Shuffling... How do you do it?

I just started learning and using Tarot and I generally do the method where you move cards over/under from one hand to the other a few times, then cut the deck into thirds and reverse the middle stack, re stack them and shuffle with the first method a few times again. I usually do this several times, which unfortunately takes up a lot of my time when I'm trying to do a reading for myself or someone else. It usually feels right though, and I've shuffled for almost 5 minutes before.

How does everyone else shuffle? Any tips on shuffling quicker or more efficiently (including using reversed cards)?

I don't read reversals so keep all my cards upright. I just riffle and bridge for a while, then for some unknown reason, I do three hand over hand shuffles. Then I cut either in half or in threes. If I were to use reversals, I'd just keep flipping one half of the deck when I split it before a couple of the riffles. Probably alternating which side I flipped.

I never, never, ever, ever bridge my cards. It makes a neat sound and looks neat, but it's horrible for the cards.

However I do riffle----a few done with the backs facing, then another few done with the fronts facing, and so on back and forth for however long I shuffle. My decks always lie perfectly flat by doing it that way and never develop a bow. I never shuffle any way but riffling.

Oh, and I don't use reversals and never have. I just don't like to. There's always a way to know when you need to read a card as reversed without using actual reversed cards, either by surrounding cards, naming a spread position allowing for reversed meanings, or just intuition.

Everyday I'm shuffling!... ta-da-da-da-da-da-da. ta-da-da-da-da-da-da

lol, now seriously I always listen to my intuition, sometimes i shuffle for 5 minutes, sometimes i shuffle 30 sec, sometimes i just do the 3 piles and put them on each other as you said, and sometimes i dont shuffle at all. Cards always get right anyway...
it also depends whether you are taking cards from top or u draw each card individually from deck. When i draw cards one by one then i dont really need to shuffle.
when i do reversals, i dont split deck into thirds but only half and rotate one half and keep shuffling...
Lately, i havent been shuffling nearly at all cuz i was pulling cards from different parts of the deck...

If you are reading for someone else, let them shuffle the cards... it will take less time and dont feel if wont be right when they didnt shuffle it "enough" for u.

Grizabella said:

I never, never, ever, ever bridge my cards. It makes a neat sound and looks neat, but it's horrible for the cards.

However I do riffle----a few done with the backs facing, then another few done with the fronts facing, and so on back and forth for however long I shuffle. My decks always lie perfectly flat by doing it that way and never develop a bow. I never shuffle any way but riffling.

Oh, and I don't use reversals and never have. I just don't like to. There's always a way to know when you need to read a card as reversed without using actual reversed cards, either by surrounding cards, naming a spread position allowing for reversed meanings, or just intuition.

Click to expand...

by horrible, you mean bridging is damaging your cards? :O

I love riffling, howeve i only do it with regular playing cards since i tend to leave cards bent. I tried to riffle my tarot cards couple times but i felt i was damaging them so i stopped. however riffling is amazing.. 1 riffle replaces bridging of 10 or 15 times... so fast...

I really like your explanation of reversed... very nice

I usually shuffle my Shadowscapes by swirling the cards around in a big pile on a soft blanket. For mini-shuffling, I just switch cards around a few at a time.

My Hanson-Roberts is my designated takes-abuse deck, so I shuffle it like playing cards, bridge and all. I also carry it around the house in my pocket with no box. Some of the cards are slightly water damaged along one edge.

I want my Shadowscapes to stay pristine forever, but for whatever reason, I want my HR to get dirty and dinged up. Makes me love both decks more.

I shuffle hand over hand and hold the cards lengthways so they get mushed together with their shortest sides.. I started shuffling like this when I was using a deck that was too big for me to hold horizontally and realised it was comfy so I do that with all of my decks now.
I don't cut, I pull cards from randomly in the stack and if I'm reading for someone else I fan the cards out and they choose from anywhere in the fan. I found that when I pulled cards from the top they often hadn't been shuffled enough and the same cards kept showing up.

Hand to hand, ie lacing the cards. And I palm both ends of the deck and spin in opposite directions too.

I don't draw from the top though, I select each card by cutting in the middle, so I only shuffle as long as I want.

JadoreHauteCouture said:

by horrible, you mean bridging is damaging your cards? :O

Click to expand...

I don't know what else that would mean. Of course that's what I meant.

I shuffle however I feel like, at the time of the reading.
Then cut into three piles, put them back together,
spread them across the table and pick the number of cards
we're using for the reading.

Most times I look at the bottom card...just for fun and extra info.