black magic variety NOT white. I also noticed that the cards Death & Devil get the old eyes growing and make a person a bit unsure and the swords as well, kinda gives people the creeps. I once had a friend who threw out the Death card from her deck & was happy reading this way, I told her she needed it in her deck otherwise it was not a complete & readable deck but her response was she didn't like the death card, it freaked her out & she didn't want anyone dying? Fair enough, but why bother reading with an incomplete deck? I think she may have thrown the Devil card out too, it was like 11 years ago.....

 

[MarkMcElroy]

No Touch Deck -- or Do! Or Don't! Or Do!

The "Don't let other people touch your deck" rule is rooted in the concept of residual energy: the idea that others will leave some kind of psychic or energetic residue on the cards, and that this residue is powerful enough to influence the performance of the deck.

If having a personal deck that no one else gets to touch helps you think of a deck as special, dedicated, consecrated, or specially tuned to your energy, then, by all means, shield that deck from the hands of others.

That said, I have hundreds of decks in my personal collection, and I've always encouraged people to handle every single one of them. One way I keep decks in circulation is to offer clients four or five decks to choose from, and people love looking through the cards to find a deck they enjoy. Allowing other people to handle and shuffle my cards also keeps them from thinking I've "stacked the deck" to make certain cards appear.

I've worked with literally hundreds of readers over the last ten years or so, and almost all of them allow others to touch their decks, with no reports of contamination or "deck failure" as a result.

My personal take: my Tarot cards are seventy-eight pieces of laminated cardboard, printed on a commercial press with mass-market ink. The "magic" that goes on during my readings arises from the hearts and minds and spirits of those involved in the readings ... not from the cards themselves. So why not let people touch the cards?

Unless, of course, they've been eating peanut butter fudge. Sticky fingerprints are really annoying!

 

[Little Baron]

My personal take: my Tarot cards are seventy-eight pieces of laminated cardboard, printed on a commercial press with mass-market ink. The "magic" that goes on during my readings arises from the hearts and minds and spirits of those involved in the readings ... not from the cards themselves. So why not let people touch the cards?

Makes a lot of sense Mark.

LB

 

[KaiMoonshadow]

I do let people touch my cards - I let other people shuffle when I'm reading for them and I will let others look at my deck if they like. I figure my cards spend the most time with me anyway, so I must be their favourite

Like LittleBuddha said, it is a bit like handing your child to a stranger - I'm always hoping they won't be rough with them! I do generally ask people to shuffle carefully as I'm a bit protective of the cards

 

[a_shikhs]

I used to let people touch and shuffle my cards but i had this one horrible experience where this lady who i was reading for was so hyper that she folded a few of my cards really badly. I had to literally iron them to get them back in shape.

After that experience, i dont let anyone except my family shuffle the cards..

 

[KaiMoonshadow]

I used to let people touch and shuffle my cards but i had this one horrible experience where this lady who i was reading for was so hyper that she folded a few of my cards really badly. I had to literally iron them to get them back in shape.

After that experience, i dont let anyone except my family shuffle the cards..

I'm so sorry to hear that! That is my biggest fear about allowing other people to shuffle my cards... I always ask them to be *very* careful and if I see any sign of them not being careful, I will take them back immediately. I am hoping that this way I can prevent the same happening to my cards... I am still quite wary of people doing it.