Getting your hands on a new deck of tarot cards is always uplifting, but it is not guaranteed that you will feel an instant connection with your cards. For me, it has always been essential that I feel connected with my tarot decks before I start using them in my readings.
Having a bond with your tarot cards helps you read tarot intuitively. If you feel like the way your tarot cards convey their messages seems to be off, you will want to try bonding with your cards to make them feel natural and fluent.
How to bond with your tarot cards?
I own several tarot decks, and I’ll admit that recently I have been something of a shopaholic with them. There are just so many attractive options available these days!! In fact, I have several decks coming my way again, meaning I will have a lot of connecting to do soon.
Therefore, I decided to research and share some proven methods to bond with tarot cards and list them here. I hope the techniques I present here will help you guys bond with your tarot cards.
One of my latest arrivals was a new Tarot of Marseille deck. I was drawn to the deck immediately when I saw it on the bookstore shelf. I guess one of the reasons that I felt drawn to it was that I am a massive fan of the french language, and I tend to love everything French. 🙂
Anyhow, like a happy camper, I walked home with my brand new tarot deck and started unboxing it. The moment I opened the packaging, I began the bonding process.
When you are using your tarot deck for readings, you will want it to feel and smell like it is your own. This requires that you use the deck for some time before you start feeling a natural connection to it. To speed up the process, you can do something that is called “breaking-in” a deck.
Brand new cards also tend to sail a bit too smoothly off other cards’ surfaces. Meaning they are a bit too slippery. To remove the unwanted stiffness and slippery, we can “break-in” the deck. This process will help you balance the tarot deck and make all cards feel equal. Your cards will be more comfortable to handle, especially when you are shuffling them.
When you open your new tarot deck’s packaging and get the cards out, they often tend to have a natural stiffness to them. Also, you might still get a sniff of the paint from the print machine as you unwrap the cellophane cover that has been sealing the cards ever since they left the factory floor.
“As a side note, a useful tip to help you preserve the original packaging is to keep the bottom portion of the cellophane attached to the box as long as possible. Try taking off only the top part as you rip the little strip around the cellophane.”
Breaking-in equates to flexing, shuffling, mixing, and handling your deck in general. When you are breaking in the deck, you are always touching the cards and using them. The best way of doing this is by shuffling a lot. What’s excellent about shuffling is that it is a great stress reliever, and you can do it any time. You can do it almost unconsciously cause all it requires is that your hands are free, and you have your deck with you. You can shuffle on a bus to work, when you are watching tv, or when you are talking with your friends.
Some tarot readers don’t like to use “the riffle shuffle” technique because it requires bending the cards. Bending is an effective way to remove the cards’ stiffness, but it can also damage the cards if it is not done correctly. The idea is that when you bend the cards, you always from both directions. If the bending is done correctly, it won’t damage the cards.
If you don’t know how to do a shuffle like this, it is good to start by practicing shuffling with an old playing card deck or just choose a method that doesn’t require bending. You can simply “wash the cards” in a random, messy pile on the table so that each card touches the table surface. This way, they also get to touch another surface than the cards and, in a way, clean themselves.
Cleansing your cards is also an important and commonly used method to connect with new tarot cards. It is like a welcoming ritual to remove unwanted energies and charge them with new positive energies.
Cleansing your tarot deck is something that you can do regularly with your cards. If you are a believer in energies like me, you can do this whenever you feel off with your cards.
In this method, we are starting to get to know our new cards more personally. The honeymoon phase of just touching and smelling the cards is over and done with, so we can move on to a more metaphysical level. Just kidding; you should continue shuffling your deck as much as you like. Handling and using them will make them feel at home. But let’s get back to scanning your new cards.
To get a feel for your deck, you can spread all the 78 cards in front of you, or you can deal them one by one in front of you. I like to lay them on the floor all at once, so I can quickly scan them through and get a feel of the “big picture.”
When you let your eyes scan the cards, you can observe which ones turn you on and turn you off. Observe the colors and the themes that the artist has incorporated into their interpretation of the archetypes. You can try to put into words what type of signals your deck is sending you.
After this, I hope you have a positive experience with your deck. You can deepen your relationship with the following method and feel even more connected.
Keeping a tarot journal is a compelling way to connect and bond with your cards. You have probably read and heard this before, but it really is. It is also a very effective way to get you reading tarot intuitively. But it won’t be powerful before you actually engage in it and give it a try.
Keeping a tarot journal for bonding with your cards doesn’t need to be rocket science. You can organize the journal in any way you want. You can think of a structure for it, or you can just write something about each card. As long as you are taking the time and engaging with the act of writing your thoughts onto paper, you will most likely find this useful.
Now don’t rush through this exercise since this is something that will require time. Take a look at one card at a time. Look at the atmosphere that is depicted in the image. Observe the people, their facial expressions, animals, plants, clothes, etc. Look for symbols you can find and the colors that have been used. Think about what they mean to you, and are they relevant to you. You will be blown away by how many details you will notice about the cards when you start analyzing them with time.
Write all this down in your tarot journal and go back to reading it whenever you feel off with your cards. You will also learn immensely about the cards while you are doing the writing, and it will help you get more familiar with each card. If you are new to tarot, you should definitely give this a try.
If you are interested in taking this one step further, you can do a pathworking exercise with each card. So let’s talk about that next.
Pathworking is a time-consuming process but totally worth it. Some consider that this is for more advanced readers, but I believe this will be useful also for students who are new to tarot. It creates a mental bridge between logic and experience, which helps you memorize the card meanings better. It also creates a deeper connection with you and the cards as you associate events from your own personal experience to the cards.
While you are pathworking with your new cards, you are mentally placing yourself into the card imaginary. This will require some form of meditation to happen, but it will be totally worth a try. Imagine yourself into the world of each card and try to comprehend how that world feels.
After you have a pathworking experience with the cards, you will have a stronger connection with them. While you are doing tarot readings, you can draw from those experiences and include them in your interpretations.
If you find this exercise hard to do, you can try to get to know your deck by interviewing it. So let’s have a look at that bonding method next.
Like in the pathworking exercise, you are engaging with the cards, but now with questions. It’s quite a fun way to have a conversation with your deck, and it is also an excellent way to practice readings.
It won’t be as time-consuming as pathworking, and you can do this whenever you have a free spot in your day. This can also be a great way to begin and finish your day.
You can ask the deck just about anything, but here are some easy questions to give you an idea of what you can do.
Studying about tarot with your new tarot cards is a great way to get a deeper connection with your cards. I still feel closely connected with the first cards I used to study tarot. They are essential to me, and they hold a special place in my heart.
But this method of connecting with your cards doesn’t need to be just for beginners. You can always find new areas of tarot which can deepen your understanding of the cards. Pathworking with the cards is a great example. If it interests you, you can try to master that area with your new cards.
If you are a beginner, you can simply study the card meanings with your deck or take a course on reading cards intuitively. If you are an advanced reader with experience, why not learn holistic tarot or tarot for shadow work. Grab a spoon and give something new a try with your cards.
The cards are beautiful, and it is nice to just feel and look at them, but you will want to start using your deck at the end of the day. I think that the best way to connect with your cards is to actually use them. So even if you will skip all the other methods we went through, this is where you will engage with them evidently.
When you are reading with a new deck, you are not familiar with all the details of it. If you face a client straight away, it might get uncomfortable when some of the card imaginary doesn’t make sense to you. You don’t want to be second-guessing if you’re reading for someone else, so practicing by reading for yourself first.
So get your deck out of the box and start reading. It will be wise to read for yourself in the beginning, cause you will want to make sure that you’re reading has a good flow. You can use the deck interview method when you practice. It is a great way to get to know your deck and improve your reading simultaneously.
Storing your cards will prevent them from damaging when you are not using them or transporting them somewhere. I like to carry a deck with me where-ever I go, so I have a unique travel pouch for my cards.
I also feel that if you treat the cards with love and care, they start to mean to you more. If you handle them with love and care, they become more important to you. Even though you would think that they are just rectangular pieces of paper with lovely images on them. Pamper them with special attention, and they will start meaning more to you.
Suppose you would like to read more about different storing methods. In that case, you can find my other article about storing tarot cards over here.
For the same reason as in the previous method, it is inherent to thank your cards. I feel that if you give thankful energies to others, the universe will answer back at you. The cards are no different. In fact, they are your helpful friends who always answer with wisdom, so remember to be thankful for them.
I hope you found some of the methods we just went through applicable to you. In essence, I think the main thing is to get positive experiences with your deck. That amounts to spending time with your cards and playing around with them. I suppose all of you that buy tarot cards enjoy reading them so that in itself will be a joyful time spent together.
I would still like to add some advice about what NOT to do. That is not to read when you are stressed or in a hurry. When you are stressed, you will feel off anyways, no matter which deck of cards you are using. The same thing goes to being in a hurry. If you rush through a reading, you are not really digging into your intuition, and most likely, for this reason, your tarot reading will feel off.
If you feel that your deck doesn’t like you no matter what you do, it is good to put it aside and return to it later. Give it another chance in a few months.
Happy readings to everyone!
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