Aggressive Shufflers

Yesterday...I used my brand new "old" IJJ from Waddington Press...35 years old...I had carefully put fanning powder in a paper bag and dropped the cards in as singles. Then I shook the bag, and, finally, dusted off the excess powder and shuffled and shuffled.

Somehow, I forgot to take a few cards out of the bag, crumpled the bag and threw it away...Suddenly I realized a card was missing. Found the bag.

EEK! At least 10 cards were still in there and

The Ace of Cups was the only one bent completely in half. My first "Old" deck and I screw it up ...despite my wonderful ripple, poker-shuffle.

So...I smoothed out the ACE...(Ace of Cups....cool, huh?) ...and told myself that the Ace of Cups was telling me to begin using this deck to read and to simply love the deck and love myself and the sitter.

I had a reading scheduled yesterday afternoon. I took this deck and forgot about the "bent" Ace and, after shuffling my riffle shuffle, handed it to the sitter, who said, as she struggled to try to emulate my shuffle...

"I never could get the hang of this...I always bend the cards..."

"That's ok...just do it this way......"

She gives them a kind of "cutting" while she gently holds them and then,

I say..."That's great!!....Now cut the deck and we can begin...."

I always let them handle the cards. I do use the time to talk...we created the question as we discussed the shuffling.

God knows who all used these cards....they were definitely old and used, but none were bent until I did it myself. So the universe gave me a bit of a message ....

terri

When I do face to face readings, I do offer to let the querent shuffle. Before I hand over my cards, I mention in friendly way "that because of their size many find when they try to riffle shuffle, the cards don't mix well, can fly all over, or they clump and bend. So you might want to just give them a good mix like this". I show them the hand to hand random cutting method I use. I then add " if they prefer I can shuffle then they may cut and pull their cards."

So far most everyone has respected my request. When I have run across someone who doesn't, I politely retrieve my cards from them finish the shuffle, have them cut and pull, and make a mental note not to offer the shuffle to them again.

If someone wants me to read with of my hard to replace decks, I just shuffle myself, if they ask why, I'll tell them why. When you tell someone it is OOP and the last time you saw that deck for sale the price was $$$, they understand.

LadyMedusa

hmmm well I have only been reading for a week and well what i do is I shuffle the decks but I let them cut it so they sort of divide the cards and incorporate their energy into it (I have them cut it twice, once three times for past present and future and a second to integrate)

I riffle shuffle my cards, but I also bridge them back the other way to counter the first bend, and I haven't had a problem. In high school, my friends and I were constantly playing ERS (Egyptian Rat Screw), so I always carried a deck of playing cards with me. Over time, I saw that if you riffled without a bridge, yes, the cards would become curved, but if you always bridged the cards back into place, they would retain their original form.

One form of shuffling I've never liked is the "lay them all on the table and mix them up" style. I've found that this can cause the edges of the cards to fray, because when you use your hands to mix the cards up, you can end up pushing two cards against each other, and this can cause the layers of paper to split at the edge. Obviously, if you were reading for someone who couldn't shuffle another way (small hands, arthritis, etc.) this would be best, but as a rule, it's not my favorite.

ScarabFlight said:

I have to rifle shuffle my Buckland Romani because it came out of the box bent, but it bends the wrong way!! I've tried to flatten it under loads of weight but nothing seems to work. If only they would bend up instead of down!! lol I guess I'll have to keep up the riffling, although I do have to admit I like the noise of a good shuffle! BDRRRRIIIIIIPPPPP (sacrilege, I know )

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Take each card and gently bend it the other way, using your fingers and thumb to slowly work down each card on the side you want it to go. Then, once all that is done, when you're shuffling, shuffle a few times on one side, then turn it the other way and shuffle it a few times to the other side, and continue on this way. If you shuffle first to one side and then the other, you'll never have a bent deck. It will always lie flat.

If I haven't explained that legibly, just let me know and I'll see if I can do better.

Came back to add that I riffle shuffle all my decks except for the Tarot of Dreams, which is too big and too stiff for me to shuffle that way. Nothing wrong with riffling. I don't bridge them, though, because that does give them a bad bend, especially if you don't shuffle on one side and then the other like I described. It scuffs them badly, too.

That why i only use older decks to read to others. AND...decks that i have a spare copy, or that are so worn that they already look a bit damaged...i found it makes you look like a more "experienced" tarot reader, even if the cards were actually damaged from being carried around and shuffled randomly all the time xD

Anyway, keep your damaged deck and use it to read to others...then you don have to bother about it being shuffled by frustrated people.

~ Marina

Gus said:

I riffle shuffle my cards, but I also bridge them back the other way to counter the first bend, and I haven't had a problem. In high school, my friends and I were constantly playing ERS (Egyptian Rat Screw), so I always carried a deck of playing cards with me. Over time, I saw that if you riffled without a bridge, yes, the cards would become curved, but if you always bridged the cards back into place, they would retain their original form.

Click to expand...

I agree; that's how I do it. When I get a reading from friends, I'll riffle, but more gently and slowly and make sure I don't bend the cards too much, but for my own decks, riffle shuffle all the way! It makes for way more manageable shuffling in general in the future.

My most recent deck is on some thicker cardstock so I actually have to cut it in two or three just so I can riffle shuffle any part of it I hope that with enough use I'll be able to do it with the entire deck- wear it in, you know

None of my decks are bent or anything bad- the bridge back really does help~

I used to shuffle the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot with a hand-to-hand method (because the card stock is so thick and stiff) but since I started using the riffling shuffle with the Women's Tarot, I used it on the NOVT as well. It still works, but if I shuffle too many times my fingers begin to ache.

(I do agree that that BRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIP sound is so addicting. )

Whenever I read for someone, I let them shuffle it as best as they can, and cut the deck. Then I lay out the cards.

T.

I don't know what any of you mean when you're talking about these shuffling methods . . .and don't worry about trying to explain, me dumb, me have to see video evidence

I just wanted to say that I don't mind people looking through my decks one by one (I have a two friends who do that when I get a new one - I hand it to them, they dutifully go through the cards one by one ) but I just can't bear to see people shuffle my cards! I'ts not that I don't want them to get "hurt", it's just that they're so clumsy! And also, when I read for others, my readings turn out munted when the other person shuffles the deck. I shuffle. End of story.

\m/ Kat

You know.....I cannot shuffle decks at all!...most of my decks are too large for me to handle, let alone try and shuffle them!

My Favole is small, but I'm sooooo afraid to bend them!?

That leads me to another question:

HOW do you 'break' new decks in to where you CAN shuffle them?

All mine are stiff and straight...

Silverlyn