Two Questions

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Moonchild1721	26 Jun 2005
The first one is: When you're finished doing a reading, do you put the deck back in order? I read somewhere that you are supposed to, but in some books it doesn't say either way. The second one: Do you use a Significator card? If so, how do you choose it. I rarely use one, and whe I do I'm never sure if I've chosen the right one. I'm sure there are alot of threads on this topic here so I'm going to do a search now, I was just curious as to how many people use one. Thanks! Samantha

Sulis	26 Jun 2005
Hi Samantha, I never put the deck back in order - I put the cards from the reading back in and give it a quick shuffle. I never bother with a significator. Love sulis xx

tarotlova	26 Jun 2005
I just put the cards back in the deck and shuffle them, some times not even that, and I never use a significator as you ask/feel a different way with each reading you do, so how can you use the same card as a significator? I always know which card represents me and other people.

PlatinumDove	26 Jun 2005
I never put the cards back in order after a reading, and I never use a Significator, probably because I never really understood how you figure one out. One of the things I do though, is that sometimes I take time out to put the cards back in order (but not directly after a reading), just so I can look at the cards and get a feeling for them.

Dwaas	26 Jun 2005
There is one deck I keep ordered: the pocket RWSC. But I hardly read with it, all my other decks (which aren't that much :D) speak much better to me! The RWSC is convenient to look fast for a certain card when reading the forum. I shuffle my other decks a bit after reading and put them back in their boxes. I don't use significators with tarot. But I do when I use an oracle. In that case it is part of the spreads I use. Blessings

Grizabella	26 Jun 2005
I don't put the cards back in order after I read and I don't use a significator. Sometimes if I'm studying my cards, though, I'll put them back into order for some reason or another, but not usually. Raymond Buckland wrote that you don't have to use a card as a significator. You can use something that belongs to the querent, such as a coin or a ring or something and just put that down as a significator.

snowy25	26 Jun 2005
I love to look up a card so most times I put them back in order. Exept when I did a reading and I'm still waiting for the feedback. In that case I put the cards back in the deck so I can look up the cards from the reading instantly. I don't use a significator. Only if it comes up in the reading by itself. Love and light Snowy

MercyMe	26 Jun 2005
I have put some of my decks back in order. I don't tend to do that anymore though. When I was newer to tarot and I'd keep getting the same cards to the same or similar questions, I thought the problem was with my shuffling. So I tried different methods of shuffling and I would put the deck back in order and reshuffle again. Lo and behold I'd get the same or similar cards again. LOL. Lesson learned. Sometimes it just feels "right" to reorder the deck again. I don't know why, it's an energy that I feel, an impulse I have, and I go with it. But I know it's not necessary as a rule. I don't use Significators for readings, but I do tend to look at Personality cards, Soul cards, which court card stands for whom in my life and notice them when they come up in a reading, of course, but I don't usually pull any card out specifically and say, "Here you are." ~Mercy

MercyMe	26 Jun 2005
Hmmm...double post somehow. Oops. ~Mercy

Moonchild1721	26 Jun 2005
Thank you for your responses everyone! I don't think I'm going to use significator cards. I was never comfortable with it, so there's no use in forcing it! Samantha

Thirteen	26 Jun 2005
Moonchild1721 wrote: The first one is: When you're finished doing a reading, do you put the deck back in order? Put the deck in order! Ack! That would take an awful lot of time--and to do that after each reading!? No way! I do think you should "cleanse" the deck after a reading--either shuffle real well or knock on the table (I learned this somewhere--you rap on the table as a way of ending the reading). But put the deck back in order? Not unless I'm using it for teaching purposes.

HudsonGray	26 Jun 2005
Nope, on either case. Mine are completely randomized, after a reading I'll put the cards back into the deck in different places, shuffle a few times & let it go at that. I've never used signifiers, I figured that was just taking a potentially needed card out of play for the rest of the reading.

autumn star	26 Jun 2005
I only occasionally put my deck in order, if I haven't ordered them in a long time, I just get the feeling that I should put them into order :) But I rarely so this, 95% of the time I don't. I also don't use a signifactor card either :)

PlatinumDove	26 Jun 2005
It only takes me about 10 minutes at most to put mine back in order, maybe 5 most times.

Annabelle	26 Jun 2005
I never put a deck back in order. Once a deck is back in order, it takes a lot of shuffling to get it truly randomized again, and I'd just rather not have to go through all that trouble. Sometimes I use a significator card, but usually I don't. While I don't see any harm in it, I don't see much purpose in it, either.

HedgeWych	27 Jun 2005
Lyric wrote: Raymond Buckland wrote that you don't have to use a card as a significator. You can use something that belongs to the querent, such as a coin or a ring or something and just put that down as a significator. I just love this idea!!! I think I'm going to try it sometime soon. :D

PlatinumDove	27 Jun 2005
I knew a person who had a collection of crystals he would bring along to any tarot reading. He would have the querent pick a crystal, and that would be the "significator", it would tell him alot about the problem at hand. For instance, if they picked a rose quartz, he knew the problem had to be about love.

Nina*	27 Jun 2005
PlatinumDove wrote: He would have the querent pick a crystal, and that would be the "significator", it would tell him alot about the problem at hand What a wonderful idea... I love crystals and I would love also to use them together with tarot :) xxx Nina

PlatinumDove	27 Jun 2005
Yeah, its a great idea, I wish I had the number and variety of crystals he had. But right now, my crystal collection is down to...quartz, rose quartz, and amethyst pretty much.

Nina*	27 Jun 2005
I am sure you could do with just a crystal in every colour of the chakras... that should cover most of the issues in a persons life (ie. rosa=love, red=the material/earth, blue=mind/talking etc...). xxx Nina

The Two Questions thread was originally posted on 26 Jun 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.