What's your favorite way to get to know your decks?

[StarkRavenMad]

Hello all, while I've had my tarot deck for a while, it's only now that I'm just starting to use them. One of the ways I decided to practice doing readings was to try to get to know my deck using an interview spread I found on Pinterest, as well as asking it what sort of crystals it would like me to use to recharge it.

 

So I'm curious, how do others in this forum get to know their new decks? Who else likes to interview their decks and what sort of questions do they ask? Or what other ways are there, other than simply using the deck over a period of time?

[Sonnenkind]

I like doing in depth comparisons of the same card from my different decks. It helps me to grasp similarities and differences. And it helps me get a feel for the difference of the different decks. 

 

But I am still learning. So this might be a part of that. 

[DanielJUK]

There are some deck interview spreads here if anyone needs them....

 

 

I don't really like deck interview spreads personally, not sure why but don't feel that is something in my ritual with decks.

 

I like to unbox them and explore them, look at the cards, feel them in my hands. I like to read the LWB or whatever leaflet came with it. Is there an intention by the author in the beginning? What do they want with it and what is their intention? Mostly though, I use it in a reading, see how it works out. So really mine is more of a practical method, just see how it is in reading 🙂 .

[DanielJUK]

and we have a section with threads of everyone's fave version of different cards which has some nice comparisons .....

https://www.thetarotforum.com/forums/forum/63-card-favorites/

[Redfaery]

My newest deck is the Pagan Otherworlds, and I've wanted it for so long that I've built up a deep anxiety about actually using it. I've had the deck for a few months now, and I keep taking the cards out to read them, but I stop in horror at the thought of even cutting the deck to mix the cards.

 

So, today I brought them with me out and about. I work at a small library and I'm hopeful that letting myself become familiar with their presence in my space will sort of "demystify" them.

[Tanga]

On 8/25/2025 at 7:50 PM, Redfaery said:

I've built up a deep anxiety about actually using it. I've had the deck for a few months now, and I keep taking the cards out to read them, but I stop in horror at the thought of even cutting the deck to mix the cards.

 

So, today I brought them with me out and about. I work at a small library and I'm hopeful that letting myself become familiar with their presence in my space will sort of "demystify" them.

 

Oh goodness - why?  What would happen if you use the deck?

Hope their company at work helped.

 

@StarkRavenMad Sometimes I interview my new deck for fun with an interview spread.

But mostly I do alla DaneilJUK.  As I leaf through the deck looking at it, I may select some cards and pin them up on my 

Tarot notice board to digest over the week.

 

[Redfaery]

Thank you for the reply @Tanga! Taking the deck to work yesterday actually did help. I handled the cards and admired the art during my quiet moments.

 

But I am a very anxious person by nature and perpetually cooking up disaster scenarios in my head without fully interrogating them or their sources. It's one of my more persistent neuroses that things like Tarot cards are very easily "ruined" if handled carelessly.😉

[Chariot]

7 hours ago, Redfaery said:

Thank you for the reply @Tanga! Taking the deck to work yesterday actually did help. I handled the cards and admired the art during my quiet moments.

 

But I am a very anxious person by nature and perpetually cooking up disaster scenarios in my head without fully interrogating them or their sources. It's one of my more persistent neuroses that things like Tarot cards are very easily "ruined" if handled carelessly.😉

I can certainly relate to the idea that handling cards carelessly might interfere with their use, as disrespecting tarot can be a mistake. But if you are so anxious about being careless that you hesitate to use the cards, chances are you are NOT being careless at all! 

[geoxena]

I don't interview my decks.  Personally, it always struck me as rather a silly thing to do.  Some tarot readers will refer to their decks as "chatty" or "demanding," and other terms usually used to describe people.  They are free to believe whatever they want, of course, but again, to me it seems silly.  I see no reason for that.  I'm not religious and don't believe in deities or spirits.  For me, there is nothing in a tarot deck to fear, revere, or interview and I don't anthropomorphize inanimate things.  A tarot deck is simply a collection of images printed on paper cardstock, like any playing card deck.  The cards come out of a print manufacturer and are not imbued with some kind of power from a supernatural source.  A deck doesn't "want" anything.  It's just cards.  Yes, some tarot decks are more (or less) readable, but that has to do with the artwork.  That's how I see it.  So, for me, the only way to get to know how readable a deck is, is to use it and make intuitive connections with the symbolism and intentions of whoever created the deck.  No rituals necessary.

 

 

 

Edited October 6 by geoxena

[Chariot]

I haven’t interviewed a deck for a long time, but I did find interviewing useful because it got me interacting with a new deck without entrusting anything personal to it. It is interesting how fast you can get a feel for a deck, using a interview. However, back then I was acquiring decks more often than I am now, so it made sense. 

 

My interview always included questions about what kinds of topics the deck would be good for. While a few of these answers proved later to be inaccurate, a fair number of them were spot on. Interviews were helpful when selecting decks for use on a given day.

 

These days I rarely buy a new deck, so I just dive in and use the deck normally, after it arrives.

[SilverBirch]

Hello,

 

Having a new deck often feels a bit like birthing it. Sometimes it can be somewhere in a specific corner or space in a room, or in a drawer sometimes. For me personally it feels like I am to welcome the deck into being part of my already existing collection or lets say network of Tarot , Oracle, Card decks.  The way I have done so with my latest decks is, first I sit with the deck. I hold the deck in my hands or between my hands for a while. I sense into how it feels in my hands,  Holding the cards sometimes I whisper something into the card deck, Just a personal note from me towards the cards. This is something that I feel compelled to say or state, fe

 

May these cards be blessed

I ignited their energy and wisdom

accepting each journey

and lesson to come

 

Then i notice if are there any words coming to me while holding it. After I have kind of exchanged an energetic hello towards the deck I sit and look at each card. The first time I only look and observe.

 

Observing can take place for a while, days even, I make notes. Then I do a more thorough observation using all in one, the images, colors, shapes, artwork, my intuition etc and make longer more detailed notes. As in card meanings, there are 100ds maybe thousands of ways to look at a card. It depends on which way one sees it. Sometimes it also depends on the question you have for the deck or the theme you are working on at that very moment.  I leave the cards on the order they come in or are packed in . I do not shuffle or mix the cards until I have had the time to sit with the deck and journey, journal with it. with all of the deck. When this part of the process is finished I mix the cards so that all suits are mixed randomly. I let the deck rest while mixed in its original box. 

 

Lastly I might find a suitable cloth wrapping box or bag for it. I do not shuffle the cards until I actually start a reading with the deck. Shuffling AFTER I have formed a good question for the deck.

 

may these notes find you

bright blessings

Birch

[Fairy666tale]

I did a deck interview, mostly because I saw it suggested on youtube. And I do feel like it helped me to get comfortable with the deck, and get a first experience with its voice. It also helped me to get an idea what sort of questions I could actually ask the deck. That was something I was unsure about before, because it's also my first and only deck (so far).

Before that, I just looked at all the cards and did this thing of piling the cards that gave me a good vibe and the ones that didn't. I also wrote that down, just to see how it might change with time how I feel about those cards.

 

About disrespecting the cards: I did ask one "joke" question on purpose. It was whether or not I'd ever learn how to shuffle the cards properly. The deck gave me the "6 of Pentacles" for that. In the context of the question and by how the booklet that came with the cards descibes it, I can't read any other way than the deck telling me not to be an idiot😅

[Barleywine]

I don't "interview" them in a conversational way, I have a spread that puts them to work in creating a quasi-psychological profile of their attitude. It's just for fun, really, and gets the deck out of its box with a purpose in mind.

[Sonnenkind]

@Barleywine this sounds really interesting! Would you share this spread? I would love to try that. 

[Barleywine]

3 hours ago, Sonnenkind said:

@Barleywine this sounds really interesting! Would you share this spread? I would love to try that. 

Here it is.

[Sonnenkind]

@Barleywine thank you 😊

I will try this with a deck that I have not used, yet. 

[Barleywine]

1 hour ago, Sonnenkind said:

@Barleywine thank you 😊

I will try this with a deck that I have not used, yet. 

I've also used it with decks I never warmed up to. I figured it would give me a different perspective.

[Grizabella]

Wow, in the course of using the cards, I think I've tried just about everything, but finally I'm just comfortable with my decks and, like I've said a long time ago, I found out that a deck is just a deck  and I'm just an old lady but when we get together we become something else.  It has nothing to do with there being any kind of spirits within the cards at all.  They're just card stock with pictures.  And if there's any magic at all going on, it's within me.  I've learned to recognize the information to be gleaned from the cards in front of me and how to best transfer that message to my sitter. Everyone has this ability if they learn to tap into it and want to learn but many people think it's not a "real" thing. And/or they're scared of it because they've somehow gotten the idea there are spirits involved and that that IS a real thing. I certainly understand that. I was raised in strictly Pentecostal beliefs and that made me scared of anything "occult".  

 

Don't mistake my saying "if there's any magic it's within me" to mean I consider that I'm somebody special or that I have special powers or that I communicate with spirits or anything. None of that is true.  I'm just that old lady I mentioned back there a ways and I've learned to relax, see the messages in the cards and pass that on.  I've also learned that even if a sitter declares none of what I've seen could ever possibly be true or manifest at some time in their future, it very well might and I don't get upset by their dismay anymore. I know we may find out later on that some things really do come about.  I also don't worry about it because I never see a lot of my sitters again but I've reconnected with enough here and there to know that what I've seen in the cards does often come true, even years after the readings.  Nobody is anything near 100%

accurate and I surely don't claim to be.  Like I said, I never see a lot of my sitters or hear from them again.  

 

 

I've done deck interviews when I was first learning Tarot. I don't do that anymore but it was fun.  

 

To get acquainted with a new deck I just shuffle it and shuffle it----and shuffle it some more and read with it a lot.

 

There's a book by Dean Radin, PhD called Real Magic that's a really good one that mentions Tarot that I recommend.  Its on Amazon and it isn't expensive. 

 

 

[Esclarmonde]

I totally agree with you Grizabella. To me also a deck is just cards, and anything that happens with them is due to my mind activity (and that of the querent, if I'm reading for someone). So when I get a new deck, I just look at the cards, one by one, two or three times, to get acquainted with the images and the artwork. Later I do a brief, simple four or five card reading, on an uncomplicated topic, so as to "start" the deck. I would then use it for more and more complex readings. Works for me🙂

[Misterei]

On 8/27/2025 at 12:51 PM, Redfaery said:

... I am a very anxious person by nature and perpetually cooking up disaster scenarios in my head without fully interrogating them or their sources. It's one of my more persistent neuroses that things like Tarot cards are very easily "ruined" if handled carelessly.😉

I totally relate  to this. I purchased a quite expensive  deck that was absolutely  my dream deck. My soul deck. Then was terrified of using it for about a year! I finally started using it for making YouTube and discovered that I LOVE the deck every bit as much as I expected. And now feel a bit silly for not using it all that time. But I am super protective of it and careful with it.

On 10/6/2025 at 4:55 AM, Barleywine said:

Here it is.

I like that you use the 4 suits in your concept. Great idea! I seldom to never use "deck interviews" but yours looks different and perhaps more fun than the many typical deck interview spreads I've seen.

On 10/6/2025 at 11:25 PM, Grizabella said:

Wow, in the course of using the cards, I think I've tried just about everything, but finally I'm just comfortable with my decks and, like I've said a long time ago, I found out that a deck is just a deck  and I'm just an old lady but when we get together we become something else.  It has nothing to do with there being any kind of spirits within the cards at all.  They're just card stock with pictures.  And if there's any magic at all going on, it's within me.  ...

I find I've landed somewhere in the middle. The folks who anthropomorph their deck "personalities" seem a bit over the top at times. Yet I also find the decks are more than just ink and paper. A book is more than ink and paper [or if you read on kindle--more than electrons on a screen]. There is a story contained in that book that has a life of its own. I find tarots the same. I don't make them anthropomorphic -- they aren't people -- but to me every deck is like a book. It holds a story. Some stories are dark, some comforting, some neutral. And so on.

 

I don't much do deck interviews. At first I thought they were stupid. Then I tried them -- especially on decks I didn't connect with. Kinda fun. But in the end I'm too practical 😉 A new deck gets its chance when I have a question that needs answering. It either works for me or it doesn't. I never try new decks on clients, tho. Only on myself or maybe a close friend.

Edited October 9 by Misterei

[Grizabella]

2 hours ago, Misterei said:

 

I find I've landed somewhere in the middle. The folks who anthropomorph their deck "personalities" seem a bit over the top at times. Yet I also find the decks are more than just ink and paper. A book is more than ink and paper [or if you read on kindle--more than electrons on a screen]. There is a story contained in that book that has a life of its own. I find tarots the same. I don't make them anthropomorphic -- they aren't people -- but to me every deck is like a book. It holds a story. Some stories are dark, some comforting, some neutral. And so on.

 

 

You've got a point there about decks being more than just ink and paper like a book is.  That's actually quite true in a way, now that you mention it.  Thanks for helping me to see that.  How interesting.  😀

[Grizabella]

9 hours ago, Esclarmonde said:

I totally agree with you Grizabella. To me also a deck is just cards, and anything that happens with them is due to my mind activity (and that of the querent, if I'm reading for someone). So when I get a new deck, I just look at the cards, one by one, two or three times, to get acquainted with the images and the artwork. Later I do a brief, simple four or five card reading, on an uncomplicated topic, so as to "start" the deck. I would then use it for more and more complex readings. Works for me🙂o

Like Misterei said, I do see what she means about the cards being like a book.  The deck's creator and the book's writer are creating an artistic "item", each with its own character if we can call it that.

[Chariot]

For a while, I was acquiring decks more frequently than I am now.  I used to do a formal deck interview with each new-to-me deck ...not so much because I believed what the interviews 'told' me, but because it was a fun way to play around with a new deck.

I don't buy decks very often any more, and have got rid of lots of them that I never used or didn't have much luck with.  

Now, I just use any new deck on myself at the earliest opportunity—depending on whether my reading space is cramped or spacious (it varies, depending on what else is happening in the house.)  I'm in a period of my life where things are fairly calm and non-urgent, so I'm  having to mess around with 'daily' life when it comes to readings.  But actually using the deck—even for non-urgent readings—does give me a feel for it.  And it's fun.  I really don't like having decks just sitting on the shelf, unused, for long periods of time.

Edited October 10 by Chariot

[zurgles]

I tried deck interviews in the past and while I found it a fun exercise that helped me get to know my decks better, it wasn’t as useful as just reading with them to get a feel of their tone and style. I tried it with one of my first decks at the time while I was on aeclectic, Shadowscapes, and I remember being surprised by the many swords cards (the world was a nice cap on it though). I still remember the king of swords as being representative of the deck somehow. My experience tells me my deck is wise, refreshing, warm, encouraging, able to deliver truths in an uplifting way and in a way that’s dictated by necessity rather than in a brutally honest way, and somewhat goal oriented. I can see the king of swords fitting that description, now that I write it, but the experience of reading with it is what informed my thoughts and feelings of how the deck works for me, not the early interview. It’s still a fun exercise though, so no shade. Maybe it’d be a fun way to reflect on your history of a deck you’re already very familiar with.

[Christgal1983]

My favorite way to know my deck is to do tarot readings with it and familiarize myself with its images.

When I look at the images, I try to infer what they may tell me about my life in general.

As I perform more tarot readings with my deck, I know it better.