Breaking in a new deck

I am breaking in a new deck.

It takes time! My original deck which I have had for more years than I want to confess is still perfect, but one day it won't be. So I need a seasoned deck in the wings, ready to go!

New decks are slippery and hard to shuffle, the cards stick to each other like shy girls at the pool. They are too shiny! But more importantly they haven't connected to you and your energy and the cards are just not awake.

The card on the left is more than 30 years older than the card on the right.

Waking up a new deck is lots of shuffling, lots of keeping it in your proximity. And then slowly slowly start to draw cards and wake the deck up. You will know when it feels awake and ready to use for readings. Suddenly the images will pop and the stories will start to be heard.

Another very good reason to have a second deck on hand is for traveling. I always take my tarot cards with me, and always use them! But you can imagine the trauma if your one and only deck was lost in transit somewhere! You can buy small decks that are good for travelling, I prefer the full size but they are worth thinking about if you like to travel light.

I have read Tarot in London, Tibet, Singapore, India ... One "quick" reading for a friend in a tiny coffee shop in Mcleodganj turned into an all day affair offering readings to the Tibetans who ran it and their friends. And when visiting the man who would become my husband, I did readings in his little tea shop also in Mcleodganj, Tarot is in all parts of my life it seems!

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