Face Down or Face Up?

Face up. If I'm using oracles with them, I tend to do the oracles face down, because I still want to get a sense of the tarot cards first.

nisaba said:

<curiously> So why lay them face-down, why not face-up in that case? Is it to fill time? Give you time to breathe? I do all that self-preparation while I shuffle.

Click to expand...

I've been wondering the same thing. I take kind of a "soft focus" view during my initial scan of the spread anyway, not boring in on any particular card until I've absorbed the whole in a general way. I realize it's just personal preference in reading style so I'm not casting any stones here, but flipping and reading one card at a time seems a bit like a slide-show to me (or maybe "stop-motion video" is a better analogy). I find it too herky-jerky and not fluid enough for my taste. I'm kind of over the "thrill of discovery" and just want to sew the reading together as smoothly and organically as possible. Of course I still read the cards in order, but having an early glimpse where everything is headed is invaluable in making the best use of the time. (Leaving the outcome card face-down is my one nod to "theater.")

Face up, for me - for the reasons others here have stated (observing the gestalt, seeing how the energy flows in a "big picture" sense).

Tanga said:

Whole spread laid face down - then I flip them all over.
I don't like laying them face up one-at-a-time as I prefer to avoid jumping to any wondering conclusions on single cards

Click to expand...

Um...I'm a bit confused by this. How is flipping over one card at a time after you've laid them out face down different than laying out one card at a time face up (in terms of getting an overview of the spread before focusing on single cards)?

Tanga said:

And I like looking at interesting backs. Lol.

Click to expand...

I like looking at the backs of cards as well, when that artwork is nicely done. I do prefer to lay my cards face up, but that almost reduces the artwork on the backs to an afterthought. Seems a shame, sometimes.

When I first started, I laid my cards upside down, but after some experimenting and experience, I've settled on face up. I read the cards one-by-one, but for me reading in complete context is vital. It's also my preference not to read with reversals (although I take potential reversed meanings into account), so having context for a card in reference to what's coming up makes a reading clearer from the start.

Barleywine said:

With the majority of people so far preferring to lay the cards face-up. I'm kind of curious why there seems to be such a fixation on reversible backs.

Click to expand...

violetdaisy said:

I like reversible backs because I don't know if the card is reversed or not until I flip it - whether that's directly from the pool/stack or after they're all laid out.

Click to expand...

I think it's for the reason violetdaisy stated: so that you don't know whether or not a card is reversed before you turn it over. Since some people draw cards by picking from the deck spread out, and since some people (both readers and sitters) have anxiety about reversed cards being negative, they might consciously or subconsciously avoid picking cards with reversed backs because of that.

ETA: Forgot to answer the original question. I do both, depending on the spread. Face-up if I want to see the spread as a whole, or face-down if I want to focus on one card at a time.

Face-up for me also; although in a reading I did for someone a while ago, she was a little taken aback by that, I got the impression that she expected me to deal then face-down, then do a slow dramatic reveal etc.

Barleywine, I suspect the people who prefer reversible backs don't deal from a pile, but rather spread the cards out in a fan and then choose / let the client choose cards from that fan.
In which case, if you can tell a card is reversed, you might be tempted to avoid it.

I don't care about backs being reversible, because I shuffle, cut, then deal from the top - so I don't 'pick' the cards, they just show up.

I have always dealt my cards face down. I suppose it was an accident, or a hold over from card games I played before picking up tarot.

But it works well for me. Seeing the cards tell their story, without any interference from me, helps my querent have faith in what they are saying. It's borderline miraculous how well they flow into each other, building to climax and denouement, without my ever looking over them in advance. What the reading loses in depth, I think it more than gains in credibility.

Interesting...

Interpreting the cards (at least more than 1 card) is something I find difficult as a beginner.
And I have never even thought about how to lay the cards down. So I find this very interesting to read all the different reasons to lay them face up or down.
I always lay them face up, but now I think I will have to experiment what difference it will make for me and if it will make it easier to read them.

Lajila.