How Do You Keep Your Decks?

[jobarghest]

I keep my decks together with incense, I love the scent When I kept the decks in closed boxes, the scent was even more intense, but even in open boxes, the incense makes itself felt.

...........more intense!? OMG... and YOU, YOUNG LADY......you're another one .....Ok, I get the whole "incense" routine thing......I despair.
The Tarot Commandments count is up to three: Thou Shalt Not Slice and Dice Thy Tarot Decks Thou Shalt Not Incense or Perfume Thy Tarot Decks

Lol Papageno I am getting flashbacks to being caught being naughty at school!
I can totally see the aversion to messing with decks- I am like that with some, especially my Thoth, but some I'm terribly irresponsible

[Papageno]

Lol Papageno I am getting flashbacks to being caught being naughty at school!
I can totally see the aversion to messing with decks- I am like that with some, especially my Thoth, but some I'm terribly irresponsible

I MUST admit that there was only one instance when I was actually contemplating taking a deck to the guillotine.

That was the Crystal Tarot by Elisabetta Trevisan........I shall never forgive Lo Scarabeo for that particular offense.

I mean really, that deck has been re-issued several times and they still insisted on murdering her artwork with that outrageous border design.
There are at least 3 variations of that border design, all of which, obliterate the edges of the card images.

It's not a coincidence that MANY of the reviews and videos about the Crystal Tarot include comments and demonstrations about "how to trim your deck".

........but I have refrained, it will remain intact, as is.

[Nemia]

I have trimmed my decks, changed my decks, and I started doing that before I knew what the Internet was.... I thought I was the only one who hated those ugly greenish borders on the Thoth! If the tarot police were ever to seek my place, I'd be in trouble... but they don't know where I live!

[Papageno]

I have trimmed my decks, changed my decks, and I started doing that before I knew what the Internet was.... I thought I was the only one who hated those ugly greenish borders on the Thoth! If the tarot police were ever to seek my place, I'd be in trouble... but they don't know where I live!

I sense a great disturbance in The Force. Green? Like you not green?.......(sigh) always it is with this one, trim, always must trim.

[Dr.Dunbar]

trim, always must trim

We are talking about tarot decks, right? Hehe.

[Papageno]

We are talking about tarot decks, right? Hehe.

On behalf of all of us who have derailed your thread, our most sincere apologies.

Peace

[Dr.Dunbar]

On behalf of all of us who have derailed your thread, our most sincere apologies.

Lol its all good.

[Koppes]

That's a great way to derail a thread if you ask me. haha

[Dr.Dunbar]

It's great seeing how everyone takes care of their beloved decks; each different and unique like all of us! I keep my decks inside several beautiful gold and black boxes I purchased, and each deck has its own handmade, hand-inscribed card box. The inscriptions around each box lid not only help me identify the deck, but also pertain directly to the style of the deck inside. For instance, I inscribed my Magical Manga Tarot deck with several famous Japanese expressions; my Dark Grimoire deck has a French poem about death, and my Smith-Waite deck has a quote from A. E. Waite himself.

[Nemia]

The crown of perfectionism, I think, goes to this absolutely gorgeous and meaningful idea! Beautiful.

How many decks do you have?

[Dr.Dunbar]

The crown of perfectionism, I think, goes to this absolutely gorgeous and meaningful idea! Beautiful.

How many decks do you have?

Thank you, Nemia! I currently keep sixteen tarot decks. I know it's a small collection compared to some folks, but I'm very picky. A deck has to really speak to me in some way for me to keep it. I've bought numerous other decks and have either returned them or given them away as gifts. I suppose I'm a tarot snob lol!

[Kimber]

I just finished completely reorganizing my collection! I bought 4 of these big cabinets (which took me a few days to assemble!); 2 are on one side of the room, and I have 2 on the other side of the room. Here's pics of both outside and inside. This is tarot storage only; I have a 4 drawer file cabinet in the closet for oracles and Lenormands.

[Nemia]

Wow, this thread is amazing, wonderful pictures! I feel only moderately crazy when I see these collections! I love it and somehow feel quite proud of the tarot community. These decks are cherished, and that must add some good to this world!

Kimber, this is absolutely beautiful.

[Mab]

Your boxes are fabulous, Dr.Dunbar. I wish you were UK based!

I am a hopeless seamstress, but greatly admire the beautiful bags that you dexterous ones can make. Some of those gorgeous fabrics! (Sigh)
I have a few posh bags made by these hyper gifted beings for my special decks and rely on cheapo ones I can buy from eBay for the others... but am I the only one that puts the decks in their boxes inside a bag?
I like the extra rigidity of a box.

If I buy a second hand deck without a box, I like to either buy them or source them from other areas. Perfume boxes and posh sweets in boxes from places like Fortnum and Masons are good bets, but someone sent me a deck in a Belkin box, which had housed computer cables, and this was an excellent fit... so I will see if I can scrounge some off my son (a self described Uber nerd who probably has heaps of them)

And those cabinets are just the job, Kimber, they look really elegant and coordinated. A neat solution to the collection housing problem!
I am just considering what to do with my decks, as the collection has outgrown the allotted space. It has existed happily in a small chest of drawers, a davenport desk with loads of drawers either side and a washstand with cupboards underneath, but it's creeping out...
I have seen some people on YouTube that house their (vast) collections in IKEA cube shelving, which might work.
Only, what would I do with the books...

[supersentai]

Being a fan of Cardcaptor Sakura, I really wanted to keep my tarot deck in a "storage book" like the Clow Book for Clow Cards. So, I bought a "book box" off Amazon, and made an insert tray perfectly sized for the tarot deck, with a lift ribbon to retrieve the cards easily.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MMVLDC

I can put it inconspicuously on the shelf like a regular book too.

And a "family photo" with my Clow/Sakura book collection.

[Nemia]

Supersentai, that looks wonderful! What a beautiful idea. I love it. I think this idea of keeping tarot decks like books is great. Lately, deck producers have become much more creative with their boxes, sometimes too much so - it feels sometimes like overkill and you feel that the box is making the deck more expensive. And then, they take up much space. But your solution looks individual and beautiful.

[fire cat pickles]

My collection looks similar to others. There is only one box I threw away regrettably. Some are in bags, some are not. I keep them all in a glass cabinet that desperately needs organizing. I also don't believe that the cards themselves hold any significant power until I handle them. That's when the true "magic" happens.

[Griot]

While I keep the original boxes, I store the majority of my decks in bags and tag them with the deck name. Now that I've made it to a site where swapping and selling of decks happen, I have put some of my more expendable decks back in their original boxes.

When I feel the need to clean my cards, I light some incense and waft each card through the smoke. For some reason, burying them in salt or leaving them out in the moonlight never quite felt like a cleansing to me.

The cards would have to have a serious funk before I'd put them in a box with some incense sticks.

[Kate Tarot]

I keep them in their original boxes because I have many, many decks and I'd never keep the collection straight if I wrapped them in silk or transferred them to other containers.

[BlueStar]

I just finished completely reorganizing my collection! I bought 4 of these big cabinets (which took me a few days to assemble!); 2 are on one side of the room, and I have 2 on the other side of the room. Here's pics of both outside and inside. This is tarot storage only; I have a 4 drawer file cabinet in the closet for oracles and Lenormands.

Wow, that is some collection!:)

[finnhilton]

I have kept my decks in their original boxes and I love to collect decks in total I have 38 different design decks.