Card Storage, other smallish questions

I'm wondering, how do you store your cards when you're not using them? Do you put them back in order? Do you keep them in the original box, or wrap them in cloth, or in a special box? Do you keep the decks you use most in a different place? Also, what about letting other people touch your cards?

Please forgive me if these are 'stupid' questions, I don't know many folks who read IRL.

Hey, no worries, there are no stupid questions. You're among tarot-friends here.

When I'm not using my decks, I store them in dollar-store bags (they have some surprisingly pretty ones) inside a box (got it from Winners, I think; it has botanical drawings and some Dutch writing on it) along with some incense, which makes my decks smell great. Trouble is, my collection keeps growing and the box is now full. I either need to stop collecting — HAHAHAHAHA never going to happen — or get another box, or store my decks elsewhere.

I occasionally put my decks back into order, usually if I want to study them in some way. Or just to check that I haven't lost any cards.

Lots of people put theirs back into order sometimes to "reset" the energy or for other reasons, and lots of people never do because they like a deck to keep every shuffle it's ever had.

I've let other people touch my cards. It doesn't bother me — though if it were a rare or expensive deck, I'd be very selective about that. This is another issue where different people have different preferences. Some people let anyone handle their cards, some people let no one touch them, and lots of people fall somewhere in between (like, say, allowing a querent to cut but not shuffle the deck, or letting some decks be handled but keeping other decks just for themselves).

With most tarot things, there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do it. You should always do what feels right to you.

I either store my in the box they came in or tarot bags.

I've been pondering lately how to better protect my decks...I would like to put some type of air tight seal on them to protect them if there was every any water damage in my home of something like that...I'm also considering insurance.

As far as letting people touch my decks....I don't usually do that. I let my husband, grudgingly ....I don't really want people touching my decks. I let my daughter sometimes too, but again...I get real antsy about it. LOL!

I wrap my deck (currently only have one) in a green altar cloth when I'm not using it. Occasionally, when my deck is starting to produce weird combinations, then I'll burn some sage incense over it and leave it to clear the energy before the next reading.

Welcome to AT! Your questions aren't stupid at all, they're ones most people have when starting out. As such, running a search of the forum is probably the fastest way to get your answers, as there's hundreds of posts on almost anything you can think of. Here's the most recent thread on storage to get you started: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=239976

Personally, I hate boxes, and decks are only in them if they're rarely used or I don't yet have a bag for them. Working decks (which most of mine are) are bagged and stored together in a basket when not in use. If I don't put them back, they tend to wander and get lost in the clutter around here--there's a few missing from the attached picture. (Not a great shot & posted sideways for some reason, but you'll get the idea of what I use--some are in envelope style wraps, which I prefer, some drawstring bags.) Non working decks are together in a drawer.

And I don't care about anyone touching my decks so long as their hands are reasonably clean. Some people have a huge issue with others handling their cards. I don't--consequently, I also don't feel the need to cleanse them. If a reading seems off, it's me, not the deck, that needs the break! Likewise, I don't reorder reading decks ever (unless I think I'm missing a card), only those used for comparative, side by side study with a working deck--and that's done not to clear any energies from the study deck, but to make it easier to find specific cards.

Do what you're comfortable with, and know that there's no right or wrong way to approach these things!

I keep the decks I use most in their own individual tarot bags and I keep those bags together in a Tarot Chest. The decks I don't use as often stay in their cardboard boxes and are stored in drawers. There are a few decks which I leave out for easy access on the living room end tables and on the buffet table in the dining room.

I don't put the decks I use most often back in order, but the ones I store in the drawers I usually do put back in order. I don't mind other people touching my cards. Usually the people I'm around when doing readings are pretty gentle with them and I don't worry too much about them damaging them. I let them shuffle before a reading if they feel comfortable doing it- some people don't want to do it. I also let them cut the deck themselves. Sometimes during a reading I pick up the card and hand it to them to show them something that's standing out to me.

As others have said, do what feels right to you. You don't have to do it our way and you don't have to justify your choices to anyone Ask the questions you want to ask, we were all new once.

PS- Hi Gayla, I haven't seen you in a while...nice to see you here

Welcome, From Ashes! Like everyone's said, no stupid questions and whatever you feel is right, IS right.

I don't believe in the old "you must store them in silk" stuff. I do store them "specially" because I like it. I do the same with my knitting things, spinning things, jewelry making things, etc. It makes me feel "fancy" when I get my things out to play.

I have two paperboard boxes where I keep most of my stuff. I keep the decks I'm studying or working with in the bigger box in satin or linen bags, and my index cards with card study notes, great spreads I've seen, etc., on them in the smaller one. The overflow goes in a paperboard "suitcase" with peacocks on it. It doesn't cost much to be fancy either. I found the bags on Etsy (about two bucks apiece for the satin ones and about fifteen bucks for twenty of the linen ones) and the boxes at Michael's for 40% off. Score!

I didn't used to be possessive over my cards, not wanting people to touch them. I'd have the querents shuffle and cut if they felt comfortable doing it, and if they wanted to look through them, I'd had them over. But I recently got a Waterhouse Oracle deck and a Samhain Deck of the Bastard and all of a sudden I'm possessive as hell! When I think of using them to read for others, I find myself clutching them to my chest and saying, "Mine!" I hope I don't turn out like Sméagol.

The only suggestion I can make is if it's a deck you aren't planning to use a lot keep it in a box and add cardboard inserts to fill up any empty spaces. This will protect the box from getting dented and will also keep the cards from warping as some decks tend to do, especially in humid climates.

it's so reassuring to hear things like this. thanks so much, all, for replies!

LindaMechele said:

I didn't used to be possessive over my cards, not wanting people to touch them. I'd have the querents shuffle and cut if they felt comfortable doing it, and if they wanted to look through them, I'd had them over. But I recently got a Waterhouse Oracle deck and a Samhain Deck of the Bastard and all of a sudden I'm possessive as hell! When I think of using them to read for others, I find myself clutching them to my chest and saying, "Mine!" I hope I don't turn out like Sméagol.

Click to expand...

I don't really mind people touching my cards as long as they careful with them and haven't been eating Cheetos beforehand. That said, my daughter wanted to look at my Waterhouse Oracle a while back but I didn't let her touch them. I'm not sure why - she is very good about caring for my deck. Heck, I even was brave enough to gild the edges of them with ink! Suddenly I became possessive of them and don't want anyone to touch them either.