Is it possible to shuffle your tarot cards too much?

[Lerena]

I have been getting the feeling that shuffling before every reading is contributing to me getting a lot of the same cards during daily readings and such, but I'd like a second opinion.

I want to know if it's possible to shuffle too much. This may seem like a strange subject. After all, some tarot readers probably shuffle before each reading they do. I haven't seen even half the cards in my deck within the past month though and on some days I've drawn clarification cards.

The first thought that came to me when I drew Temperance the other day was "Is it telling me I'm shuffling excessively?" To be quite honest, I just interpreted the card normally in the end. After drawing "The Sun" a total of 3 times within the past week I have begun to wonder about the meaning of Temperance at the time I drew it.

What do you think? Is there a point where shuffling can become excessive?

 

[AnemoneRosie]

I don't think that it's possible to shuffle too much. I find it meditative and sometimes I'll shuffle for 20 min! (or until my hands ache).
If you're not sure about your technique try 'dealing out' four or five piles, and then shuffling those, before putting the deck back together. That should re-randomize them adequately.

Being "stalked" by the same cards all the time is an entirely different topic. Have you ever tried asking your deck why this is happening?

 

[CrystalSeas]

From the world of science, we know that it takes about 7 shuffles to thoroughly mix up a deck of playing cards. That's going from completely ordered to completely random.

I'd say that if you shuffle the deck about 7 times before each reading, then you are in the sweet spot: not too little, and not too much.

But I don't think you can actually shuffle 'too much'. All that does is mix the cards up into a different random configuration.

So, if you're shuffling the deck at least 7 times before you pull the cards, then you're getting the message the cards intend for you.

 

[3ill.yazi]

I agree with the others. I don't think you can shuffle too much. If you think you are getting too many repeats, maybe try different shuffling methods. Wikipedia has a good entry on all the different styles of shuffling.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MissChiff]

I like to shuffle...it relaxes me...

 

[Barleywine]

I've seen this "shuffle 7 times" before but it's never been clear to me whether it means 7 hand-over-hand "flips" (not likely) or 7 "riffles" of the deck (much more likely, but I don't riffle-shuffle) or whether it means 7 sequential "episodes" of shuffling for a certain period of time. I just shuffle hand-over-hand until I feel intuitively that the answer is "present."

 

[rwcarter]

Let's say you do a Celtic Cross of 10 cards. When you're done with the reading, do you put the clump of 10 cards back in the deck together? And do you take the cards from the top of the deck vs pulling from a fan? If you don't separate the cards from the last reading when putting them back in the deck and then pull from the top of the deck, you may not be shuffling enough.

Whenever I'm done with a reading (doesn't matter how many cards), I randomly place the cards back into the deck in different spots. I also end up shuffling a total of 21 times when I do a reading, so my cards are very well shuffled. And if the same cards come up for me, then those repeating cards obviously have a message for me.

Rodney

 

[Michael Sternbach]

Shuffling can become "obsessive-compulsive" for some. So yes, it's possible to overdo it. We had a thread about this not very long ago.

However, if you keep getting the same combinations of cards, chances are you are shuffling too little rather than too much. You don't have to worry about this so much if you draw each card from a fan, which is my prefered method under most circumstances.

 

[Zephyros]

I love to shuffle, and my thirteen year-old Thoth which I've used almost every day during time feels awsome in my hands. I admit to having conversations with them which consist of shuffling, asking something and pulling a card, putting it back in, asking a counter question, shuffling some more, etc. Something "tell me about my day, Six of Cups, how will this manifest, Eight of Wands, anything I can do to help? Empress, really? Why?" and so on and so on. There's an awful lot of shuffling in this conversation with myself but like doing it.

I don't riffle them, which explains why they're in such good condition but I have to admit that is the more thorough of shuffling techniques. Another way to ensure the cards are picked at random is to choose them out of a fan. Some people lay them out, I just fan them in my hand.

 

[think]

I've seen this "shuffle 7 times" before but it's never been clear to me whether it means 7 hand-over-hand "flips" (not likely) or 7 "riffles" of the deck (much more likely, but I don't riffle-shuffle) or whether it means 7 sequential "episodes" of shuffling for a certain period of time. I just shuffle hand-over-hand until I feel intuitively that the answer is "present."

It's riffles. Apparently 7 riffles is the equivalent of 200 overhand shuffles, something like that.

I do 8 riffle shuffles, but I cut halfway through. Sometimes I forget, and do an extra riffle. My cards are a mess, lots of the edges torn from doing this, and it happens within a day of getting a new deck, I must be very rough with them.