What Do You Do When You Lose a Tarot Card?

What do you when you lose a tarot card from a favourite deck?

I personally haven’t lost a card (yet).

But I also take steps to prevent cards from straying when I’m out doing readings at parties, events, or shops:

• I’m the only one who shuffles my deck. I used to let clients shuffle, but stopped after seeing some querents handle my cards too roughly.
  
  
• At the end of an event, I close my day by counting my cards before I put them back in their pouch. That way I know I’m leaving with a full deck.
  
  
• I’m careful about outdoor events. I used to read tarot in a park in the summer, for anyone was passing by. It was fun, but the wind can carry a card away very Bringing some stones or other small objects as paper weights helps keep your cards in place.

But if something happens and a card gets lost?

Here are some options:

First, make sure the card is truly lost. I am a clumsy shuffler and have had cards end up under the couch, slide under my laptop, or flip well across the floor. So I would make 100% sure the card was truly gone before assuming the worst.

If it is gone, then here are some different approaches to consider:

♥️ You could simply accept the loss and consider retiring the deck altogether. Thank it for its service and move to a new tarot pack.

♥️ Some deck makers offer replacement cards, and sometimes you can find single cards for sale on sites like eBay. It may be a bit of a scavenger hunt, but this could help salvage the deck.

♥️ If you do retire it, consider making the deck into an art project or something so that it can have a new life. Or give away the rest of the cards slowly, as very special gifts. (This may be hard to do if it has been a trusted companion - again, these are just suggestions.)

I personally wouldn’t use an incomplete deck, so I wouldn’t recommend continuing to read with it if it’s missing a card. (That would be like trying to do a puzzle without all the pieces.)

Hope this helps.

Until next time,

Liz xo

p.s. Looking for more practical ways to make tarot part of your spiritual path? My book The Power of Tarot teaches you how. Get it here.