Tarot Fundamentals: How to Connect to a New Tarot Deck

This is the newest article in my Tarot Fundamentals series. I love getting a new Tarot Deck. Taking off that plastic wrap and flipping through the cards is so exciting. But now that you’ve seen all the cards, does it just go on your shelf? It is important to feel like you and the deck can talk and understand each other. This article is all about How to Connect to a New Tarot Deck.

Why You Should Connect to Your New Tarot Deck

Feeling connected to your new tarot deck can be like love at first sight but most times it comes over time. It pays to have a connection to the deck you are using in readings, messages are clearer and come to you quickly.

Connecting to a deck can be done in several different ways. The more you work with a deck the deeper your connection can become.

Sometimes you buy a deck because you thought the illustrations were beautiful or you saw someone else with the deck and wanted.

Know that sometimes a deck and you weren’t meant to work together. If you spend a lot of time with a deck and you just don’t feel the messages come to you, it may be time to let it go. Pass, the deck on so it can find the person it was meant to work with.

How to Connect to a New Tarot Deck

What does it mean to have a connection to a tarot deck? It means that the deck and you can have a conversation. You understand the deck’s personality and can pick up on the tarot deck’s message. It understands what you are asking when maybe you don’t fully understand yourself.

I have a deck that will answer my questions in a sarcastic, no-nonsense way. I reach for this deck when I am asking the practical, daily-life type of questions. I don’t reach for the deck when I am asking deep, emotional questions. I know the deck’s personality and work with it accordingly.

Unique Ways to Connect to Your New Tarot Deck

Most of these practices will require contemplation and reflection. I highly encourage you to record the process in a Tarot journal. Any notebook will do. But make it fun, and buy a pretty journal or personalize a generic one.

Connect to Your New Tarot Deck by Shuffling It

How do the cards feel in your hands? How you shuffle the deck may come down to the size of the cards and the type of material they are made of.

Cards too big for your hands may require you to overhand shuffle them.

Cards that have a glossy finish may slip out of your hands and it may be more practical to spread them out on a tabletop like a fan.

What is the card stock? A thick cardstock may make it hard to riffle shuffle. Or maybe the cards are thin and bend if they are riffle-shuffled.

Learning the best way to shuffle each deck, helps you understand how best to handle it. Getting you one step closer to a good working relationship.

Connect by Finding Your Liked and Disliked Cards

For this method, start going through each card in the deck and form three piles. One pile for all the images that you love. They make you go “OMG” or “WOW” Trust me, you’ll know them when you see them.

The second pile will be for cards that make you go, “UUUGGGHH”. the cards that you don’t want to look at very long. Maybe it’s the person in the image or the colors, or whatever. Something about the card gives you a negative feeling.

The last pile is for all the other cards. They leave you with a neutral feeling. You don’t love them but they aren’t bad either.

Now that you have your piles, Start with pile one. Get out your tarot journal and record which ones you loved. Write a brief explanation about what you love about the card and how it makes you feel.

Repeat this for pile number two, the cards you disliked. Spend a little more time with these cards. Things that you have aversions to are usually things that you need to work on. Take your time and write it all down.

You can ignore the neutral pile.

Connect to your Deck: Sort Tarot cards by the Suits

I like to lay out all the cards from one suit in a line so I can see them all at once. Doing so lets you see the progression of cards and you can pick up on the story. You can see repeating symbols, colors, or patterns. Journal about anything that stands out to you. Research any symbols and what they mean.

Connect to Your Deck: Sort Cards by Number

Pull out each number from the four suits and look at them together. In numerology, each number represents certain properties. Compare how each card in the different suits reflects those attributes. Take into account how each suit is a different aspect.

Wands represent fire, action, and inspiration. Swords represent Air, the mind, and intellect. Cups represent water, relationships, and emotions. Penticels represent Earth, physical, resources, and material objects.

For example, The number Four represents stability, order, and determination. This is shown in the 4 of Wands by the way action can bring about happiness, the 4 of Swords shows an ordered mind can feel at rest, the 4 of Cups shows balanced emotions bring contentment, and 4 of Pentacles shows stability of resources.

For more information about tarot and numerology, check out Biddy Tarot’s blog.

I like to take photos with my phone of the cards separated by each number. That way I can look at them wherever I am. It’s also a small enough grouping that I can get all the cards in frame. Plus, I can put my cards away and not sort through them again to finish my journaling. All the cards are just a few clicks away.

Connect to Your Tarot Deck with an Interview Spread

I like to do my deck interview after I have spent a fair amount of time with the cards. I like to be familiar with the energy of the images before I start using them for readings. However, do your deck interview whenever you feel ready.

There are many options for deck interviews online. You can find one already created or make up your own.

A Deck Interview is just a tarot spread with questions about the deck, yourself, and how you can work together and help one another.

After completing the spread I typically have a good understanding of the deck’s personality and how it can best serve me. I highly recommend doing one to help you connect to your new tarot deck.

Here is a 6-card Deck Interview Spread.

Pull One Card a Day to Connect to your New Tarot Deck

I love to use this method! Pulling one card a day brings you and the deck together consistently. It makes you take a closer look at the card you’ve drawn. If you pull it in the morning, you can have that card and image in your head all day. Reading the guidebook gives you a deeper understanding of the message and relating the card to how you felt or what happened during the day gives you real-life connections to that card and its meaning.

Connect to Your Deck by Reading the Guide Book

Regardless of how well you know the traditional tarot card meanings, it is still very beneficial for you to read the guidebook. Doing so helps you understand the Author’s approach to creating the deck. It may explain that the deck was intended for shadow work or Sex Magic. (However, you don’t have to use it that way)

The guidebook can contain unique spreads that are a great addition to your practice.

It also may help explain the images on the cards, what is portrayed on them, or why certain elements were used.

It can give you a whole backstory to the deck that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. You are free to use that information or discard it and work with the deck as you see fit. In the end, the only thing important is how you and the cards want to work together.

Connect by Modifying Your Deck

How do you modify a deck? Many tarot readers choose to modify their deck by coloring the edges with markers or paint. I have taken a black Sharpy to many of my decks with black backgrounds. I love the way it looks and makes that deck feel more personal.

You can trim the card down to remove unwanted borders or to make the deck smaller.

You can write keywords or draw symbols on the cards to help you add meanings. This is a great tool for beginners.

Get creative but proceed with caution if you are a perfectionist. There is always the risk of messing up. If you can’t live with the mistake it may prevent you from using the deck.

Modifying the deck increases the time you spend with the deck, allowing you to get to know the cards better. You also get to put your own creativity and energy into the deck, enhancing your bond.

Connect to Your Deck By Understanding Symbolism

As you are flipping through the Deck notice the symbolic elements. Are snakes found throughout the deck? What do snakes mean to you? How do snakes help communicate the card’s meaning?

Do you see Astrological glyphs throughout the deck? If so, what do they mean to you? If you aren’t sure research it and see if it’s mentioned in the guidebook. Record your thoughts in your journal.

Are you Connected to your New Tarot Deck?

If you try all or just some of these methods I’ve explained, I am sure you will have a deeper understanding of your Tarot deck. That deeper understanding will allow messages to come to you clearer and easier than before. I hope you gained some insight from my post on How to Connect to Your New Tarot Deck.