I see my relationships with my decks as being similar to relationships with friends. You need to build them gently. Sometimes a relationship needs a break - after all, I don't spend all my time with one friend. Just as with a relationship with a person, we need a break sometimes.
I had a deck that I couldn't read - Lo Scarabeo's Dragons Tarot. I struggled for months and finally gave up and stuffed it in the back of my closet. It sat there for years. One day I was going through my decks, looking back on all the memories they held, and looked through it, and decided that I wanted to learn to read it, once and for all. So I did a reading with a deck that I was comfortable with, asking "How can I learn to read my Dragons deck?" The answer came back clearly: "You have to read it differently from your other decks." Suddenly, it all made sense. The meanings of the images in my Dragons deck were totally different from my more RWS-inspired decks, and that was what threw me off. I picked up the deck and started doing practice readings with it, and wow, it all worked beautifully. I can now read it very comfortably, and I love it.
Here are some other things you can try to connect to a deck:
- Get the deck a present. Sounds weird, but how do we heal a relationship that's been hurt somehow? We treat the other person to something. With my decks, I make hand-stitched bags for each one. If you're not into sewing, you could buy a crystal for the deck and store them together.
- Change how you store the deck. Try wrapping it in a scarf or dark cloth, or in a different bag.
- Cleanse the deck of any stray energies it may have picked up on its journeys to you. You can do this by setting it in a bowl of salt (sea salt works best, but table salt is fine) for a while. It's best if you can do it overnight, but if that's not practical for you, an hour will do. That's what I do with my decks.
- Sit down with the cards and tell them all about yourself. I know this one sounds REALLY bizarre, but a friend of mine (who has an AMAZING connection with her cards) told me to do this. It works wonders for me with new decks. Once they know me well, the cards tell me what I need to know.
Hope some of this helps!
-Taylor