Pulling clarifying cards... shuffle first?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jul 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

littlehermit	24 Jul 2004
What do you do when you want to pull an extra card or two (or a "What does this card mean?" spread) to clarify cards already in your reading? Should you reshuffle first, or just trust that the cards at the top of the deck, in the order they're sitting there, are what you need to see?

Eco74	24 Jul 2004
Since I have all the cards all shuffled up for the person and for the particular question I trust the deck to handle the order. Sometimes though I am considering spreading the deck to choose from anywhere in it, but since I don´t have the space for that at the time, I've kept with continuing the pile. If I do a clarifying reading though, for instance if the previous reading turns something up in a certain area I may want to do a three-card spread on that, I collect all the cards, focus on the new question and reshuffle.

Aun	24 Jul 2004
After I lay down the cards, I usually spread the remaining stack on a linear array... should the reading call for a clarifying card, I have the querent pick one of the cards randomly. You could also leave the stack as is and pick the top or bottom card...

lionette	24 Jul 2004
For spreads, I never draw cards off the top. For the clarifiers, I sometime reshuffle and then pull, sometimes no shuffle depending upon the feel of the situation. The times I reshuffle, though, are those when my mind needs more clarity from which part of deck to pull the cards from. More of a mind stabilizer than anything else. [ edited to add that i'm mostly reading for myself ]

Centaur	24 Jul 2004
Quote: Originally posted by littlehermit What do you do when you want to pull an extra card or two (or a "What does this card mean?" spread) to clarify cards already in your reading? Should you reshuffle first, or just trust that the cards at the top of the deck, in the order they're sitting there, are what you need to see? If I need to draw a clarifying card, then I (or the Querent, depending on whether the Querent is in the immediate vicinity) shuffle the cards again, and draw the card from the re-shuffled pile. Just my way of doing it though, as I am sure there are lots of other ways too. :D

laura_borealis	24 Jul 2004
Funny, I never thought about it either way. I just take the next card off the top.

Sulis	24 Jul 2004
I shuffle again then pull another card. Love Sulis xx

ros	24 Jul 2004
I usually spread the cards out & pick. Sometimes I just start picking off the top of the pile. What if you used the bottom of the pile cards, this would work also? yes! When I don't read with rx cards I always draw a card for all cards that show up this way.

Thirteen	24 Jul 2004
I'm with Laura. I never bother to re-shuffle--never even considered it. Just pull the next one off the top. What makes it "random" for me is that I ask the Querent which (if any) cards they want clarification on--the one they point to first gets the next off the top and so on.

Shalott	24 Jul 2004
I just take the next one off the top. And it's always helped! I'm trying to get over some of the superstitions I've developed on my own and held for years. Can you believe I used to re-order the deck after every single reading? I tried the whole re-shuffle thing but it just gets ridiculous for me, amounting to basically re-asking the question and CONCENTRATING again which can be painful for me!

littlehermit	26 Jul 2004
Thanks for the replies, everyone - it sounds like the important thing is to do what works for YOU! :) So I'll take some time and figure out what that is, for me.

The Pulling clarifying cards... shuffle first? thread was originally posted on 24 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.