Problems with shuffling the Glastonbury

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

wavebreaker	24 May 2002
For those of you who have the Glastonbury tarot: do you have problems shuffling it too? When I first got it, the cards were very sticky. This has worn off a bit by now, but I still find it very difficult to shuffle the cards properly because of the cards sticking together. Instead of shuffling individual cards, I seem to be shuffling stacks of cards. Also, the cards are very thin, so I'm afraid to damage them while shuffling, which makes it even more difficult. In a nutshell: I usually end up dropping half the deck on the floor while I'm shuffling... :(

DestroyTheHuman	24 May 2002
Tarotlady, try this. When I shuffle I hold the deck in my right hand. I hold it so all but the top few cards secured in my right hand. I then let the top 5-10 or so cards fall from my right hand down into my left hand. Then I let the next few cards from my right hand fall under what I just let fall into my left hand, then I let the next few fall on the top of those. You keep doing this in a rythmic patern. The more you do it the faster you will get. *its not hard once u try it a few times* Since your hands are close 2gether they shouldn't fall. Its hard to explain, I'll try to put a pic on my webcam 4 u. This way cards are not damaged and the are still spread out evenly. http://www.easyfreewebcam.com/cam/destroythehumans/ hope that helps. :)

wavebreaker	25 May 2002
Thanks for the suggestion! I see that this is better for the cards, they don't get damaged so easily. However, the problem with the "stickiness" (I don't really know what else to call this) remains. If I try this with another deck, it works fine, but with the Glastonbury, it's not individual cards that fall from the top of the deck, but a whole stack... :(

DestroyTheHuman	25 May 2002
I see now, they wont "slide" from your hand. Instead they dont go anywhere. That sounds pretty annoying. How have you been doing it?

Maan	25 May 2002
He Tarotlady As you now i don't have this deck, yet ;) But i have had the same experience with some other decks. And i usually end up laying the cards on a cloth and just shuffle them like that. ( i now i takes a little of the magic but he! :) ) I use that method for "sticky" decks and the one's that are like the Rohrig just to .. Large to shuffle!

faunabay	25 May 2002
I had that problem with my deck in the beginning. But once I took the time to separate each individual card from each other - one at a time - they didn't stick together anymore. (If I remember right it took a couple times of doing this to get them to stop sticking.) If that doesn't work after a while - I think I remember somebody who suggested sprinkling the cards with a (very) light dusting of powder. I can't remember where I read that????? But that might help too.

wavebreaker	25 May 2002
Yes, I did separate each individual card when I first got the deck. And although the stickiness did wear off a bit after that, it's still causing problems when shuffling. However, I just tried your tip about the powder and it seems to work!! :P And, as an added bonus, my deck smells really nice now :D (I only had perfumed powder...). Thanks!!

Cocobird55	25 May 2002
I'll have to give the powder a try, too. For some reason, the Glastonbury deck is very difficult... I can't quite figure out why, except that perhaps the cards are laminated with something very different than other decks are. Sue

DestroyTheHuman	25 May 2002
I never would have thought of that. Good idea. I'll have to keep that in mind incase I/someone I know ever has that problem. Thx! :)

truthsayer	26 May 2002
one thing you want to do if you use powder to shuffle the deck is to wash your hands thoroughly and not use any hand lotion. the oils from your hands and lotion can build up w/ the powder on the cards after a while and make them so dirty you'll have to clean them. i pull the cards apart and stack them alternatively in 7 different stacks. why seven? i don't know! just felt right! that seems to work pretty good so far.

The Problems with shuffling the Glastonbury thread was originally posted on 24 May 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.