How to Connect with A New Tarot Deck

I love getting new tarot decks.  They're almost like Pokemon to me. I want to collect them all. This is a recent obsession for me with the need to collect things. I've never felt the urge to "collect them all" before, but now I understand. Every deck is different and every deck needs time to become infused with your energy. 

When I first get a deck, there are a few things that I do..

• I carefully take it out of the box and I look through each card. Slowly. I really try to see all of the different parts of the image on the card. Notice the nuances.

• After look through all of the cards, I shuffle them and make sure they're thoroughly shuffled, so that reversed cards can be included. To do this, I use what I call the Table Mixer method.

• Once they are shuffled I like to do a deck interview tarot spread. You can get a copy of the spread that I use below.

So how do you connect to a new deck when you get one?  You spend some time with it and share connect energetically with it. I know this sounds a bit out there, but hear me out.

Everything in the Universe is made up of energy. We are all just vibrating at different frequencies, which creates different types of matter. The difference between your foot and a rock is the frequency at which is vibrates. This is called the Hermetic Law of Vibration.

So in order to really connect with a deck, it takes time and a sharing of energy. To help move things along a bit faster, try these methods below. 

#1: Blow into the deck

The air you breathe is life. Without air, you wouldn't have life. So blow your life breath into the deck and infuse it with your energy.

Hold your deck in your left hand and flip through the cards on a corner while blowing into the deck. I do this on all four corners to ensure that I push enough energy into the deck that my energy is the only energy left in the deck.

#2 Envision your energy going into the cards

Hold the deck in your left hand, your receiving hand, and cover it with your right. Then envision light coming down from above your head, entering through the top of your head, flowing through your arms and down into your hands and into the cards. You are bringing in purifying energy from the Universe and pushing this through you body, making the energy your own, before you infuse this energy into the cards. I like to envision a white ball of light starting to grow around the cards and it slowly waxing and waning as the cards absorb the energy that is around it. Once the waxing and waning stops, I know the cards have absorbed as much energy as they can hold.

#3 Let the Sun or Moon have their way

This one is less personal, but it is good for clearing out energies that are already in the deck. This is a great idea to do a pre-cleaning, especially if you deck is second hand. Leave the cards out on the windowsill overnight in the moonlight to cleanse away negative or unwanted energies. Or sometimes I will walk around outside shuffling the cards in the sunlight. You can also leave them on the windowsill in the sunlight, but be careful about fading colors if you do this too frequently.

Both the sun and the moon are great for cleansing energies and recharging with fresh, clean energy. If you do this prior to putting your energy into the cards, there will be less resistance to your energy.

#4 Shuffle the cards

Shuffling the cards is a great way to attune them to your energy, you are physically moving them and touching each card. The act of shuffling moves energy through the cards and can clear energy from the cards as well as infuse them with your energy. This is a great method to combine with envisioning your energy going into the cards. As you shuffle, envision your energy leaving your hands and going into the cards. When you shuffle and move the cards, imagine the unwanted energy being 'flicked' off of the cards. I imagine this energy as black, soot like particles that chips off of the cards and is replaced by my own energy.

This is also good to do between readings to clear the cards or previous energies that may affect a new reading.

Deck Interview Tarot Spread

Now onto the reading. When I get a deck, I choose one of the above methods to do and then I sit down with it and do the below spread. 

Tarot Deck interview tarot spread

1. Describe Yourself- This is where I let the deck tell me what it is like.

2. What type of reading is the deck best suited to? Is it a deck that is better for love readings, or spiritual ascension, etc.

3. What are the strengths of the deck?

4. What are the weaknesses of the deck?

5. How can we best work together?

6. A message from the deck.

Once I have completed this spread I typically store it with my tarot journal so that I can refer back to it as needed. This also goes well if you keep records about all of the decks that you own. When you get to have too many decks, remembering what deck is best suited for a type of reading can be handy in a pinch.

Check Out Some Other Tarot Spreads: