hi! i'm the person who you helped find out my mothers cards were calling me. i was wondering if you had any advice on how to bond with my new deck. i've also seen people ask their deck for its name, and was wondering how to do that so i'm not calling her 'my tarot cards / deck'. i want to form such a strong bond with her that i can maybe do future readings for others! also, since i ask you stuff so much, i figured i'd just go by an emoji so it's easier.
Hello again dear 🥰
It’s wonderful to hear that you’re at this stage! There are plenty of ways to bond with your deck, I’ll most definitely miss out a few! The main thing to remember is that, just like with a person, the goal is for you to get to know each other.
You can do this by simply being around the deck as you go about your day. Keep it somewhere you can see it when you’re doing your daily activities or meditating etc. You don’t have to be shuffling the cards all day, simply keeping it on your workspace or in your bag is enough; think of this step as hanging out with someone completely new, so just having them be in your presence is progress.
Many people like to take this further and sleep with the deck either right by their bed or below their pillow. This is a more intimate way since you’re most vulnerable in your sleep, but your mind is also no longer veiled by filters of the ego and becomes more open to the deck’s energy (so its crucial that the deck is cleansed beforehand!) Some people also like to pick a card every night and keep it closer as they sleep, then record whatever dream they have that night and try to find a link between it and the card. This helps a lot with getting to know the individual cards on a deeper emotional level.
A great way to get to know your deck is to literally just look at it. Take some time to look at each card separately and study the illustration; the colour scheme, imagery, how it makes you feel. You don’t need to take too long on this, the idea is to appreciate the individual cards before you start using them for readings. Some people like to study all the cards all at once in one sitting, but you might prefer to look at one or a few cards everyday until you’ve covered the whole deck.
Also, you don’t need to feel weird at all about talking to your deck! This is a great way to activate the potentials of whatever you’re looking to achieve with the deck, and will also serve as a reminder to you of your goals with these bonding excercises.
Another way, and one of my favourites, is to simply ask the deck about your bond with it. Go for any questions that come to mind; ‘What card summarises your (the deck’s) personality?’ or ‘What will you teach me?’
Carrying on from that last one, there are plenty of interview spreads you can find or create. Here’s a good one you might like to try:
1. “Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?”
2. “What are your strengths as a deck?”
3. “What are your limits as a deck?”
4. “What are you here to teach me?”
5. “How can I best learn and collaborate with you?”
6. “What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?”
(You can set the cards in one or two parallel lines or a diamond shape, but the layout is ultimately up to you)
Above all, make sure you’re treating the deck with respect; keep it in a safe place where it will be undisturbed, thank it after your readings, and make sure it’s adequately cleansed and charged (the amount of time between each cleanse and charge is up to you and what feels right to you!).
That being said, there are some reservations about naming one’s tarot deck as some would say that that might cause the person to start treating the deck as more of a separate entity rather than a tool powered by their own intuition. Of course, naming the deck is in no way harmful to anyone, and I for one would agree with you that it’s a really nice way to bond with it and get rid of some of the formality, but I felt compelled to also add this point. Basically, whether you name the deck or not is completely fine and up to your preferences as long as you are aware that it is simply a tool; it’s energy is sourced from your own. It is very powerful, but only through you, and that is why you were called to it.
With that out of the way, I am aware of people who have named their decks during the interview stage where they may ask the deck if it would like a name, and if so, what it might be. At this point, the card that appears may give you some ideas eg. from the imagery or colours or name, and you’re free to go with whatever pops into mind as a result! For example, you might pull an Ace and try ‘Stacy’, or The Emperor and go with ‘Ares’ etc. You can then ask the deck if it likes the name and maybe try different options if you like.
Once again, this is very cute and not harmful at all obviously, just as long as you’re aware that it’s a tool that you’re powering.
I really hope this answered your questions (and wasn’t too long, oops!) Exciting times are ahead! You’ll be doing readings in no time 💖
Also, I love the emoji signature idea 🥰
With love, from a Sappy Witch 🔮💕
Blessed be. 🕊✨
