Fanning Cards - Traditional but Necessary?

Certain cards keep popping up for me during certain times no matter what I do. To illustrate: Recently, I did three spreads on different questions revolving around the same issue using three completely different decks, and more than half of the cards were equivalents.

So I think how you "randomize" the cards is, once again, rather a question of personal ritual than anything we could be very objective about. The cards have their way to get their message across, no matter which method we prefer.

That said, it does take surprisingly long shuffling and/or sophisticated methods to truly randomize the cards anew. And if you happen to deal off the top (or, as far as I'm concerned, bottom ) cards that have been in that particular order already quite some time, this raises a number of questions.

Such as: Did the cards "know" ahead of time that I was going to do a particular reading at a certain time, as well as its outcome, and slickly get in the right place long before? Hmm, I don't really believe in that kind of predestination.

Or do the cards bend over backwards in order to give me a halfways intelligible answer despite my poor randomization?

Or I can go really fancy and theorize that I created all the past shuffles from my position in the here and now - since time is an illusion anyway

Perhaps the cards don't even have a fixed position in the shuffled deck as long as nobody is looking at them? Schrödinger's cat cards... Do I need to use the Hello Kitty deck for that to function?

So many questions, and no answers...

Yes, I know that dealing off the shuffled deck works. Been there, done it. I'm pretty sure, the reason why it's difficult for me to wrap my head around what's going here is that, in physical incarnation, I'm a space-time simpleton, and that it all makes perfect sense from a transcendental perspective beyond my constraints.

But I would rather save myself a headache and keep drawing the cards individually from my beautifully fanned out deck!

Barleywine said:

That's a valid question. The stock answer is "until it feels right," really no different than feeling a "tingle" in the cards when you select from a fan (which, by the way, seems a bit fanciful to me, but some may very well have that sensitivity).

Personally, I don't worry about it a whole lot. The same cards can (and usually do) mean entirely different things in different readings. I "clear the slate" mentally each time I approach a reading and don't carry over any prior associations if I can help it. It's all part of consciously intending to learn something new every time I read. Also, I'm constantly "randomizing" my working deck. It stays on my desk for reference purposes, and I'm apt to shuffle it just to "refresh" it. When I read, the querent shuffles and puts another, personal "iteration" on it.

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I'm really happy to read this. I shuffle until my inner voice tells me to stop. Sometimes I argue with myself about when to stop, but then all of a sudden the voice says 'your done, deal'.

I also pull out my decks (I only have 3 but I'm just getting started) and pull out cards for reference, as well as randomly shuffle them. I like shuffling them. I don't know why but there's something calming about it. I think I also do it a bit out of my obsessive/compulsiveness that the deck(s) have to be shuffled *well*. But that's just me... I do everything to excess.

tarotbear said:

If it is her tradition to read with her left big toe stuck in her right ear - and you cannot 'assume the position' - will that mean that you will NEVER be able to read the cards? Hardly.

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TarotBear, you are the reason I have abdominal cramps on my right side, right now!

tarotbear said:

If it is her tradition to read with her left big toe stuck in her right ear - and you cannot 'assume the position' - will that mean that you will NEVER be able to read the cards? Hardly.

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swimming in tarot said:

TarotBear, you are the reason I have abdominal cramps on my right side, right now!

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Remember - like Tevye - you can walk around saying 'Tradition' all you want - even expecting that somehow slavishly clinging to a tradition will help or save you in the face of dramatic circumstances. But even Tevye is forced to realize that the traditions he fought hard to save are exactly what are holding him back ....

Shuffling puts energy into the cards, and gives them information about what you want to know. It is beneficial IMHO weàther or not you fan or deal off the top. I usually shuffle 9 or more times or until I drop into a light
trance, whichever comes first. I will also shuffle while I listen to the sitter go on about what they want to know, etc. If it's a f2f reading, I have the sitter shuffle too.

I agree, magpie9, shuffling is a way to connect to the cards. I also start by shuffling the cards even though I usually fan them out afterwards. Without it, also, I might remember more or less where certain cards are; let's say, if I went through the whole deck for some reason a little before drawing a spread. A problem which would get worse after awhile.

I typically shuffle, cut, and pick from the top, but I spent the month of January picking my daily card using the fanning method (I like to try something new each month). I didn't notice any difference in the quality of the reading. I did notice that fanning takes up more space on my desk . In February, I went back to picking from the top.

I was reading the LWB that comes with Lo Scarabeo's The Book of Thoth Etteilla Tarot over breakfast this morning and noticed that the instructions for the included spread, Leap of Heqt, state to spread the cards like a fan and have the querent choose five. I like the spread, but I'll probably pick the cards from the top myself after the querent has shuffled the deck.

Heavens! Tradition smadition! Use what feels right for you. Lol.
...Make up your own.
And foremost, make sure all-the-while, that you're enjoying it and being useful to your sitter.

If you want to fan, do so. If you want to pick from the top, do so.
If you want to use 3 million additions of Quints, Shadows, Jumpers etc. - do so. Lol.

Schrödinger's cat cards (@ Michael Sternbach) made me laugh! - plus tarotbear 'assuming toe positions'!

I love to shuffle - it's a preparation/meditative/clearing ritual for me as well as hopefully
randomising the cards.
I personally pick and mix laying-out methods - by mood.
And I do like the KISS principle. Would rather not to be there all-day adding x and y ad.infinitum.

The absolute greatest Tarot card fanning I have ever seen was performed by Eva Green in the first episode of Penny Dreadful. Sinuous, sensuous, and perfectly executed all with the tiniest of movements from her fingers and without taking her eyes off of Josh Hartnett - who could?

If I am reading for a client, I shuffle and fan the cards and ask them to pick 7, 3, etc cards. I do this because if I say "Shuffle the deck three times" they will immediately ask me how they should shuffle them.

If I'm reading for myself I mix the cards a bit overhand to "clear the last reading," shuffle three times, cut into three piles, stack em, and read from the top.

Shade said:

I do this because if I say "Shuffle the deck three times" they will immediately ask me how they should shuffle them.

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We've had that discussion here before. I always tell them to shuffle overhand and give them a little demonstration. I don't want anyone bridging and riffling my cards because some of them are truly awful at it (even worse than me, which is saying something) If the cards are really big (like the Thoth or the Druidcraft) I might have them carefully "smoosh" them (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?) around on the tabletop and then reform the deck. My wife always handle the Thoth that way because it's too unwieldy for her.