Stray Cards

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 19 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

vix	19 Apr 2005
I typically use a mix of hand over hand and riffle shuffling on my decks. Usually when I'm shuffling though I'll either pay notice to what cards show up when I split the deck in half when I riffle or have cards pop out when I do hand over hand. Does anyone else feel these cards have any relevance in a reading? I know when I shuffle and these things happen I never really include them into the reading but I pay attention to what comes out. Over time I've found that sometimes some of the cards have direct importance to a reading and I've even had cards that pop out actually end up being layed down, which can be interesting. I know some people include into their readings any cards that pop out. I'm just curious what others think of it all. -Vix

contradiction	19 Apr 2005
This depends, often I will have "jumpers", sometimes this is due to careless handling on my part, if that is the case, it dosent mean much. But, if the cards jump out on their own, then you want to pay close attention.

shaveling	19 Apr 2005
In the past, I've paid attention to cards that jump out that way. But yesterday, when I was shuffling for my two card daily draw, I saw one of the cards (XII, The Hanged Man) as I shuffled. I decided I was just being sloppy, and it didn't mean anything special. I disregarded it, and since I don't want to know which card is where, I shuffled a bit more. Then I dropped one of the cards on the floor. XII, again. So I shuffled again. Finally, I did the draw. The first card I drew, of course, was XII! A couple of hours later, I was on the phone with the Internal Revenue Service, learning that their records don't match my records. And so I found myself swinging in the wind, my fate entirely in the hands of others. Currently, I'm open to the idea that cards that jump out may be significant.

psychic sue	20 Apr 2005
If I card Jumps Out I pay attention. I think it's one of those personal things. Everyone is different. Sue x

Elven	20 Apr 2005
Its hard to discredit their significance. If cards fall out while Im shuffling I take notice of them and put them back into the deck and shuffle again. Sometimes I find these are more relevant to the seekrs question that they've asked and give me a clue to what they're not saying or I factor that has been over looked. If the same card appears in the spread, then I take it as being part of the answer as well. A point of significance, and something to base the reading around, or discuss further. It usually weeds out the problem if it has been hidden. As for dropping the whole deck (which i've done LOL) I just play 'Pick Up 78' Blessings Elven x

Emily	20 Apr 2005
I think the size of deck has a lot to do with jumpers. I'm used to the Morgan Greer which is a deck that just fits my hand but these last few weeks I've been using the Spiral which is a small deck. My hands must not be used to smaller decks because the Spiral can shoot cards off everywhere lol - I've always been a tidy shuffler, no jumpers, but when I do get them I tend to read them, even if when I retrieve them they are reversed. I don't include them in the spread but I do read them before then carry on with the spread. :)

vix	20 Apr 2005
I think, possible significance aside, that the usual reason for lots (consecutively speaking) of jumpers is either a deck is starting to have cards stick* or there is a size issue between the cards and your hand, like Emily noted. :) * - When ever I get a new deck and its cards move smoothly (assuming the company powdered them, I know my Tarot of Prague wasn't x.x), I always have very few jumpers, but as the cards start to stick some, I notice that more will sometimes pop out. Just something that I've noticed, I think many already realize this though :).

The Stray Cards thread was originally posted on 19 Apr 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.