Now that you are done choosing the tarot deck that will become your closest companion, it is important that you know how to take care of it. In tarot, as in anything else, you will meet tons of peoples with different ideological and philosophical positions: conservatives, traditionalists, liberals, heretics…fanatics and extremists.Storing your cards
Depending on who you are listening to, the advice concerning care taking of your deck can dramatically vary:
Some will tell you that you should wrap your cards in a black cloth given that it is the colour that concentrate all energies, it is the colour of the night and its mysteries… Others will prefer white as it represents purity, clean energy, angels… For some, the ideal colour is purple because it is the colour of spirituality, while for others, red is more indicated as representing dynamism, hot energy… Then, the material of this cloth should be silk for some, cotton for others, and all of this while a totally different set of persons advocate wooden boxes!
Obviously, there is no consensus on that issue, which usually means that there is no absolute answer. What’s more, I personally think that argumenting on this is ridiculous: tarot cards are an intimate part of your life, and therefore, the choice of how to store it is a personal one. Nobody tells you what colour your pants and bras should be or not be!?! Well, the same applies to your cards.
The point is to store the cards in a way that will allow effective protection from usual domestic damage such as little brothers, kids, cats tearing them off, coffee or nail-polish spilt over, or to prevent colours from fading away with time … It should also be a way that inspires respect for the cards, both from you and from the people that will approach them. Of course, they are not gods or persons to be worshipped, but they nevertheless are sacred tools and should be respected as such. It doesn’t give the same impression to wrap up your cards in an old sock rather than in a beautiful batik, bazin or piece of sari. Finally, the storage method should allow you cards to rest from previous readings, protect them from absorbing any energy hanging around, or keep the smell of your favourite incense.
In general, one would prefer to use natural materials such as wood, silk, cotton, linen… But again, it is absolutely not an obligation.
One of the best tarot readers I met, a Spanish young woman, doesn’t store her cards at all: she just keeps them together with an elastic in her office drawer.
I personally wrap my professional deck in a red and gold piece of bazin that I also use as a layout cloth when I read with it. My personal deck is wrapped in a navy blue and gold wax piece of fabric. My spell deck is in a blue and purple silk-like jewel bag. All of these, along with my caurie shells and my pendulum are stored in a wooden box, finely carved that I bought in a hippie furniture shop.
The choice of material or colour of the fabric is entirely up to you. Choose whatever you prefer and appeals to you the most, and don’t worry about the rest.
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Tarot lover and enthusiast, studying and working with the tarot for over 15 years. I Did reading for Melissa and never looked back. Was asked to come on to show my professional knowledge in the art.
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The more you learn about Tarot the more rules you’ll read about what you must or must not do. Some rules I agree with and others don’t work for me. As an intuitive Tarot reader I encourage you to experiment with how you work with Tarot. Don’t just discount the rules right off the bat, give them a try and find out what methods work and what don’t.
That said, one rule that I take umbrage with is the “you must wrap in silk” rule. I keep my decks in all kinds of wrapping and bags.
So here’s my issue with the “silk wrap only” rule. Silk is expensive and can be hard to obtain if income is tight. Silky is a luxury item and I don’t think working with Tarot should be only for well to do people. I think anyone can and should feel free to work with Tarot and a lack of expensive wrapping materials shouldn’t keep you from reading the cards.
Now, before you start wrapping your decks up in old newspaper here’s something else to consider. Just because I said you don’t need silk doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t protect your decks. When you’re working with your tarot decks (or oracle decks) you’re working with the tools of your craft, and you should treat them with respect and care. For me, it’s much more about the intention you put into your tools and the level of respect that you give them. If the best you can afford is to wrap them in a cotton bandana, that’s perfectly okay. Just make sure the bandana is clean and that you’re not just wadding it up and stuffing it somewhere.
I enjoy sewing and I’ve got a lot of awesome little patterns for bags that are the perfect
The one shown here, holding my Prisma Visions deck, is one of my favorites. The witch cameo fabric is perfect for a witch like me. It’s lightly lined so it gives the deck a little bit of padding which protects it when I need to toss it in my bag and take it with me.
Someday I might eventually have a bag that I make out of silk, who knows. Some Tarot rules make a lot of sense, like clearing your decks of old or carried over energies before you use them and doing your readings in a centered and grounded place. I’ve done readings without taking time to ground and center and those readings were… okay; but when I take the time to ground and center my readings are 150% better. But as for the silk thing, as long as you’re treating your decks with care and respect they’ll be powerful tools, it won’t matter if you’ve wrapped them in silk, cotton, wool, or paper.
But trust me on the ziplock bag thing. 😉