How To Hide Your Tarot Deck
Tarot deck putting you at social risk? This guide provides a practical method for concealing your tarot deck.
The Principles of Effective Concealment
Before we get to the method, understand the principles behind effective concealment.
Violate Expectations: The best hiding place is one that people would never think to search in the first place.
Leave No Trail: The method should not require purchases that leave a suspicious record on bank statements or in browser histories.
Simplicity is Security: Complex solutions often create more problems and points of failure than they solve.
The Book Safe: A Classic Secret Compartment
This is a time-honoured method for a reason: it is cheap, highly effective, and creates no suspicious evidence.
You Will Need:
A large, thick book on a boring topic that no one in your household would ever want to read. For example, an old encyclopedia.
A sharp craft knife or penknife.
A ruler (for neatness).
Instructions:
Open the book to about page 50 or 60 so that it can be opened without immediate detection.
Use the ruler to draw a rectangular border about an inch or two from the edges of the page.
Carefully cut along the border, going through a stack of pages. Remove the cut-out section.
Repeat this process, cutting deeper into the book until the hollowed-out space is deep enough to hold your deck.
Place the deck inside and close the book. On a shelf amongst other books, it is virtually undetectable.
Why This Method Is So Effective:
The true ingenuity of the book safe lies in how it subverts normal human behaviour. People searching for lost items like keys or documents will empty drawers, look in boxes, and check bags. They do not typically start opening and shaking every book on a shelf, because books are not expected to store items.
This principle holds true even under conditions of suspicion. Faced with a bookshelf, an adversary without specific knowledge of your savviness would find it impractical and time-consuming to inspect each book. A thick, boring book will almost certainly never be tipped open to check for hidden items, least of all an entire collection of books. This method offers a level of security that simply putting your deck in another box cannot match.
A Warning About Obvious "Secret" Solutions
It can be tempting to buy furniture or gadgets specifically designed with secret compartments. For someone in a high-risk environment, this is a dangerous choice.
Purchase History: Buying a "desk with a hidden drawer" leaves a permanent digital and financial trail. Anyone with access to your accounts will know you have something to hide.
Physical Discoverability: These items often have tell-tale signs. An observant person may notice that a drawer's internal dimensions are smaller than its external ones, revealing a false bottom. The very existence of such an item invites a determined search.
A simple book safe, by contrast, leaves no purchase history and does not advertise its own existence.
Conclusion: Stay Safe
Your spiritual practice is your own. Taking steps to protect it, and yourself, is an act of wisdom and self-preservation.
