Breaking in a New Tarot Deck
Buying a new tarot deck can be super exciting, inspiring, fun and it can definitely bring a renewed energy to your readings. However, you have to be careful to take the steps to really get to know that deck before you start asking clients to pay for readings.
I’m not a serial tarot deck buyer (yet) as my philosophy is that I really want to get to know the deck that I’m working with inside out, upside down, any way up etc….you get my drift! For me it’s really important that I have a strong relationship with the deck and that I know every nuance before I ask anybody to part with their hard earned cash.
Working with a new deck is really like learning a new language. I pretty much always use the Universal Rider-Waite, which is one of the most popular decks around. I also work with The Wild Unknown. The imagery and art in The Wild Unknown is just stunning and really speaks to me.
What I found when first starting to work with another deck is that I was constantly translating back to the Rider-Waite in my head. Crazy right! Why not just work with the Rider-Waite if I’m going to do that. The magic really happens when you understand the different language of each deck and let your intuition flow. There are steps that you need to take before you can add a deck to your repertoire.
My advice for anybody starting with a new deck is to practise, practise, practise and….you got it…..practise. You should be working with the deck every day and as a bare minimum drawing a card a day. It’s really great to keep a journal when working with a new deck and just writing down how the card makes you feel. What I love about this is that you get raw, unfiltered information and it’s really useful to ‘feel’ into the card and see what your first impressions are. I draw a card a day and post it on my facebook and instagram and this kind of acts as my journal.
You should be doing a load of practice readings with friends, family and anybody else who will let you. You may find that your readings are a bit stilted and just don’t flow as much as usual but again it’s like learning a new language and you are not quite fully fluent just yet.
My Tarot Santuary
During your practise time it’s important to keep returning to your journal and adding to it. Be sure to get feedback from your guinea pigs (clients) and see what cards keep coming up for certain situations.
Like anything you get out what you put in. My recommendation would be that you should practise with a new deck for at least 3 months before introducing it to your professional readings but that will definitely vary from person to person.
Another little trick that I used to integrate the Wild Unknown into my professional readings was to end each Rider-Watie reading with a one card draw form The Wild Unknown. This card is just an energy that I want the person to take away with them or a key area that they need to know about or work on.
I hope this helps you understand a bit more about how I work and what goes into adding layers to a business.
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