Do you lay the cards face up or face down?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Feb 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

sagitarian	11 Feb 2003
I was wondering when you lay the cards out for a querent/client, as you first lay them out, do you lay them with the face up, or face down? Any particular reason of why? I've always laid mine face up. Not sure why, just the way I've always done it. But I've seen others who lay them face down till it's time to read that card. Thought it odd to do it that way, so was just wondering why someone would.

Eowyn	11 Feb 2003
When I do a CC, because there a lot of cards I ask the querent to pass me the cards, in my hands, so when I got the 10, I pick up one more to be the significator, and then i place the rest, face up. When I do a shorter read, I always place them faced up. But, when Im reading to my self, I use to place them face down. I never had thought of this before, Ive just realized that I do have a custom, a way of doing it. I cant remember what lead me to do this in this way, but im sure this may varie acording to the circumstances.

Umbrae	11 Feb 2003
A wonderful question! Sometimes I turn them all over at once, so that I read the entire spread as a whole first. Sometimes I turn each card individually and read them one at a time, ending with reading the whole spread. If it’s the first time reading for a particular sitter I use the latter. If the sitter has sat for a session or two I use the former. …and I rarely lay them all out face down…without fail the sitter will turn something over – and I’ve just lost control…

zorya	11 Feb 2003
i always lay them out face up. that initial overview usually speaks loudly to me. those first words that come to mind are like keys. the cards that jump out to me first, i take as being very important. then i can look over the spread, card by card.

lawguy51	11 Feb 2003
Face up always. Like Umbrae, sometimes I like to concentrate on one card at a time. With a Celtic Cross say, I will look at that first card, then the cross. Then the other four cards. I may stay with the 'cross' for a while. Then I'll lay out the final 4 cards. Other times, they all come flying out. Lawguy51

Hedera	11 Feb 2003
Yes, I lay them face up, too, although sometimes quite slowly, to take it in card by card. I love to see the story grow, the patterns form. When the whole spread is layed out, I also look at it without really looking at the individual cards; just the colours, the shapes, the movements. Only then do I start telling the story I see on the table. Even when I read for myself (which is most of the time), I try to do it out loud, sort of muttering. A big part of the process feels creative, rather than interprative, and I tend to mutter when I make something. (she wrote, muttering) :) Hedera.

anjocoxo	11 Feb 2003
I always read all, when they all are facing up. I prefer to see the reading as a whole... but that's just me Anjo

amyel	11 Feb 2003
Now this is interesting to me. When I first started reading, I *always* laid out the cards face up. But with my new Shining Tribe, I instinctively (Intuitively???) lay each card face down and turn them up one at a time. I have no idea why. It just felt "right".

Minos	12 Feb 2003
I've always thought it looks really cool and 'professional' when a reader deals the cards face down out and then flips them over one by one as the reading unfolds. Sadly for me, I like to get a sense for the schematics of the spread before I launch into a reading, so I always do it face up. :(

jema	12 Feb 2003
when i first started reading i had them all faced down first. then flipping them over one by one. i think because the LWB said that was how one was supposed to read the CC. but i wasn't very happy with it since the reading felt too disjointed. so i started turning all face upp first with smaller readings and now i do so with all readings. i like the full impact of a reading head on at the start. i like to see where my eye darts, which cards seems out of place, common traits etc before starting the reading card by card.

VGimlet	12 Feb 2003
Face up, because I usually begin by looking over the spread, and getting a general idea of the tone of the cards, and an idea of where the reading will go.

Joywalker	12 Feb 2003
Me? Face down. :D As I go from Card 1 to the next (in the CC spread),I relate the card to its position b4 flipping up the next card.After flipping the last card, I'll summarise the whole reading. :D

Trogon	12 Feb 2003
Hmmm.... interesting question! I've never even thought about laying the cards face down... you can't see them that way! ;) Actually, it never occured to me to lay them face down then turn them over one-at-a-time. The lazy side of me makes me think this to be a waste of effort. I deal all the cards face up then look over the whole picture... get a feel for which suits are missing or weak, or in abundance. As others have said, I look to see what jumps out at me... get a general feeling for the spread before diving in to individual cards.

The Do you lay the cards face up or face down? thread was originally posted on 11 Feb 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.