Do you let the querent shuffle your deck...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Nov 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

MeM	19 Nov 2004
Do you let the querent shuffle your deck before a reading? In the past when I have had a reading done, I was told to shuffle and cut the deck.

April	19 Nov 2004
I always ask them if they want to, but I can't remember the last time anybody else shuffled my cards. Even my friends don't want to shuffle. I don't know if they're afaid of them or if they think they're going to break them, or what. Does anybody else get this or is it just MY cards that have cooties? Peace, April

WhiteRaven	19 Nov 2004
Well..besides doing reading here in the forum, yep...they shuffle their own. And the readers I've gone to see in my area..they tell me to shuffle and some will shuffle afterwards or they just ask me to cut, they will take the deck and I will pick the cards after they are fanned out in front of me...then there are some that will make me cut and then they take the first cards on top of the deck... There are many ways of doing this.

ros	19 Nov 2004
When I first started to read, I would let the client shuffle. Sometimes I found people had problems, the decks were odd sizes or people who don't play cards find it hard to move the cards around. Now, I shuffle, cut, fan the cards and let them pick. It's faster! This way the deck will be the shape of my hands after time.

Michelle	19 Nov 2004
I have only read at one party ( so have limited experience) but I had the querents shuffle then hand the cards to me. I cut them and then proceeded with the spread. Great question ~ Blessings, Michelle

Apollonia	19 Nov 2004
I used to let the querent shuffle, but they often seemed to become so rattled at having to do so (felt I was somehow critiqueing them or they didn't know how to "do it right") that it actually sort of threw a pall over the reading before it even began, so now I shuffle them. The first time I did this, I felt kind of strange, like I was taking something away from the querent, but no one I've read for has turned an eyelash, so now I think I was the only one who really cared who shuffled to begin with...

Ace	19 Nov 2004
I let the querent shuffle. If I am in a hurry and doing a quick reading, I will not bother with shuffling but have the querent pull 1-3 cards. Same difference: IMHO, the querent needs to imput on the reading and this is how they do it.

gypsy	19 Nov 2004
i used to always have the querent shuffle, or at least cut the deck, but i find that the energy that has built up in my cards dissipates each time someone else handles them. also, it seems like their imprint will stay on the cards, so it feels like they're not "fresh" for the next reading. besides, i don't know where their hands have been!

sprite	20 Nov 2004
yes i do the cards are yours the cards know that you have a connection with them. i feel if the sitter shuffles them it helps to align them with there situation and when the reading says whatever it says i think they understand it because they touched them, also i can say hey you shuffled you cut its what you needed to know. the only time i dont have someone handle the cards is if im getting a bad vibe from them and dont want them near my deck.

Adjustment	20 Nov 2004
It depends on the person i read for,some people tell me that they feel very uncomfortable shuffling, some people say that the deck is too big and that htey don't know how to shuffle it and some other people just do it.

Keslynn	20 Nov 2004
I shuffle the cards and let the querent cut them. I find that most people just aren't very skilled at shuffling such a big deck and might feel uncomfortable trying to do so. Also, if they shuffle, they generally put in reversals, which I don't use. I have found that most people do enjoy the cutting process. It adds that interactive element even though they didn't shuffle. :) Kes

Sushi	20 Nov 2004
I am going to echo a sentiment expressed in this thread. If someone has an energy that I dont like around them, then I won't let them touch my cards. Other than that, if I am reading for someone, I need to have them shuffle. Otherwise I dont get enough of their energy from them to do their reading. I feel that if I shuffle the cards, then that person is getting *my* reading.

shelikes2read	20 Nov 2004
I don't normally have the querent shuffle the cards, when I'm doing a face-to-face reading. However, I do have them CUT the cards. I wonder how common the method I use for cutting the deck is? From an Eden Gray book, I learned the "cut into three piles, right to left" method. That's what I use, or have the querents use, when cutting the deck for a reading. Once, I forgot myself and cut the deck like that during a card game. LOL. Thank goodness I was playing with friends who'd read the same Eden Gray book, or they'd probably have thought I was nuts. :D

Lurea	22 Nov 2004
I didn't read it in an Eden Gray book, but that's how I like to cut, too, SL2R. I also usually cut with my left hand, and have querents use the left hand, as well. It seems to add a little more of the intuitive factor for me. My right hand just seems to be too business like. :)

CloeCat	13 Dec 2004
I only let my clients cut, unless I get the urge to spred the cards like a fan do I let them thouch alot of the cards. I feel I use the cards to connect energy wise to my clients. My sensitivety makes it that I do not want to be to exposed to their energy too much, just a little. About haft the time I do not need the touch of cards to get some connection. I do not shake hands alot cause I pick up things easilly. Nervise Purrrs, CloeCat

tatsi	13 Dec 2004
I will shuffle and let the querent cut the deck. The cards can be difficult for a querent to shuffle because of the size and/or amount of cards. I feel I get a better shuffle if I do. However, I want and need the querent's energy in the cards, so I have them cut the deck OR if I fan out the cards, have them pick the cards and hand them to me. If I don't have enough energy from the querent, then the reading isn't theirs, it's mine. tatsi

Alta	13 Dec 2004
I usually give them the deck to cut, but shuffle myself. That is except one girlfirend who always grabs the deck and shuffles herself. And the Ottawa Tarot club where we can trust each other with our cards. Yup, it is protectiveness of the cards that stops me most of the time.

Phantom Goddess	17 Dec 2004
My deck, the Gothic Tarot from Vargo, does not like anyonr else touching it other than me, I don't think it's so much our choice as it is the deck's choice. Make sense?

Ulfdis	18 Dec 2004
I let others shuffle however they like. If I was worried about them giving bad vibes to the deck, I wouldn't be reading for them. Then again, I'm not reading professionally. Most of my readings are for close friends and family.

Asher	18 Dec 2004
On which deck I am using, the quality of the cardstock, and the ease of replaceability if any card(s) became damaged. This especially holds true in my Tarot Circle when I bring new decks to work with, everyone wants to handle them. Last week I took my new Druidcraft deck which has fairly thin cardstock and I did not let others handle them. Once I get a second copy of the deck, I will be more open to passing the cards around. For decks which are sturdily laminated, I will let others shuffle and handle them, without reservation. Obviously, with OOP decks, I usually don't read for others with them (but might bring them to Circle if someone asks to see them, but then, I am careful about passing them around). Asher

souljourney	18 Dec 2004
So far I've only read for myself and friends. I let them cut the deck til they are happy with it. A couple people, who read tarot cards, I will let shuffle. Once I have decks that aren't published by big companies, or are out of print, etc. I might get even more picky. Whenever I eventually read for people I don't know...I'll likely let them cut the deck, but not shuffle. If I get weird vibes from someone I may or may not let them cut...I'll just have to see when the time comes. SJ

Fudugazi	18 Dec 2004
If I read for someone I am emotionally close to, I do, because otherwise I'm afraid I shall project my feelings about this person and their question. Letting them shuffle gives me the mental detachment to read their reading, not mine. I also always pick one card for me in the reading, so I can see where I fit in, and my own projections. (e.g. reading for mother, father, sisters, very close friends, etc.). Otherwise, much like others, it depends on the vibes the people give out (I haven't read for strangers, but I do read for friends of friends now and then, when asked), how much I value my decks, how good they are at shuffling, if their hands are dirty ;)

Stregaverde	18 Dec 2004
I'm another who lets the deck decide. My three reading decks are Hanson Roberts, Tarot of the Old Path, and BBC. I also use Tarot of Mermaids sometimes. Hanson Roberts likes to be shuffled by the querent. Old Path doesn't, but it's my first deck and really in tune with me (we've been together for 10 years!). I do let the querent cut, though. HR is a friendly deck, but Old Path is much deeper, at least to me. BBC has such a strong personality itself, I haven't yet met anyone who can leave themselves on it, and like a cat, it likes to be admired by people. However, I don't let anyone touch Mermaids--it's too impressionable.

grayfeather	21 Dec 2004
I have always felt that for some reason i want the card in my hands. I do a lot of readings by phone so that gives me a lack of options. But I like to keep the cards within my "Vibe" :) But than again I could be just silly! lol

wildchilde	21 Dec 2004
Interesting to see how others handle the cards in this situation! Personally I have always shuffled the deck and then ask the querent to cut. No particular reason, only that this is what feels "right" to me. However, I often have had people very surprised to be asked to cut the deck. One particular querent I remember, was absolutely shocked b/c he had had readings before by a family member who refused to let anyone touch "their" cards. I don't consider the cards I have to be "mine"...only that they are in my care, so it doesn't bother me to have others touch them (as long as there is not feeling of intent to harm...then I would get upset). As far as cutting them myself, I tend to separate from right to left in four piles and then restack from right to left as well. Again, no real reason "why"...it just feels right to me.

The Do you let the querent shuffle your deck... thread was originally posted on 19 Nov 2004 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.