Tarot deck care quiz: storing and cleansing your cards
A quiz on looking after a tarot deck: where to keep it, how to shuffle gently, what to do with a jumper card and whether cleansing is needed at all.
- 5 questions
- ≈ 2 min
- +5 bronze keys for a flawless run
How should you store a tarot deck?
A tarot deck is card stock and ink, and how long it lasts depends on how you treat it. This quiz checks whether you know the simple rules of storage and shuffling, and whether you can tell habits that protect the cards from rituals people simply enjoy.
A deck's main enemies are damp, direct sunlight and rough shuffling. Moisture makes cards warp, sunlight bleaches the colours, and a hard bent riffle cracks the corners. So cards live in a box, a pouch or a wooden case, away from radiators and windows, and get shuffled gently by passing small packets from hand to hand. Treated like that, even an old deck stays smooth and pleasant to hold.
Do you need to cleanse a deck?
Cleansing is a ritual some readers use to "reset" their cards: sorting them into order, leaving them in the light, placing a crystal beside them. It is not required for reading; it is a matter of personal taste. If a ritual helps you settle in, use it. If not, the deck works exactly the same.
Superstitions follow the same logic. Not wanting others to handle your deck is about habit and respect for a personal object, not about danger. If you feel calmer that way, keep it to yourself. Worn corners and a battered box do not make the answers worse either: a reading lives in the question and the interpretation, not in the state of the card stock.
Shuffling, cutting and jumper cards
Before a reading the deck is shuffled, often while holding the question in mind, until it feels like enough. If you want reversed cards to appear, turn part of the deck around as you shuffle. Then comes the cut: the deck is split and the parts swap places, traditionally by the querent and usually with the left hand.
Sometimes a card jumps out mid-shuffle. Some readers treat it as an extra accent, others calmly slip it back; both are fine. And if a card goes missing, the deck is not ruined: a labelled blank card can stand in for it for now.
All questions and answers
Open after you play: the full question set with right answers and explanations.
1. Where is the best place to keep a tarot deck?
Right answer: In a box, away from damp
Damp warps cards, while heat and sun dry and bleach them. A box or pouch in a dry spot is the best home.
2. Sunlight fades the colours on cards over time.
Right answer: True
Direct light bleaches the print, which is why a deck should not sit on a windowsill for long.
3. You want reversed cards to show up in your readings. What do you do?
Right answer: Turn part of the deck around
Reversals appear when part of the deck is turned around during the shuffle. Otherwise every card lands upright.
4. Who traditionally cuts the deck after the shuffle?
Right answer: The person asking
Traditionally the querent cuts, usually with the left hand, splitting the deck and swapping the parts.
5. A card jumped out of the deck mid-shuffle. What do you do with it?
Right answer: Read it or slip it back
Some read a jumper as an extra accent, others slip it back into the deck. Both approaches are fine.
6. Which shuffle is kindest to the corners of the cards?
Right answer: Passing packets hand to hand
Passing packets gently from hand to hand does not bend the cards. Bending and knocking crack the corners.
7. What is deck cleansing, according to Tayna's glossary?
Right answer: An optional personal ritual
Cleansing is a matter of taste, like sorting the deck or leaving it in the light. Reading does not require it.
8. Why is a symmetrical card back handy?
Right answer: You cannot tell if a card is reversed
With a symmetrical back you cannot guess in advance whether a card will land upright or reversed.
9. One card has gone missing from your deck. What now?
Right answer: Use a labelled blank card for now
The deck is not ruined. A labelled blank card can stand in until the card or a new deck turns up.
10. Many readers shuffle while holding their question in mind.
Right answer: True
It is a common way to focus: shuffle with the question in mind until it feels like enough.
11. Why do people keep a deck in a pouch or cloth?
Right answer: To protect the cards and the mood
A pouch guards against dust and scratches, and for many it is a pleasant ritual. It does not change the cards.
12. You are given an old deck with worn corners. Can you read with it?
Right answer: Yes, wear does not change answers
A reading lives in the question and interpretation, not in the card stock. An old deck works like a new one.