Should I throw out the deck for a bent card?

I've replaced a lot of decks that had bent cards, just my personal preference. As you may or may not know, there are many variations in RWS printings (stock, titles, lamination, etc.); you'll probably have to do some looking if you want a replacement that's like the one you have.

AnemoneRosie said:

I treat my decks with kid gloves until I don't have to anymore. And then they become just as well-lived as I am.

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I'm the same way. So gentle with my decks, until one gets just a little worn or damaged. Then it is time to go crazy with that deck because the voices in my head stop harassing me to be delicate.

Great Idea

RiverRunsDeep said:

Personally, I have had this situation happen to me, but it doesn't bother me, so I keep using the card. If you find it bothersome, you could replace the deck, or you could post on the thread at the top of the Talking Tarot forum, "Lost and Found Singles Bar for Missing Cards". You could ask if anyone has a spare Fool card they are willing to part with, and maybe you can replace the card without having to replace the entire deck.

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Great idea. I had no idea that was a thing. I could post it. Thanks for the suggestion!

"Like looking at a map of your life"

It is like looking at a map of your life. Remembering all those creases and wrinkles and spills.

30 years from now, you will look at that creased Fool card and think about your dog that sat on it, with full love in your heart. So don't dispose![/QUOTE]

I love this. Thanks for the reality check on that. You're so right! As long as it still speaks to me after all those years!

Ascensionist said:

I am sad to say that my dog sat on a couple of my Rider Waite cards. This has been my go-to deck as I've been learning tarot. He bent the fool, which now has a big horizontal crease in it. That card comes up way more often in readings now, or it falls from the deck and I feel like it's totally unreliable. This deck and I have history but I'm wondering if I need to retire it and get another. What do you all think? Has anyone had this happen to them?
Thank you, Ascensionist

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Sweetheart, a new deck is a deck that looks unloved and unused. I have stained decks, decks with bent cards, decks with a corner or two torn off. They all work and work well. In fact, they work better than mint-condition-just-out-of-the-box decks, simply because they HAVE been through the wars.

There was a whole thread here once, on how to batter a brand-new deck so that it gets all creased and softened and bent like a well-used deck. Reward your dog - he has started the process for you. Now, keep shuffling and using the deck, and continue the process of breaking it in.

You don't mention if this is a US Games deck. If so, there are a bijillion of them out there with obvious problems. This forum keeps a thread on finding replacement cards for a deck, find it here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=217645

Be sure to describe the pattern on the back of the cards. This makes a bit of difference!

Dumping a deck for a bent card is like dumping a deeply beloved lover for a wart.

Cherish the deck, warts and all The crease will keep your dog with you forever, long after he is gone! and that will warm you

I'm going to go against the flow here, and say if that card bothers you, go ahead and replace it, or the whole deck if you want. Personally I would hate having a badly creased card in my deck.

But I think the advice given earlier is good: hang onto the deck in case you need more replacement cards. Your dog may develop a habit.

I'll push even further upstream and say that I don't get all misty-eyed about my hammers and saws. A working deck is a tool, a means to an end and nothing more, no matter how much we like to anthropomorphize them. Anything beyond that is "in the eye of the beholder" (or maybe "in the heart" is a more precise way to put it.) The only exception I can think of is a rare or OOP deck, but if one of those gets damaged you've got reason to cry over it.

Ascensionist said:

I am sad to say that my dog sat on a couple of my Rider Waite cards. This has been my go-to deck as I've been learning tarot. He bent the fool, which now has a big horizontal crease in it. That card comes up way more often in readings now, or it falls from the deck and I feel like it's totally unreliable. This deck and I have history but I'm wondering if I need to retire it and get another. What do you all think? Has anyone had this happen to them?
Thank you, Ascensionist

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First of all, sorry to hear this has happened. I can see the deck means a lot to you.

Next thing, it's really just up to you. There is never any such thing as "should" in Tarot. What feels comfortable to you, is what you should do. If you feel uncomfortable it could affect the quality of your readings. I feel the more relaxed you feel as you read, the better the reading goes.

I can't tell you what you should do, but here are my thoughts, if it had happened to me. I tend to believe that nothing in life happens without a good reason. Especially in areas of the spiritual (which Tarot cards are for me). I would take it first of all as a type of sign. That there is a message your life it trying to give you related to that Fool card. The first step for me would be to try to figure out what that is and what can be learned from it.

Next, you don't NEED to retire it. You can if you want but you don't need to. What I think I would do it remove the card and still read with the deck. You can read with only 77 cards, btw.

BUT what I would do in this deck is to make The FOOL a universal card, apply it's meaning in some way to all readings that come up. That is what I think I would do. I would keep The Fool card, keep in on top of the deck when storing the deck. But then remove it before using the deck. To infuse the energy of that card into the deck.

I would likely also get a couple of other decks to use in a more usual way. BUT keep the original to read in a unique way with. When I felt that deck was the right one for a specific reading I would still pull it out and use it.

This original deck might become a favourite of mine for readings on faith. As in if someone asked about if someone is trustworthy, how to feel more positive in life...Anything related to The Fool card. As I would take it , that that is what the deck will most want to talk about now.

Just my thoughts...

Babs