Turning cards over

[harmony1985]

When you do a spread do you turn all the cards over at once and read them in a long line or do you turn over one at a time and read each one carefully and then string it all together as you go along?

I used to turn all the cards over as i dealt them and try and read them as i went along just noting the quick first flash that id get from each card, and then go back and read in detail. But often my head would be too overloaded and i found it difficult and even exhausting to read like that! I think its cos i've only been reading for a year and a half, and it was just too much to process at one time.

So lately i've been taking my time...resisting the urge to turn all of the cards over at once and laying out a spread and turning them over one at a time.

When i turn over the first one i write down what i read it as, then after ive got all i can i turn over the second card and read all i can from that one and that often gives me more information about the first card...etc....so for me slow and steady wins the race!

I feel satisfied after reading now, whereas when i turn over a full spread i cant concentrate on just one card at a time cos i can see all the others out the corner of my eye begging me to listen to them!

I've found my readings have much more depth and i'm getting information i would have missed if i bombard my head with a full spread in one go (i never really do more than 5 cards)

So how do you turn over the cards? What works best for you?

 

[nisaba]

When you do a spread do you turn all the cards over at once and read them in a long line or do you turn over one at a time and read each one carefully and then string it all together as you go along?

For preference, I'd really like to lay them face-down, but years of habit has them always coming out of the deck and onto the table face-up. The cards nearby don't actually distract me, or even influence me in how I read a card unless it is a previous card I've already discussed, I really don't see them until I look at them. But it is my perception that clients sometimes think how I tackle an earlier card is influenced by a later card, and while I really don't mind what they think, I don't like misapprehensions being a part of the situation.

With great effort I have now got to the point where if they only want me to read on their relationship and I'm using my special relationship spread, the cards for the querent and the cards for the other person will be face-up, but the card for the connection between them and the card for the likely outcome will still be face-down. With other spreads I habitually use, I've been unable to make any inroads into the ingrained pattern of laying them out upturned, I'm afraid.

 

[Alta]

I am with you harmony. I lay the cards face down. I also do something I think I got from zannamarie (if it was someone else, please speak up): I gently lay my hand on the card back and see if any impressions come into my mind. Over time they do, more and more often. If they seem relevant, sometimes I note them in the reading as an aside for the querent to take or not.

I look at the cards one at a time but always try and weave backwards as I go through them. To me the important thing is that in the end the reading be a cohesive whole, not just a series of individual 'statements'. So, card by card is great especially if looking at the whole group at once is daunting but don't just forget the previous meanings as you move ahead, continually looking back helps me.

 

[harmony1985]

I am with you harmony. I lay the cards face down. I also do something I think I got from zannamarie (if it was someone else, please speak up): I gently lay my hand on the card back and see if any impressions come into my mind. Over time they do, more and more often. If they seem relevant, sometimes I note them in the reading as an aside for the querent to take or not.

I look at the cards one at a time but always try and weave backwards as I go through them. To me the important thing is that in the end the reading be a cohesive whole, not just a series of individual 'statements'. So, card by card is great especially if looking at the whole group at once is daunting but don't just forget the previous meanings as you move ahead, continually looking back helps me.

yes i always look back, i work them out one by one and then as i read i can see how they link to previous card. By the time all cards are turned over i know what they mean individually and in relation to eachother. then i can read it as a whole with those foundations already in my head.

I will definately try the idea of putting my hand on the back of the pack, thats a brilliant idea thanks alta

 

[SunChariot]

Well I almost never use spreads, but when I ask a question I often pull as many as 5 cards, so I suppose that kind of qualifies as the same thing. I used to turn them all over first and then start to read (and also to upright any reversed cards that had come up after marking down which ones had been reversed).

Now, choose my cards by holding my cards upright in my hands (eyes closed) so they are already facing upwards and to not need turning over.

I do tend to read them one by one. But when I see similarities of themes and things that connect them I can go back and revise some of the work already done.

Babs

 

[Morwenna]

I turn them face up as I lay them out. I've thought about laying them face down but I seldom remember to do that. I have tried it for myself on occasion, and it does force me to focus more, but I've never really had any problems reading a fully face-up spread. It doesn't bother me if I "jump ahead" a little, and I honestly don't think it has mattered to my querents. All the cards get read, in whatever order I notice them, so for me it hasn't been an issue. I love tying cards together anyway.

 

[Seafra]

I place them face up and read them as they flow off the deck but I do pause before turning the next card and pick up (sometimes) subtle pieces of information that help the transition from card to card. After all cards are face up I do a more thorough jump into the story the cards present so I sort of do two readings: a peripheral and a 2nd that is more in depth.

 

[SharonS]

I lay them face down...put my hands on their backs...then turn them all up at once slowly. I used to turn them up and read them one at a time..but i've found i like this way better

Blessings
~SharonS

 

[Umbrae]

I used do the spread face up. But it can be so overwhelming, especially if you’re doing a lot of readings in a day.

I began reading card by card some time ago and find it more relaxing, I tend to be clearer and have fewer moments of going ‘off track’ (“You’re wrong” says the sitter – “Oh, so right you are – got carried away”).

These days I have the sitter pull a set of three. I read them singly, and as they turn over the combinations reveal themselves, complexity unfolds….

Then I have them pull the next set of three which are read singly and combinations as they unfold.

And again until the entire spread is out – then I read the entire spread as a whole unit, recap and exchange questions (because we both have them at this point).

And yes I do pause between cards to listen to the space between them, but I don’t touch them (not out of any need or anything), I just quiet myself and listen before each ‘turn’.

 

[Baroli]

I don't use spreads very much at all. I will either turn them over or deal them out upright.

Most times after shuffle, cut, etc., I take the top off and turn it over and talk about the card, and then keep going, turning over the cards as I go, much like turning the pages of a book.