Haunted Deck? It thinks for itself?!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Rogan	02 May 2005
Okay... I know this sounds wierd... No - I know it sounds REALLY wierd... But my cards reverse themselves... ALL the time... By themselves. I dont work with reversals - I never have, and I doubt I will in the future, its just a personal preference... Once I finish a reading, Im VERY careful to make sure all the cards are put back and shuffled up the right way, BECAUSE I dont work with reversals... But... lo and behold... And it's happened four or five times now - I go to give a reading - Pick up my deck, go for the shuffle and WHAT THE? Reversed cards, everwhere... totally throughout the pack... At first I just thought "Oh... you mustve mixed up your shuffle..." But Im veeeeery careful, especially now... I would have ignored it the second time, just thinking it was coincidence... The third time, I thought it was a little odd... But now - Its certainly not my imagination! I dont keep the cards in anything - They sit on my desk and I grab them when I need them - I never take them outta the house. People come to me. What is going on? Am I going completely made and reversing them somehow without knowing it? Has anyone else experienced ANYTHING along these lines at all? The pack can't be haunted - My house is haunted, but the pack can't be - I purchased it at local new age shop... Brand new... Rogan...

gilded goat	02 May 2005
wow that is weird,does it only happen with a particular deck or with all decks if it happens with all of them then look to the house or yourself for the cause,try reading somewhere else for a while if it still happens then -well tough one this

Eco74	02 May 2005
Odd. Was thinking something with the shuffling, but maybe someone is borrowing your deck while you're not there or just without telling you. If you insist on no reversals though, you could turn them the right way up as you lay them out. Just be sure to have the intent of having only upturned cards as you shuffle and it shouldn't influence the reading in any way either. I'd check before shuffling instead of after to see if there is some pattern to it. Maybe the top half of the deck has been "twirled around" if the cards are not in a box or bag?

Grizabella	02 May 2005
It's very easy to forget to turn the top of the deck around so that when you shuffle they won't reverse. Or maybe you don't reverse one half the deck when you shuffle? That would account for it.

Baby Owl	02 May 2005
My guess is that Lyric has hit the nail on the head. You might try using one of the methods suggested here: http://www.learntarot.com/shuffle.htm .

Cerulean	02 May 2005
is because I was doing a similar thing when I took out an Etteilla style deck for study. I would wrap the cards in an old cotton cloth (clean) and pop them in a zipper bag. Every time I figure that I take them out I assume they are all upright--but when I look at them, they could be 1) Back to me-upright 2) Back to me-reversed 3) Reversed (front) 4) Upright (front) And given there can be one of four possibilities every time you take a pack out, granted not always will a shuffler pull the cards upright to themselves. Since your cards are always facing one way, it sounds like the hands are flipping them upside down. This also could be a habit. Especially if you were a dealer to others in card games Have you tried shuffling them face up? If you pull or plop cards down from the bottom of the deck, then you won't be choosing cards and you can make certain they are face up. Just a suggestion--it may help. Some people mark their card backs with a pencil if that is important to not reverse. Best regards, Cerulean

mike gorth	02 May 2005
I sometimes have that problem but its usually when I'm shuffling and they just scramble a little and get reversed. I never use reverses. I find them COMPLETELY POINTLESS since there is about a billion other ways the tarot can tell you the same message so I save myself from having to memorize 78 more definitions.

Fairawen	03 May 2005
Funny that I should see this thread right when I had the same problem... I was doing a reading for someone else today (online) and, when I spread the cards out, they were all upside-down. I was like, "What the heck?" I still don't know what I actually did, but I musta kjust shuffled 'em the wrong way. Interesting problem though, and I can only second what everyone else here has said. ~Fairawen~

Red Emma	03 May 2005
Rogan wrote: Okay... I know this sounds wierd... But my cards reverse themselves... ALL the time... By themselves. I dont work with reversals - I never have, and I doubt I will in the future, its just a personal preference...Rogan... I would wonder if the cards -- your spirit guides, the Universe, -- are trying to tell you something. I hope I don't sound cranky, but I've always thought that people who don't use reversals are ignoring half the information available to them. Blessings.

mike gorth	03 May 2005
Just as a joke between close friends... Are you sure you didn't have the deck upside down? :):):) Fairawen wrote: Funny that I should see this thread right when I had the same problem... I was doing a reading for someone else today (online) and, when I spread the cards out, they were all upside-down. I was like, "What the heck?" I still don't know what I actually did, but I musta kjust shuffled 'em the wrong way. Interesting problem though, and I can only second what everyone else here has said. ~Fairawen~

vernissage	03 May 2005
This happened with one of my friends -- she has the personality and attention span of a ten-year-old child, but is also very deeply connected with her personality. She was shuffling my Healing with the Fairies Oracle deck, turning all of the reversed cards right-side-up again. She put them down on the desk and turned her body towards me to talk to me. When we looked back at the deck, we noticed that many of the cards had been reversed again. I considered the logical possibilities first--maybe she had reversed one side while she was shuffling the cards after she'd righted them. But I had watched her do it, and I'm positive that wasn't the case. No one else neared us while we were talking. I don't think it's too weird. It makes me smile. - V.

Julien	03 May 2005
I had this problem for a little while, too -- had to do with the fact that when I play cards with regular playing cards (which I do a lot), I don't worry about turning the top half of the deck -- I do it automatically, and probably always have. When working with my Tarot deck, I have to be conscious about what I'm doing and make sure that I don't turn the top half around when I go to riffle them (and I do riffle)... I agree with the others -- just turn them right side up. And, on reversals... Well, I've found as I go that sometimes I like them in readings. What can I say. It IS a matter of personal choice, but I really think that sometimes the visual of seeing (especially Cups and Swords) upside down can help me think about the meanings of the various cards and how they relate to one another. If you don't like reversals -- turn the cards upright and be done with it. The Tarot gods won't care... ;) But who knows. I spent five years without reversals and was happy -- now I find I'm happier with them in some spreads (especially smaller card spreads -- I don't have to draw for clarifications nearly as often if I use reversals). Maybe you should take a look at the reversals and see what there is to see. My theory on the Tarot is that memorizing meanings and making up rules is not the point, even though I still refer to various books when I get stuck... Just go with the flow. If the reversals don't make sense, turn them upright. If they help you, read them reversed. The goal is to be accurate in your reading, so whatever works with your mind, you intuition -- and your wrists! ;) Best, Julien

BlueLotus	03 May 2005
You may need to tuck your deck back into its original box, and just before shuffling it again for your next reading , check that the cards are all upright, and after you are through with it, place it back into a safe place, and see what happens thereafter . It happend to me once or twice that I found an occasional card or two reversed when I thought I was positively sure I had them all arranged upright; well . . .! In one case most all the cards I layed were reversed, because I picked the deck the wrong side up, when I thought I picked it the other way ( those reversable backs do not help much in this case ). Or was there a specific message for me at the time that was not all that pleasant ? I had no idea, but I reversed the cards, and guess what, not all went well that day, anyway.

The Haunted Deck? It thinks for itself?! thread was originally posted on 02 May 2005 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.