Pick a card: any card

JulieG

Hi everyone!

Been ages since I posted and I've a lot of catching up to do on the threads, so sorry if this question is duplicated elsewhere.

I'm still quite new to Thoth but find it by far the most powerful deck I have connected with. Even though I am a flawed beginner, my Toth has given me many accurate readings - in many cases forseeing events that DO later occur. But I lack confidence in my readings as I am not fully versed on all things Tarot and so often "wing it" by acting on instinct alone.

One of those areas is in card selection, so I have a question I was hoping for advice on:

Do you HAVE to follow the traditional process of shuffling, cutting in three and re-stacking and then picking the top cards? Reason I ask is that I often feel my Thoth deck tell me otherwise. Sometimes I feel steered to spread the whole deck out face down and select my cards that way: picking the cards I feel drawn to. Other times I feel told to shuffle in a totally unique fashion.

I'm guessing that, as with many Tarot matters, I should act on what the cards prompt me to do.

Any views?

Thanks everyone.
 

InvisibleSoul

I definitely think there is no specific way it MUST be done- as with everything else about the tarot and our paths in general, it is all about YOU, what is right for YOU!

I have my own personal way I like to shuffle and deal, but even I do not remain strictly consistent in it- I go with the flow, listening to the cards and the situation as you described it very well.

There is no wrong or right way. The same energy that influences the interpretation you are putting onto your cards as you shuffle or pick-a-card also knows in advance WHAT you will do and HOW you will do it, and speak to you on your own personal level.
 

Aun

Hi Julie,

I couldn't agree more.

Shuffling, card meanings, spreads...
The right way is the way you feel confortable with, the way you feel is right....

The more you apply your own visions about the tarot, the more accurate and deep your readings will be.
 

JulieG

That's grand! Thanks guys.

I need to relax more and be comfortable allowing the cards to lead me. I can be too caught up sometimes feeling that I need to know every aspect of professional Tarot reading - devour every book before I can expect a proper reading. It's a relief to know I can afford to carry on as I am and let the cards guide me.
 

SarahRose

JulieG said:
That's grand! Thanks guys.

I need to relax more and be comfortable allowing the cards to lead me. I can be too caught up sometimes feeling that I need to know every aspect of professional Tarot reading - devour every book before I can expect a proper reading. It's a relief to know I can afford to carry on as I am and let the cards guide me.
Click to expand...

I have issues with this too - I worry so much about what's "wrong" and "right." The cards aren't going to eat us if we do something a certain way, lol.

I pick the cards how they 'call' to be picked too - sometimes choosing them specifically, sometimes cutting/piling, etc. :)
 

Ventrue

I've had trouble with this "have i shuffled enough", "did that cut feel right" etc etc. I got to thinking about it, and with 78 cards, and if you use elemental dignities, etc. How many different combinations of cards can tell you the same thing? So if the cards have a message, and you are doing a 3 card pull, how many different combinations of cards could be used to attain the same *general* message. Obviously there is one or two combinations that would be BEST, but I would be willing to bet that there is at least 6-10 other combinations that would get to the heart of the matter. Maybe some mathmatically inclined person with some depth of card knowledge could make a gander at that?

Ven
 

thinbuddha

So many people treat tarot as it it is similar to defusing a bomb (as in "cut the red wire FIRST then attach the green wire to the yellow wire).

There is no set way that tarot needs to be done. There is no magic ritual that needs to be adheared to. There are no grumpy spirits floating around just waiting for you to turn over cards from the wrong part of the deck so that they can punish you with curses and bad juju.

There is just cards being pulled at random.

If you believe in energy, then when you "feel" that you should be pulling cards from the bottom of the deck, then this is what is right. If you don't believe in energy, then it hardly matters where the cards came from.

Let go of the trepidation- let go of the feeling that people are going to laugh at you for doing it "wrong". Many will laugh at you for doing it at all, so you will have to get past the laughter- which is largely in your mind anyway.... let go of the thought that you are giving the wrong interpretation for this card or that card-

Ultimately, if you can let go enough, you will find that the truth will find it's own path through the cards, and it hardly maters which cards are part of your spread.... Or not- it sounds all mystical and deep, so I'll stick with it until I'm proven otherwise ;)
 

SarahRose

thinbuddha said:
So many people treat tarot as it it is similar to defusing a bomb (as in "cut the red wire FIRST then attach the green wire to the yellow wire).

There is no set way that tarot needs to be done. There is no magic ritual that needs to be adheared to. There are no grumpy spirits floating around just waiting for you to turn over cards from the wrong part of the deck so that they can punish you with curses and bad juju.

There is just cards being pulled at random.

If you believe in energy, then when you "feel" that you should be pulling cards from the bottom of the deck, then this is what is right. If you don't believe in energy, then it hardly matters where the cards came from.

Let go of the trepidation- let go of the feeling that people are going to laugh at you for doing it "wrong". Many will laugh at you for doing it at all, so you will have to get past the laughter- which is largely in your mind anyway.... let go of the thought that you are giving the wrong interpretation for this card or that card-

Ultimately, if you can let go enough, you will find that the truth will find it's own path through the cards, and it hardly maters which cards are part of your spread.... Or not- it sounds all mystical and deep, so I'll stick with it until I'm proven otherwise ;)
Click to expand...

Very lovely post and I felt like you were saying it directly to me, that kind of feeling.

Thanks!
 

ravenest

Go with the flow, grasshopper.
 
my new thoth Sun and Moon - Sunsigns