shuffling

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ivyrita	21 Jan 2005
sorry.. i'm a tard..there is a thread about reversed cards already.. so new question, since i can't just delete this.. how do you shuffle? i've heard of many different ways to do this, cutting the deck x amount of times and whatnot.. is it all just a matter of ritual?

Centaur	21 Jan 2005
Again, it is all a matter of what suits you best. :D Some people just shuffle the cards by mixing them all up... others will do that and then split into three piles only to combine those piles and shuffle again. There are loooooooooooads of different ways to shuffle. But as I said... you should just go with whatever suits you best.

tarotbear	21 Jan 2005
I do not get reversed cards when I shuffle and it's easy to use my method (described in a little more depth in my book - hint, hint!) Make sure the deck is completely upright before you start. Consciously think to yourself that the 'bottom' of the deck is at the thumb of whichever hand you use to shuffle. Lay the pack on its side, bottoms at thumb. Think of opening sliding doors and shift/slide half the deck across to the other hand. Lift the thumbs and snap/shuffle/whatever you want to call it those two ends together. Push the pack together to even the cards. Do not flip or spin either half of the deck. No matter how many times you do this, the 'bottom' of the cards stays at your thumb. This is really easy to do! When you are finished, place the pack on the table with the bottoms at the bottom. NOW - to keep the cards upright, turn them over side to side like flipping the pages of a book, not end-over-end for that will reverse them! TA DA!

ivyrita	21 Jan 2005
that's how i shuffle them, resulting in no reversed cards... i'm really interested in how people cut the deck, if they do at all.. your discription of the shuffle was very nicely worded :) i shuffle then cut the deck twice to the left with my left hand, placing the second and third stacks onto the first one, then begin my reading.

The shuffling thread was originally posted on 21 Jan 2005 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.