How to Store Tarot Cards at Home with Care

Store the deck wrapped in a natural cloth or inside a closed box, somewhere clean, dry and private. Mumbai's humidity is hard on card stock, so a drawer or a cupboard shelf is far kinder to a deck than an open surface, and it keeps the cards from dust and from being idly picked up.

Keep them away from three things in particular: damp, direct sunlight, and the places where daily mess collects. Bathrooms, kitchen counters, shoe racks and the top of the fridge are all poor choices, both practically and in terms of the care people generally want to show a deck.

Natural fabric is the usual choice — cotton or silk, in a plain colour, large enough to fold around the deck twice. Many people use a small silk or cotton square kept only for that purpose, and it doubles as a cloth to lay the cards on when reading.

A wooden or cardboard box works equally well, and is more practical if you travel. Avoid sealing a deck in plastic in a humid city, because trapped moisture warps card stock and makes the edges stick. If the original box has fallen apart, a simple cloth pouch is a perfectly good replacement.

Keep it where you actually read — a study drawer, a bedside cupboard, or a shelf in a quiet corner. Convenience matters, because a deck stored awkwardly stops being used thoughtfully.

If you follow Vastu at home, a study or reading corner in the North or East is a natural place, and the same quiet zones people choose for a meditation corner or study suit a deck well. There is no Vastu rule about tarot cards, since Vastu is an Indian tradition of building and tarot is a European card tradition — this is simply about a calm, uncluttered spot.

Most people prefer not to. The mandir or pooja space in the North-East is kept for worship, and a working deck is a tool you shuffle, carry and occasionally spill tea near. Keeping the two separate is usually more comfortable for the whole household.

That does not mean the deck should be treated casually. Many readers handle their cards with श्रद्धा (shraddha, reverent care) — a clean cloth, clean hands, an unhurried moment before laying them out. Respect for a tool and reverence for the divine are different things, and it is reasonable to keep them in different places.

Gentle habits keep a deck usable for years. None of this is complicated, but it does need to be consistent.

Use dry methods only. Cards are paper, so water, salt water and direct contact with salt will ruin them, whatever you may have read about cleansing stones. Sound is the simplest option — a bell, a singing bowl, or a chanted ॐ (Om) near the deck for a minute.

Moonlight on a clean windowsill overnight is another common choice, brought in before the morning sun so the colours do not fade. Some people rest the wrapped deck beside a cleansed selenite piece or crystal cluster, or pass it briefly through incense smoke with a window open. Do this when a deck feels stale to you, after a heavy session, or when it is new to you.

That is entirely your choice, and readers differ. Some invite the person asking to shuffle and cut the deck, believing the contact matters. Others keep their working deck to themselves and use a second deck when others are involved.

Whichever you prefer, say it kindly and in advance. A simple 'I keep this one to myself, but you are welcome to cut the pile' avoids awkwardness. Do keep a deck out of general circulation at parties, where it usually ends up bent, incomplete or used to unsettle someone for entertainment.

When a deck becomes too worn to read comfortably, most people retire it rather than bin it casually — wrapped and kept in a cupboard, or respectfully disposed of, as you would an old book you have valued. Replace it with a deck you find easy to look at, since you will be studying those images closely. The Rider–Waite–Smith deck is the usual starting point, partly because its illustrated scenes are easy to read and partly because so much has been written about it. Its cards also read reversed as a softening or an inward turn, so an upside-down card is nothing to be wary of when you are handling the deck.

If you are unsure about placement at home, or you would rather see how a reading is conducted before building your own practice, Dr. Kimaya Parikh-Ambekar offers tarot reading for adults at VastuKimaya's office in Andheri East, Mumbai, using the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, along with Vastu consultancy and healing therapies, on-site across the city or at a distance.