Been reading for years and never done a formal deck interview. My decks and I are tight. Every reading is getting to know each other anyway… which cards show up constantly, which ones hide, how they talk to you. My main deck literally fell off the shelf at me three times before I bought it.
No interview needed, we just clicked.
If you want to do interviews, cool, but make them yours. Ask weird stuff like “what’s your midnight snack?” instead of the same seven questions everyone uses. Your cat deck might have fun with that. But honestly? Some of us just dive in and let the relationship happen naturally. The magic comes from using them, not from formal introductions.
If you’re really determined to do something like this, I know we have the interview spread guide, but keep to that. Short, simple and sweet. No need to go overboard.
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Maybe try creating a gratitude ritual with your deck. Bless each card with a sense of intention and appreciation. It might help you connect with your deck in a deeper way. Give it a shot and see how it feels.
My grandmother always said ‘honey, if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough’.
That really stuck with me. I tried doing this huge 20-card deck interview spread once. Took forever and didn’t tell me anything useful. Those big, elaborate spreads with tons of questions just make things confusing instead of helping you connect with the deck.
Now I just pull a few cards when I get a new deck. Keep it simple.
I don’t think it’s a rule that you have to but it’s also not something you have to run away from. Maybe it is more case by case.
Honestly, your deck literally choosing you by jumping off the shelf reminds me of this technique where you shuffle and let cards physically fall out during readings as ‘jumpers’, those cards often end up being the most important messages, like the deck is literally throwing wisdom at you.
Try laying out a few cards without any specific question in mind.
Just let them speak to you in the moment. Sit with their energy and see how they connect. Notice how the Magician’s active energy shifts into the Priestess’s receptive wisdom. It’s like watching day turn to night, or how action naturally leads to rest.
When you approach the cards without forcing it or hunting for answers, you start to see things differently. You’re basically letting your intuitive side absorb a visual language that speaks to your subconscious. These patterns show up everywhere once you start noticing them.
By just being present with the images instead of analyzing everything, you’re teaching yourself a new way of understanding things, one that works through symbols instead of words. Your mind already thinks in pictures anyway, so tarot becomes a bridge between those gut feelings and your conscious thoughts.
The more you practice this way, the more the cards start to reflect what’s going on in your life.
Yeah, our decks are just paper and ink when you think about it, but I like playing with the idea that they have their own character. I stopped doing those standard deck interview questions a while back. Now I do more of a full personality reading on the deck itself.
Basically mapping out its quirks and how it tends to communicate. It’s like doing a Celtic Cross spread, but the deck is the querent. Each card position reveals something about how that particular deck wants to work.
Formal deck interviews might actually mess with developing intuition naturally. And this is coming from someone who color-codes their sock drawer.
When we organize interactions too rigidly, we can miss the spontaneous stuff. I learned this the hard way, planned my entire vacation down to the minute and missed an incredible sunset because it happened at 6:47 instead of my scheduled photo time.
I hate trying to follow a script during conversations. Doesn’t work. Trust me on that one.
Yeah, I use this approach too. It’s pretty straightforward and works well. The simple methods can actually show you a lot about the cards.
I try to stay connected with my decks through regular readings and check-ins. The court cards, especially, seem to shift meanings over time.
Every few months, I notice my interpretations changing. Like the High Priestess used to feel really distant to me, but lately she’s been coming up with clearer messages. Same with the Emperor, used to read him as super rigid, but now I see more nuance there.
It’s kind of like tuning an instrument, I guess. Have to keep adjusting as I change, too.
The Fool keeps showing up in weird positions lately and throwing me off. How do you all keep your readings fresh? The Moon card has been confusing me lately, keeps showing up, but the meaning feels different each time.
Yes! I had this realization too.
The Tarot is this bridge between me and whatever wisdom is flowing through
i just hold my deck and try to feel connected to it. maybe visualize the energy mixing together? helps me get more intuitive readings
Did the whole deck interview thing when I first got my cards. Set everything up properly, asked all the right questions. The reading came out saying the deck was worn out and didn’t want to work with me. So that was that. Still sitting in my drawer somewhere.
I do this six-card spread whenever I get a new deck to see how we’ll work together.
- What’s the deck’s personality or main vibe?
- How will it help expand my awareness?
- What shadow stuff might it struggle with?
- What unconscious material can it access for me?
- How do we best communicate?
- What kind of transformation is possible here?
Draw one card per question, shuffling between each. Keep any cards that fall out, those are usually major. It’s a nice way to establish a relationship with the deck and see what kind of guide it’ll be for your inner work.
Instead of doing formal questions, I just put the deck there and pull daily cards. It’s like learning a new language by living somewhere instead of studying from a book. The deck kind of teaches you its own way of communicating when you use it regularly like that.
I sleep with new decks under my pillow for three nights before doing anything with them. No cards drawn, just letting them sit there.
Then I pull one card and ask what we need to know about each other. Usually get a Major Arcana or court card that sets the tone for the whole deck. Sometimes, just having the deck close by is the best way to connect with it.
The most surprising thing about deck interviews? They showed me more about how I read cards than anything about the deck. It’s like looking in a mirror, I can see which questions I always ask and how I tend to interpret the answers.
A lot of my reading style is already set before I even pick up a new deck.
I just go through the deck card by card and see what catches my eye. Some symbols stand out more than others, or certain characters feel like they’re speaking to me. It’s more like watching someone and getting a feel for them instead of grilling them with questions.
While diving straight in usually works fine, I did a deck interview once and pulled The Empress as a ‘weakness.’ At first I just brushed it off. She was telling me I was getting too attached to that deck for emotional support. Those formal questions sometimes catch stuff you’d miss in regular readings - like when certain cards point out you’re getting too dependent instead of just describing the deck.
