Meditating with a New Deck

For many of us, the first tarot myth we are told is also the first one we have dispelled — the myth that you have to be gifted every tarot deck that you use. There are many compelling reasons to want to buy your own decks, and the idea that one has to be purchased for you for you to begin your journey is simply not so. Tarot, like anything, takes practice, and the more time you spend reflecting on and spending time with your new cards, the better you’ll become at interpreting the symbols used in that deck. It’s far more important that you find a tarot deck with artwork that resonates with you, that is easy for you to shuffle using your shuffle style (this is tricky to figure out online), and that you will want to use. Once I purchase a deck, I normally go through a little ritual.

I thought it would be a good time to discuss that ritual since I recently bought myself a new tarot deck. I was resistant to getting a new deck until the 5-cent Tarot by Madame Clara crossed my path. As soon as I saw the artwork, I knew that I was looking at a deck of mine that I had just managed to misplace across space-time. So far, I love this deck (it arrived quite promptly, early even, today in a luxurious bag and beautiful box that fits it thematically and makes me smile). But I’m not here to do a deck review — I thought that it would be more interesting to document my ritual / meditations as I start to bring a new deck into my life.

When I introduce myself to a deck the first time, the first thing I do is clear my workspace and lay out a dark-colored cloth where I put the cards (I often use a cloth between my reading space and cards). I go through each card and consider it, meditating on other images of that card in other decks, of how that card makes me feel and how the artwork on it connects to my ideas of the card. I ponder other times I’ve seen the card in readings, times I’ve interacted with it, and what I can learn from that card. I examine the imagery and the symbolism, making a mental note of anything I want to look up in my tarot journal later. I perform this examination and meditation for each card, and if I don’t have a couple of hours to do this exercise and move through all of the cards, I’ll wait until I can do the entire ritual in one sitting, because I enjoy the process and experience of moving through the deck methodically, reacquainting myself with the archetypes of life through its artistic vision.

Once I’ve acquainted myself with my feelings for each of the cards, I move through them again with the Little White Book (LWB) that comes with them. The imagery and theme of a particular deck can impact particular cards (this is particularly true of the ‘After Tarot’, so it’s important to review what the artist’s vision and idea of the cards.

A good feel for the card’s contents is pretty important before moving on to a reading and interpretation, and I particularly enjoy a six card introductory interview spread that’s a combination of the facets I like the most from every introductory spread I’ve seen. I lay the cards out starting from the upper left corner and lay them out clockwise.

As I select each card, I focus on the intent and question for each card, placing it on a cloth.

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your strengths as a deck?
3. What are your limitations?
4. What can I learn from you?
5. How can I best learn from you?
6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?

I’ve found that when I take time to introduce myself to a deck that it fosters a deep connection, and interviewing and working with the deck initially makes me more able to interpret the symbols and meanings of the cards for me. Tarot is a strong, intuitive tool that requires an ability to connect and understand stories, characters, and archetypes that are depicted and taking time to understand how each deck tells those stories is vital to my skills as a reader. Layouts like the introductory interview help deepen my understanding of each deck’s messages — and the language they use to convey them.