In this post, I’ll look at some different ways to shuffle tarot cards to randomize the deck before intuitively drawing a card. As mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to shuffle a deck the first time. In fact, many people shuffle differently depending on which deck they use.
Tarot cards can be shuffled in the same way as other cards. No special technique or process is required. However, tarot cards are larger than those of other types, so it is often most useful to merely cut the deck at least seven times and reorder it randomly.
While many people find shuffling difficult, luckily there are no special techniques to make your reading more accurate. At the most basic level, shuffling ensures that you don’t draw the same tarot card (or the card of the last person to read that tarot card) over and over. When you get a new deck of tarot cards, you really, really want to shuffle or they’ll be fine.
The Standard Approach to Shuffling Tarot Cards
Start by shuffling your tarot deck as you see fit, then cut the assembled deck, placing the cards in three separate piles on the left. Then I ask my client to take it in his left hand and cut the Tarot deck into three stacks with the reverse side facing up. In this case, I shuffle all the cards, cut the deck myself, and arrange the cards on top of the two cut decks.
Probably the most common type of shuffling is to put the tarot cards in one hand and a portion of the cards in the other hand until you feel that the tarot cards are properly shuffled. Hold the deck in one hand and shuffle the cards from one side of the main deck to the other with the other hand. With the other hand, pull out the small cards little by little, and slowly lower them to the sides of the deck.
You hold the deck in your non-dominant hand, then take a few cards from the end of your dominant hand and throw some of them forward or back into the deck at a time. Use the same method to combine cards by holding half of the deck in each hand and fanning them out.
You will then build your deck using a move or direction different from the one you used to lay it out. Like casino shuffling, this is great for getting flips in your deck, as you willy-nilly move all the cards and have no way of knowing which way they are facing when you put the deck face down again.
Shuffling Techniques Can Be Borrowed from the Mundane
A casino shuffle is when you split the deck in half, hold half the cards in each hand, and toss them very quickly into each other, like a poker dealer. For example, I shuffle in reverse order, cut the deck into three piles, flip the pile 180 degrees, put them together again, and shuffle again. Well, the queue is because I work with flipped cards and I like to make sure I turn the cards upside down and upside down when I shuffle.
Feel the cards in your hands and then figure out which shuffling technique feels “right” for that particular deck. Now, as you slowly move your hand across the deck, use your intuition and the energy around you to find the card. Shuffling allows you to focus on why you are doing the reading and imprint your energy on the tarot cards.
The most important thing in this passage is the attention of the one who shuffles (either the questioner or the reader, depending on the rules of the reader), the reader will tell you how many times and how to shuffle the Tarot cards. In the traditional way, the querent shuffles the cards before letting the readers lay them out and solve them.
Most tarot readers pull the cards sideways towards themselves and then place them in front of the questioner. The reader can talk about the type of spread that will be used and help the querent take each card and place it in a specific position after shuffling.
Advice for Drawing Cards Properly
Usually, if a card is drawn from the bottom of the pile, the reader is called to do so for some reason, or required by the scatter of the tarot cards they are working with. This is not a hard and fast rule; the reader may also shuffle the cards before or after the consultants’ turn to heighten their attention to the tarot spread. It is not uncommon for the same player to use different shuffling methods for different cards.
Do not be surprised if there are people who ask you to shuffle 100 times, only the reader shuffles the deck, the querent can only take cards or simply swap cards, thinking about the question he asked. You see, if you are forcing someone to read your cards, your only literal job is to select the cards and shuffle the deck and perhaps channel your energy into the process.
While not all readers enjoy having their cards touched, I want my client to shuffle the cards as I read face to face. I ask my client to shuffle the tarot deck until my client feels it is time to stop until he is focused on the question he wants to answer. Shuffling the cards is believed to help you gain energy, which in turn makes the readings work as well as they do. I’ll go over some shuffling techniques below, but first I’d like to focus on the “why” behind shuffling.
