When shuffling, how do you sense that you're "ready"?

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

noby	19 Nov 2004
When I'm shuffling my cards in preparation of laying out a spread, I want to make sure I don't lay out the cards in haste, before they're properly shuffled... so I try to take notice of any feeling that "this is where to stop." Usually, I notice this as a physical sensation, almost like a "catch" somewhere between the chest and belly. How do you decide when you're ready to lay out the cards?

Pipistrelle	19 Nov 2004
Hi noby, I've been considering asking a question along these lines for a while now but haven't been brave enough :) I've had quite a few readings where I've stopped shuffling and dealt the cards but felt deep down that they're not the right cards. However, I'm trying to overcome this by pausing before I start shuffling and reminding myself that whatever cards I draw are the "right" ones and I need to trust the process - otherwise I'm never going to get anything out of it. However, I'm quite new to Tarot and I still don't feel like I've got my shuffling/stop shuffling system worked out. A silly method I've been using - subconsciously at first, but more consciously now - is that I shuffle until a card literally sticks in my hand - it's quite hard to describe but it's kind of like: shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, sh...oh! (card doesn't leave my hand)... and that's when I know I'm done. I think it's a good method, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that all the time :) Probably, the majority of the time, I'm shuffling thinking "now?", "what about now?"...and then I stop because I'm just guessing and any time is probably as good as any. I'm jealous of your "gut feeling" :) I've started doing this thing where if I think I haven't had a very good shuffle, I stop, put the deck down and just wait a moment. This is so if I have stopped at the wrong time, the powers that be have a chance to rearrange the cards to get them in the order they're supposed to be in! And now I sound like a crazy person, so I'll go! Pip

Fulgour	19 Nov 2004
When I'm satisfied that the cards are comfortably shuffled, I pause ~ and let my arms relax, letting go of all sense of direct intention ~ rather than proceeding all in one motion. And by dispelling the expectant energies in my arm muscles, I let go of that tension, the impending impulse, and then...

watchman291273	19 Nov 2004
What is do is I cut the deck in two. Then I hold the bottom part face to the left, put the other part on top and let the cards slip down. Before starting, I think of a number from 3 to 7 and repeat the process as many times.

Flavio	19 Nov 2004
Here is a technique that made feel sure all the cards are well shuffled without worrying how many times should I shuffle the deck: 1. Take out the significator card (you have now in the deck 77 cards) 2. Arrange 11 positions like this or any other shape you like ---X---X---X---X -----X---X---X-- ---X---X---X---X 3. Put one card in each of the X position, you will have 7 cards in each X position once you finish 7 rounds. 4. Now you can take groups of cards from any of the X postions to put together the deck again ina random fashion. 5. If you wish you can cut the deck or pull cards. NOTE: If you use reversals, you can put all the cards in the table and make circular movements like dominoes before doing step 2. Hope this is helpful :)

HudsonGray	19 Nov 2004
You know, I thought it was in the hands, but now I think the feeling comes from the chest chakra. I get that 'hesitation' also, like a sudden shift of energy where everything goes calm.

fairyhedgehog	19 Nov 2004
The more I think about it the more difficult it gets. So I just shuffle by mixing about half the pack interleaved with the other half, a few times until I feel they're well mixed. Then I clump them in groups onto each other. Then I interleave, then clump. One time when I'm clumping I just decide to stop and that is it. Basically, either the cards are truly random (as I believe) so it doesn't matter what order they fall in. Or if something determines their fall, then that something knows when I'll stop so whenever I stop is the right time. And however weird the cards seem, I work with those cards. But then I am only reading for myself, maybe that makes it easier ...

Dark Inquisitor	19 Nov 2004
For me, there seems to be an agitated energy in my lower arms and hands . When it is time to stop shuffling, it ends. Some readers use specific formulas for how many times to shuffle. For example, they will use the querent's birthday or ask the querent to pick a number for how many times to shuffle. It might be interesting to use a pair of dice to decide, and see if one's readings become more accurate.

Paul	19 Nov 2004
I shuffle the cards by laying them face down on the table and "swishing" them around with my fingertips. That is, I don't shuffle poker-style, so to speak. The movement of the cards, swishing...swishing...swishing, induces a mild trance as I focus on this very relaxing activity, much like Fulgour (or perhaps I presume too much), letting go, nothing to do, no where to go, nothing to think about. Then, the cooking timer in my head goes off - ding - and I stop, fully satisfied that I ready to go.

Majecot	19 Nov 2004
I know people that shuffle exactly 7 times, like that is the magic number or something. I shuffle til it "feels" right.. Like Hudson says, it is a hesitation.

OakDragon	19 Nov 2004
I do the same thing. I stop when it feels like it's time to stop. It's an intuitive thing. I just know it's time. I know that doesn't help you any probably, but that's how I see it. Now it's interesting, I don't do that when I'm using cards in a game. When I'm mixing cards for a game, I want to get them "randomized", so I shuffle them at least seven times. I only use my intuition when I'm shuffling tarot cards.

Ace	19 Nov 2004
I let the querent shuffle, "until they feel the cards are ready." Or if reading by phone, I shuffle and make them tell me when to stop. that way, it is shuffled enough. However much enough is!

shelikes2read	20 Nov 2004
HudsonGray wrote: You know, I thought it was in the hands, but now I think the feeling comes from the chest chakra. I get that 'hesitation' also, like a sudden shift of energy where everything goes calm. I hadn't considered the chest chakra connection before. But that makes sense since that's where I "register" if I'm done shuffling or not. I'm about to quote Eden Gray twice in one day, but her instruction in Mastering the Tarot was "shuffle the question into the cards". I kind of liked that because it made me pay attention to how well I felt the question was mixed in there. Then when it "felt" right, it was time to cut the cards and do the layout. Anyone who's looking for a way to develop that gut feeling as to when the cards have been sufficiently shuffled might want to try Eden Gray's method. It worked for me.

Lurea	21 Nov 2004
Pipistrelle wrote: A silly method I've been using - subconsciously at first, but more consciously now - is that I shuffle until a card literally sticks in my hand - This isn't silly at all, Pip! That's one of my indicators, too. :D Often, I finish up a gentle series of 'lacing' shuffles with one or two rifle shuffles. If I try to rifle them, and the cards 'stick' and won't meld together easily, I'm like, okay, they are done, and telling me to get on with it! LOL--and they are. :) I try to do a shuffle similar to Flavio's every morning with the primary deck I'm working with that day. It's a great way to wake you and your cards up.

Alice	22 Nov 2004
I use different methods depending on wether or not I am read for myself or someone else. If I am reading for someone else I ask them to say when they feel I have shuffled enough. If I am reading for myself I ushally stop when they start falling out my hands while I'm shuffling.

krazymayj	22 Nov 2004
how do you know when to finish a sentence?

HudsonGray	23 Nov 2004
You mean....you just STOP??? That's too simple.

Alta	23 Nov 2004
:) I just stop too. It seems to work though.

MeeWah	23 Nov 2004
I shuffle until the deck feels "tight" or whenever it occurs to me to stop. If a card or more slip out of the deck, I stop then, even if the deck does not feel tight.

lark	24 Nov 2004
I shuffle untill my cards get "sassy." That's when they start jumping out of the deck and giving me a messy shuffle. That's when I know they're in just the right order and impatient to start the spread.

Fudugazi	26 Nov 2004
Have any of you ever read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman? In it the young heroine has a kind of divination compass, which yields multiple layers of meanings. To read her compass (before she even starts formulating the question and turning the dials) she gets herself in some kind of meditative frame of mind, which psychologists would no doubt call the beta mind. That's what I aim for when I am shuffling. I let go of as much as I can, my breathing slows and deepens, I feel my movements slowing down, almost to snail pace. And in that frame of mind, I not only know when it is time to set down the cards and start pulling them, but I almost feel my hand being guided to this or that card, and I know how to interpret them, too. I am working on reaching that state and keeping it throughout a reading, because it's a real bummer if it breaks in the middle - if it does, I am like the tennis player who's been playing wonderfully for 2 sets and starts making the most basic mistakes - the cards are wrong, the meanings are wrong etc etc. And if, when I am shuffling, I feel myself tense and anxious or excited, I know it's not going to work either, and instead of dealing the cards, I work on letting my mind go, and on my breathing. I'm not sure how to explain it - Philip Pullman does it much better, so read his books ;-)

souljourney	01 Dec 2004
I've wondered this also, especially being new. I have that "is it ready now?", "how about now?". Then I wonder do I deal from the top, do I pull out random cards, deal from the bottom? So many questions...so many answers.... LOL Seriously though, how do you all deal them?

Sophie-David	24 Dec 2004
Helvetica wrote: Have any of you ever read the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman? In it the young heroine has a kind of divination compass, which yields multiple layers of meanings. To read her compass (before she even starts formulating the question and turning the dials) she gets herself in some kind of meditative frame of mind, which psychologists would no doubt call the beta mind... I'm not sure how to explain it - Philip Pullman does it much better, so read his books ;-) Hi Helvetica Yes I have, and thanks for the Pullman reference, I think its beautifully evocative of the Tarot.:) After reading this thread, I am so glad that for me the shuffling really isn't that important. Sometimes I do wonder whether I shuffled enough, inverted one half of the deck enough, etc. But then I realize I don't really need to worry about it, because I don't deal the cards but always spread them in a fan. So its only after they are laid down that selection is actually determined: the shuffling is almost irrelevant. Unlike shuffling, selecting from the fan is usually quick and so I don't have time to start fretting about it. Once the fan is down one of the three impulses described in this thread comes into play: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=34839 Cheers David

bladeraven	24 Dec 2004
Unless cards come out...I basically focus more on the question/person then the actually shuffling..sometimes several times works, sometimes once...I try to go by "gut feeling"

The When shuffling, how do you sense that you're "ready"? 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.