"Seasoning" a new deck?

willowfox said:

Try some lemon, garlic and mint.

Click to expand...

And then use a smoker to get that hickory flavor,.....what? Not talkin' about steak???

On a serious note, there are some decks that I never quite feel I connect with. Ever. Others I don't connect with till sometimes years down the road. And some I connect with on some level----I know I do but can't quite pin it down----and I just keep trying them at intervals to see if the connection is going to ever be made.

I think for me it's just a matter of using the deck for awhile. I don't sleep with them or bless them or smoke them or anything like that. I just shuffle and shuffle and shuffle them and use them a lot and eventually they feel comfy and familiar.

FadeToWhite said:

I have heard a lot about different ways to get a new deck in tune with your energies,...

I have a new deck and I can just FEEL that it's not really in tune with my energy. It just feels like a pack of cards (whereas my favorite deck feels like a trusted friend). Its energy is blank and lifeless. I look at the cards and it's like I'm looking THROUGH them - I don't see anything.

Click to expand...

Use it. A lot. Shuffle it, look at the images. Decks that feel like a trusted friend to *you*, to other people will feel like the energy of your aura. Just use it.

Ao to any of the "cleansing" or "blessing" rituals, if it makes you feel better, it will help. If it doesn't, tgen there's absolutely no point.

My getting-to-know-and-getting-in-tume ritual when I meet a new deck, is to rip the parcel open before I even leave the post office (trying not to scatter bits of bubble-wrap everywhere), find a coffee-shop, order a large soychino, open the deck even more completely, and look through all the images.

With a deck I already own, I cleanse it and/or bless it simply by a brief shuffle before and after use.

I know myself well enough to know that I can get a reading out of almost anything, even bits of gravel labelled with the traditional names of Tarot cards (we tried!) so I trust all of my decks implicitly, even the ones whose artwork (or cardstock, or creator or whatever) doesn't really appeal to me.

Once you relax about the deck, it'll be fine.

gregory said:

Just - use it

Click to expand...

Aye-aye

I know others are going to have qualms over this but maybe you could read a book on it? (I don't know if the author made a book for the deck :/ ) The only deck I use that's still in this stage is my new Thoth deck and I am finding that a combination of using it, personally studying the cards, and reading about them, is helping tremendously with their readability.

Peace and Love

hunter said:

I play solitaire with any new deck I'm seriously getting to know. Take note of any card that plays a block or break in the game.

I just discard trumps into an extra pile as they come up and alternate long skinny suits (swords, wands) with short round ones (cups, pentacles) or whatever seems logical to break the suits up into 2 categories.

Click to expand...

That's a good idea, hunter. I always do at least one reading with any new deck even if I know I won't be using it often. But playing solitaire would expose more cards in one sitting than doing readings would in a month. Good trick!

Just wanted to add a thanks for all this information - I've got two new decks and one old deck that just are not as close to me as my other deck, so I'll have to give them some love and see how it goes!!