What To Do With Your New Tarot Deck

You can experience confusion and overload if this is your first experience with tarot and other woo-woo practices. You quickly shuffled your cards before flipping over each one one at a time. It’s not like you’ll be able to instantly remember what all the cards signify, and you still don’t feel ready to pick cards for yourself or others.

Breathe in deeply. Not all of us instantly become instant readers the moment we hold a deck of cards.

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Focus first on giving your new tarot deck a hefty break-in.

You need to play your cards a little bit, just like you would with a pair of running shoes, a hard pair of pants, or homemade pizza dough. Allow them to stretch a little. Let them help you exercise your tarot-reading skills.

Whether you’re a preternaturally woowoo person or a pragmatic person (like me), there are ways to use your new tarot deck a first time that will help you break them in.

You can get to know your deck on your own terms by using these exercises, which are suitable for both muggle-centric tarot aficionados and ritual-obsessed witchy individuals. Consistently using these methods can gradually pique your interest in learning the tarot within the parameters that your new deck establishes.

How should I use a fresh deck of tarot cards?

2. Position your deck during the New or Full Moon. Imagine the moon’s beams touching and anointing your brand-new deck if you think in the power of the moon. But if you’re from a place like the Philippines, you need to be careful! Moisture and unexpected downpours of rain can harm your priceless new cards. I occasionally place my deck near my window so that it has a slight outdoor sensation without being dangerous.

After some extensive use, this is a great way to “clear your deck.” It feels excellent to let the moon refresh your deck symbolically. You can also encircle your deck with your favorite stones if you have a collection of crystals.

3. Commence utilizing it for noteworthy events. A fresh deck may spice up any celebration, whether you choose to use it exclusively for Beltane or Ostara in accordance with the pagan Wheel of the Year, or you want to infuse your birthday with extra charm.

You might even limit the times when you utilize your deck. You may, for instance, create a special tarot deck exclusively for readings about the moon cycle or readings that entail shadow work.

On the other hand, I could use my recently acquired OG Starchild Tarot to inspire an altar full of celestial-themed accessories, including twinkle lights, crystals in luminous yellows, dark, night-sky blacks, and cool blues, a cloth decorated with constellations, and perhaps putting The Star card out and on display.

5. Put your brand-new tarot deck beneath your pillow as you sleep. Absolute superstition, this The night before a huge exam, I used to do this to simulate the information seeping into my subconscious (lol, reassure me that I’m not the only one). You can truly, physically bond and spend time with your tarot deck by sleeping with it beneath your pillow. And why not try it if you believe all that woo woo about images actually penetrating your subconscious?

When you first open your tarot deck, what should you do?

What to Do First:

Get out your tarot deck.
The cards are in your hand.

“Knock or tap the pile of cards numerous times while holding them in your palm to disseminate your energy throughout the deck.
Shuffle the cards completely.
The cards are divided into three heaps, which are subsequently reassembled into one pile.

Do new tarot cards need to be cleansed?

Therefore, it would appear that mastering the art of cleansing tarot cards is something you might wish to perform before purchasing a new deck, if you already own one, or if you’re giving a new or used deck to someone else. Actually, if the cards are a gift for someone else, it’s a good idea to cleanse, bless, or activate them. Tarot cards are typically offered as gifts, according to Tarra. Before giving the cards to a new owner, perform a protection ritual on them and clean them to remove any strange energies they may have picked up along the route.

There is a legend.

Myth: Purchasing your own deck of tarot cards brings bad luck. And I suppose giving my mother a cursed one would be extremely impolite of me. So Tarra gave me a royal blue mesh bag of goodies after dinner and wisely explained how to clean them, and I promptly forgot all about it until we spoke again this morning.

How can a fresh tarot deck be energized?

It’s time to program a deck with intention once it has been properly cleansed and is prepared for a reading.

Vanderveldt advises holding the deck in your hands while saying aloud your goal for it after spending a few minutes lighting a candle or making an intentional area.

Magdaleno enjoys verbally declaring his intentions when making them. She shuffles the deck and announces the purpose of the reading and what she will be drawing cards for aloud before each reading.

She explains that, for instance, she will state aloud as she shuffles her deck, “I’m performing a career reading for myself and will be choosing three cards that represent my career past, present, and future.

According to Vanderveldt, you can even use a tarot spread to assist you clarify your intention. She advises posing queries to your deck, such as, “How am I supposed to work with this deck in this season?” How can I help this deck’s goal in the greatest possible way? What strategy would be beneficial?

How are fresh tarot cards warmed up?

Begin reading aloud to them. Ask questions, use them for daily drawings, or use certain tarot spreads for inspiration. Try reading for friends, family, and clients as soon as you feel comfortable with your new deck. You might be shocked to learn that a deck you’ve had mixed feelings about can actually offer useful insights.

If you’re still getting used to reading for other people with your new deck, you might want to consider carrying the cards about all day so you can use them whenever you need an immediate response.

How is a fresh Tarot deck connected?

Advice on connecting with your tarot cards whether it’s your first time using them or you’ve owned your deck for a while.

Connecting or reconnecting to your deck can be a helpful activity, regardless of whether you haven’t picked up your deck in a long, are hesitant to conduct a reading for yourself, feel “wrong” with the readings you’ve been conducting, or have purchased a new deck.

Check out Reading Tarot for Beginners: How to Start Reading Tarot for Yourself for advice on how to pick your deck.

Being a competent reader requires you to connect with your tarot deck. But you must invest time, effort, and attention in a good relationship.

How can I tell if I’m not meant to work with a deck or I just need to reconnect?

The connection you have with the deck has to be strengthened, or it might not be the best fit for you at this time, if you’re having trouble getting a good reading from it or feel off with it.

It’s possible that you and your tarot deck aren’t intended to be in a serious long-term relationship if you don’t feel like you connect with it or if you don’t appear to speak the same language. There is a deck available for you if you want to learn, therefore this does not imply that you are not destined to be a reader.

However, there’s also a strong chance that you can establish the connection with a little time and effort. especially if you were initially drawn to your deck.

You can utilize some decks for specific purposes and not others. The majority of your magic will probably be performed with one main deck, although you may occasionally use other decks for fun, support, or clarity. Since decks are exquisite works of art, I love collecting them. And I adore using them when I want to switch things up or am performing a certain style of reading, but I only use my original ride or die deck for all of my professional readings and lectures.

All of this is to indicate that testing out a variety of decks is a wonderful idea. For your first deck, conduct some study, examine the imagery, and choose the one that sparks your interest.

Here are some methods for getting back on your deck. I’ve listed them in the sequence I’d perform them, but you should feel free to customize this exercise according to your own preferences.

How to connect with your tarot cards

You can accomplish this in a number of ways, including by shuffling, using crystals, moonlight, salt, or sacred incense. Click here to learn more about cleaning your deck.

Hold your cards firmly in your palms while taking a few deep breaths. After that, think about the intention you want to have for your practice with them. It could be a word, a sentence, or an emotion. You can use this time to ask any guides or spirits you enjoy working with for assistance or to help you open your channel to divine advice that is in your highest and best interests.

Cleaning the energy in the deck through shuffling. Additionally, it creates the random system that allows us to access the advice we need from the deck. We can gain a completely new viewpoint from the cards because of the randomness that shuffling creates; by doing so, we are deviating from logic and embracing the unknowable. Check out this article on card shuffling.

To get to know one another, gain some fresh perspectives, and, yes, bond, spend some time completing a tarot spread that is tailored to your deck.

What details about you do you want me to know?
Your restrictions?
What type of partnership are we capable of having?

What task are we supposed to complete jointly?
Which card can currently be my teacher?
How can I use this card to explore deeper?

Make putting your deck away a ceremony. You might keep it in a box, cover it in a special scarf, place a crystal on top of it, or place it on an altar while not in use. Choosing to follow this quick procedure at the conclusion of each session or day is a way to show your deck some love, gratitude, and appreciation.

Bonus Tarot bonding exercises:

the whole picture The Major Arcana numbers 0 to 22 should be arranged in lines of seven cards across. Next, arrange the Ace through King cards for each suit in the following order: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. Take a good look at the deck in this format. Then thoroughly jumble everything together.

Select a map. To serve as your anchor and guide for connecting with your deck and intuition, choose a card based on its look and/or its meaning. Write down all the thoughts, emotions, and queries this card triggers for you in a journal. Use it to meditate. Keep track of how it manifests in your daily life and tarot practice (and keep a notebook of your observations!). When not using your deck, place this card on your altar. You can carry out this for a week or a lunar cycle before selecting another.

Put your deck beneath your pillow while you sleep. You can connect with the cards in your unconscious time if you can make it comfy.

Also keep in mind that it takes time to establish a connection and relationship with your deck. Like any relationship, it evolves as you develop and gain new knowledge.

Questions you don’t really want answered

Even though it might seem apparent, it’s advisable to refrain from asking the tarot cards questions that you aren’t prepared to hear the answers to. That’s because answers to these questions can reveal information you’re just not quite ready to hear.

“Tarot can definitely come off as offensive if you’re not willing to hear the truth or consider an opposing opinion. Tarot reading Nicole Fortunaso

According to tarot reader and life coach Nicole Fortunaso, “tarot may truly come out as offensive if you are not willing to hear the truth of the problem or look at an alternate viewpoint.” She advises analyzing why you’re reacting the way you are in order to reflect on how to effectively address the underlying problem if you ask the question and aren’t satisfied with the response.

How are tarot cards maintained?

Your tarot deck should be cleared, or cleansed, of any negative energies it may have absorbed from work, rest, or handling by others. Each of the four natural elements, as well as the fifth element of spirit, has a cleaning procedure associated with it. I have contemplated which element corresponds to which technique and have come to the following findings.

Under the name for each technique, I’ve listed the element I’ve given it, along with a brief justification of my decision. Although it may be too soon to say this, I’ll see you in the comments area if you disagree with my selections and would like to share which elements you would move around.

Visualisations

Spirit is associated with an element. We are attempting to incorporate or assimilate the essences and spirits of the heavens and the earth by drawing down or pulling up white light from them to blend with our own.

After a long day of work, using meditation-based practices is a terrific way to calm yourself while also clearing the energy from your playing cards. It’s also crucial to keep in mind that while pulling white light up via and from the earth is beneficial for grounding, pulling white light down through and into yourself or your cards can serve to purify. Once more, draw the white light up into your cards. If you are doing this for yourself, don’t forget to draw the light up through your feet and up through the rest of your body.

While really holding your tarot cards in your hands, you can extend that practice beautifully by seeing yourself holding them and then either bringing the light down or up through your cards and your body. You are connected to your cards when you are holding them. What better way to clean them than to do it simultaneously, in unison?

Nancy of Tarot Explorer describes how she asks her spirit guides to bless her deck after smudging it in the Smudging and Incense chapter below. It is a fantastic adaption to use that portion of her technique here, during a visualisation.

I always “clean the cards” before or right after a reading as part of my personal ritual. I do this by visualizing a beam of pure white light from above piercing the cards and instantly purging them of all prior energy. Tarot of Angels by Anton Rossi

Smudging and incense

Fire is an elemental connection. Smudge sticks and incense are lit and kept burning by fire. It is the only element capable of transforming one item into another and has long been linked to rites of purging and cleansing.

It is clear why this approach is by far the most common one. This method seems to work because of our recall of frankincense from our time spent attending church. Just the sight and smell of the smoke can conjure up a genuine sense of purification.

Look for white sage when using a smudge stick, though lavender smudge is also beneficial if you can locate it. There are several types, aromas, purities, and intensities of incense. Each has unique traits, connections, and purposes. The range is enormous and may be a little perplexing. Try what you can find or what you already have, is my advise to you. I have successfully smudged with a variety of substances using many different types. Be less anxious about having to discover the ideal smudge or incense; you will, after much trial and error, and I can attest that the process is really enjoyable.

I sage a new deck when I acquire one (light dried native sage and pass the deck several times through the smoke). The sage smoke purifies the cards and establishes a sacred area around them. I then make a request to my spirit guides to bless the deck and assist me in using it solely for the benefit of the person I’m reading for. Tarot Explorer Nancy Hendrickson Bonnie Cehovet, Laura Goodfellow, Rainbow Tarot, Misha, Tarot by Misha, and I ourselves are also fans.

Moon energy

Water is associated with an element. La Lunar has long been linked to water because of her feminine, enigmatic, and fluid spirit. She has the ability to control enormous oceans as well as your body.

Tarot deck clearing using lunar energy is quite efficient. The simplest method is to just set your deck on the window sill or close to one and allow the moon to clear and revitalize your cards. Although it is helpful, a full moon is not necessary, especially if it can be seen from the window next to where you plan to put your deck. I have used this strategy successfully many times before. Using crystals, you can even incorporate a small ritual into this method, as the Tarot Lady proposes below. Smudging or lighting incense before the ritual can also be quite helpful. If you want to give your Full Moon ritual a bit more atmosphere, consider including candles.

Overnight, place the cards in the moonlight, loose. However, keep them inside and place them on a lovely blanket or a basket that you prefer. Toby Cehovet

I’ve only ever had to cleanse a Tarot deck once, and that was when I first began exploring the fascinating world of magic and divination. I had purchased a used deck, and every time I lifted it up to use it, I would get a headache. As a novice, I was a little unclear of what to do and by pure luck, rather than expertise, I discovered a ritual that has served me well ever since. I wrapped my deck (in a box) in a black lay cloth, put salt on top of it, and set it on the window sill for 24 hours. I still don’t get headaches when I use that deck. Witch Blog by Lyn

Shuffling and re-ordering the deck

Air is the associated element. Focused mental effort is very much required while carefully, logically rearranging your cards during shuffling. Imagine the subtle hand motions of shuffleboarding, which are swift to the touch and light as air.

This method is very well-liked and only takes you to sit down with your deck and play with it softly (as we do), shuffle it until you feel it has been cleansed, or put the cards back in their original order before rearranging them. I haven’t actually done this previously, however lately while working on some spread designs, I unintentionally did the latter. The deck had been rearranged for the task I was doing, and when I mixed it back up again for readings, I discovered that the same deck was extraordinarily accurate.

Favored by Bonnie Cehovet, Misha, Tarot by Misha, and Lori Green, who incorporates a little incense into her ceremony (see above).

Using crystals

Earth is associated with an element. With the essence and power of the earth within her. Crystals effortlessly ground and radiate that force to everything in their immediate vicinity, gracing it with the spirit of nature.

I adore crystals and use them constantly throughout the day. I can hold one in my hands to clear my head or to help me concentrate. In addition to the fantastic advise from the Tarot Lady below, I frequently use one to sit on top of an opened deck while readings or simply because I’m using the deck in another capacity and may be leaving it unattended for a while. It still involves a crystal and a tarot card, but the focus is on guarding rather than cleaning.

For many tarot and spiritual pursuits, clear quartz and amethyst are excellent all-arounders.

My personal method when I feel that my deck has been “depleted” is to place it on a shelf with a crystal on top of the deck. I frequently use a quartz crystal, but if I feel the deck has gotten unbalanced, I may also use a smokey quartz or a hematite (this can happen if I read for a client who has really bad or spacey energy). I also make an effort to place the deck squarely in the moonlight during full moons, as this appears to really charge the deck magnificently. The Tarot Lady, Theresa Reed