Shuffling the deck all together

Hi all, I have real problems shuffling the whole deck together so now I split the deck in two, shuffle one half first, then the other(both for as long as i think is necessary) then put the 2 halves together and shuffle again a little before i cut the deck and lay the cards.

Does anyone else do the same, and anyone have any comments on whether this is a good idea(i'm a little worried that my concentration lessens when i'm at the end of shuffling the first half and the beginning of shuffling the second), or any other suggestions for how to shuffle better ?

*peace, love, harmony*

Trinityangel

Recently I have taken to shuffling the whole deck and cutting each time 5 times for the 5 elements. Then I divide the deck into 5 piles and detect the one pile with the greatest energy. I make note which elemental pile that is --spirit, earth, air, water, or fire-- and I take that smaller pile and shuffle and cut again, 5 times. Then I do the throw.

Everyone has their own way of shuffling. I don't see anything wrong with the way you or anyone else for that matter decides to shuffle.

KK

Hi Kilts_knave,

thanks for the comment, and I really like your idea of splitting the deck into piles and seeing which one has the most energy, I will definately try that and see how i get on.

*peace, love, harmony*

trinityangel said:

...I really like your idea of splitting the deck into piles and seeing which one has the most energy...

Click to expand...

I stole the idea from Simone or Gardner I think.

KK

I make notes of any cards that I cut on while shuffling, as this might give a clue to the tone of the reading, and of course any jumpers, but I never find I have too many cards to shuffle easily.

Does anyone find that some decks, if not used for a while, get a bit frisky when you shuffle them? My Morgan-Greer - a rather capricious and intense deck anyway - did not take kindly to being neglected for a week or so in favour of the Goddess Tarot and it was all over the place when I tried to shuffle it up for my Reading Exchange.

trinityangel said:

Hi all, I have real problems shuffling the whole deck together so now I split the deck in two, shuffle one half first, then the other(both for as long as i think is necessary) then put the 2 halves together and shuffle again a little before i cut the deck and lay the cards.

Does anyone else do the same, and anyone have any comments on whether this is a good idea(i'm a little worried that my concentration lessens when i'm at the end of shuffling the first half and the beginning of shuffling the second), or any other suggestions for how to shuffle better ?

*peace, love, harmony*

Trinityangel

Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with either way, I would say. I generally shuffle it all at one when I can. But with some of my extra large decks, I can't. They don't always fit in one hand with enough room left for shuffling. So I need to separate into piles. No I don't find any loss of concetration from it personally.

Although that likely depends on the method you use to shuffle. There is no break in movement the way I do it. I don't think you are using the same method as I am from what I hear.

The way I shuffle is:
"Cowie Push/Put Method

In Tarot for Successful Living, Norma Cowie describes her push/put shuffling method. Her technique thoroughly mixes the cards with maximum hand contact and little or no damage. Hold the deck face down in your dominant hand. Push some cards from the top with your thumb into the other hand. Then, push again, but this time to the bottom of the new pile. Continue alternating a push to the top, then one to the bottom until all the cards have been transferred. At this point, put the entire deck back into your dominant hand and start over. This method can be difficult at first. You may push too many or drop some, but your technique will improve with practice."

The reason I tend to use this way is because it seems like the way least likely to damage the cards.

So with one of my large decks, I just take a managable size pile in my right hand, after shuffling they will all of them be in my left hand...with no cards in my right hand...Then pick up another manageble size pile in my right hand, shuffle them in with the ones already in my other hand, pick up another pile...shuffle....until they're all done.

Hope I explained that well.

Babs


Babs

Shuffling, is simply mechanics. You can do a reading perfectly well and never ever ever ever shuffle the cards.

Proper way to cut the cards? Once again, it’s mechanics. You can read perfectly well by never cutting or shuffling.

I have rather large hands, (I actually have a difficult time reaching an octave on the keyboard – I over reach 10ths all the time), and often use decks that I cannot shuffle…

So what to do?

Make a nice spread cloth out of washable faux velvet.

Then ribbon spread your cards…ask the sitter to draw the cards towards themselves, singly, leaving them face down.

and that also answers the question about 'dealing' the cards. Remember - we are not playing Texas Hold-Em Fortunes...

hi
you can do the shuffling which ever way YOU feel right! it doesn't matter... there's no right or wrong way, hon. just trust your instincts and do what you FEEL best!

I actually suck at shuffling. My hands are so small, and I never figure out "how" to shuffle the cards. I'd love to be able to shuffle them like poker players do, you know when they do that flick thing? Anyway, I usually just lay them out on my spread cloth and then mix them up in a clockwise direction. Then I attempt to shuffle them a few times til I'm ready. I never pay attention to any jumping cards... cause usually there are about 14 as my shuffling skills really are that lame.

I used to shuffle cards as in the way card players do. But I'm suffering health problems with my hands as the moment and cannot hold any cards of any size while I shuffle. I end up dropping the whole deck on the floor. I'm even having problems simply holding a deck, but that's another matter.

As shuffling I now use what is better described as mixing. I put all the cards face down on the spead cloth and move the cards around with both hands. (I used to shuffle like this during cardgames when I was little) I know it's more damaging to the cards, but it's the only way I can shuffle. Any cards that turn themself over during this process I consider jumping cards. I just keep mixing them untill I feel we (both the cards and me) are ready for the reading.

I don't yet read for others. I will need to find some other way of doing it, but hopefully by the time I'm ready to read for others I can shuffle cards in my hands again.