Laying out the cards .. face down or upright?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Jul 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ferrous	03 Jul 2004
I feel really silly asking this question, but so far everyone's been gentle with me, so I'm going to go ahead & ask it anyway. ;) When you're laying out a spread, I've assumed that you take the cards off the top of the pile & lay them down face up one at a time. Is this the case with most spreads? Do any of you lay the cards out face down & then turn them over one by one as you read? Do you lay them face down then turn the lot over?

eastarot	03 Jul 2004
I like the suspense of laying cards face down and then turning them over one by one. It sort of builds up the mystery, and I react to the card individually and then the whole spread. Plus it also involves the clients more as they see my reactions and respond themselves. blessings eastarot

ferrous	03 Jul 2004
So it depends on you, really .. & how you're feeling? No hard & fast rule? I mean, I think I already *know* there really aren't any hard & fast rules with tarot, but it's nice to hear from others about how they do it & what works for them. Thanks, eastarot. :)

Imagemaker	03 Jul 2004
Each person does it differently and it's great to try several ways as you go on reading tarot. I lay the cards out all face up and take in the big picture before I focus on each one alone. One of my strengths is seeing patterns, in the moment and over time. so I look for what patterns appear, especially in repeat readings for the same person.

tao51	03 Jul 2004
I put the cards face down usually when I have the querent present. My reason is that I want the reading to unfold slowly. I do not wan that person not paying attention to the reading by looking ahead. When I do a reading otherwise it just depends on my mood! Your question was an excellent question!--Tao

Diana	03 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ferrous When you're laying out a spread, I've assumed that you take the cards off the top of the pile & lay them down face up one at a time. Is this the case with most spreads? Do any of you lay the cards out face down & then turn them over one by one as you read? Do you lay them face down then turn the lot over? I never take them off the pile. Always fan out my cards and choose them at "random". (No such thing as randomness when it comes to Tarot, though.) Sometimes I turn them over one at a time, sometimes not. Depending very much on whether I want to see the whole picture as a whole first, or whether I want to see the details appearing slowly to form a picture in the end. This would depend on the particular needs and reasons behind the reading.

ferrous	03 Jul 2004
Thanks, Diana & tao51. Quote: Originally posted by Diana I never take them off the pile. Always fan out my cards and choose them at "random". (No such thing as randomness when it comes to Tarot, though.) Diana, I like the idea of fanning them. Do you fan them in your hand or do you fan them out on the table?

Diana	03 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ferrous Thanks, Diana & tao51. Diana, I like the idea of fanning them. Do you fan them in your hand or do you fan them out on the table? Table, but also the floor when I can't find space on the table (which is normally the case! :D ). What is practical about fanning, is that one doesn't have to spend hours shuffling to make sure the cards are well shuffled. And also, if you do reversals, you can just mix the cards up on the table and then gather them up. (I don't do reversals.)

ferrous	03 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Diana What is practical about fanning, is that one doesn't have to spend hours shuffling to make sure the cards are well shuffled. .. because you or the person choosing the cards simply choose from the deck as they feel?

Sulis	03 Jul 2004
I've never tried laying them out face down. I like to look for patterns and get an overall view straight away. I think I may just try the face down way though - you never know what you may like until you try :) Love Sulis xx

tmgrl2	03 Jul 2004
These are always good questions to revisit. I love the link we have on Mechanics...periodically, I go through it for thoughts on just these kinds of things: Scroll down to Laying out the Cards: http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15119 I shuffle a lot and cut. Most of the time I turn the cards over like a book into the positions for my spread. I rarely do Reversals, since I start with my deck reordered upright. Occasionally, I'll leave one. I also fan the cards. When my sitter seems eager to participate in the process, I like fanning because they can take the cards they wish from any part of the deck, hand them to me and I place them in the spread postions from #1 forward. terri

lunakasha	03 Jul 2004
I think it is definitely a matter of personal preference, no right or wrong way to shuffle, select or lay out the cards... I personally prefer to lay the cards out face down and turn them over one at a time, in the order that they were laid out. After all of the cards are face up, I look at the big picture and note any patterns/relationships between the cards. This helps me to be able to focus on each card individually, as I have a tendency toward being easily distracted at times....ADHD perhaps??? :P Sometimes I cut, other times I fan....depends on my mood at the time. I often ask the querent which way they would prefer to select the cards....have not had lots of face-to-face experience yet, but the last person I read for chose the fanning method, and the cards she selected were perfect. Occasionally I will pull the bottom card for added insight into the reading; last night I used the bottom card in the final position of my full moon reading, and it was the perfect card....cannot go wrong really, because as Diana mentioned, the cards are not "random" at all....each one is chosen for a reason. :) Luna

Diana	03 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by ferrous .. because you or the person choosing the cards simply choose from the deck as they feel? Exactly. One manipulates the deck only in order to tap into the energies that enable the reading, and also shuffling provides some quiet space to get one's mind focused on the reading. But I think it would also be possible to do the reading without shuffling, but shuffling is the easiest and simplest way of doing it.

Sillanza	05 Jul 2004
Typically I just shuffle, cut, shuffle, deal from the top ... but sometimes not. Sometimes I'll choose from a fan, sometimes I'll cut the deck into piles for each card position and read the top card from each pile. Regardless, I always decide in my mind before I do it how I'm going to do it. I prefer to deal the cards all face up, as others have posted, looking for patterns. But if I'm reading for someone who will either (i) jump ahead, or (ii) appreciate the suspense, I'll use a face down deal!

ferrous	05 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by tmgrl2 These are always good questions to revisit. I love the link we have on Mechanics...periodically, I go through it for thoughts on just these kinds of things: Scroll down to Laying out the Cards: http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15119 [.. snip ..] terri Oops. Sorry, everyone. I didn't realise there was already a place where these questions were answered. I wasn't sure of the right phrases to put into the search to find the answer I was looking for. Thanks for the link, tmgrl2. :)

tmgrl2	05 Jul 2004
My pleasure. I keep some of these threads in favorites since I go back to them frequently and sometimes even bump them forward. :) t2

The Laying out the cards .. face down or upright? thread was originally posted on 03 Jul 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.