When to stop pulling cards

[Acacia]

When I do a reading I often start with 3 cards usually with positions of past/present/future, and then pull additional cards to expand the story. Usually I stop when I sense the story has been told.

Yesterday I was reading for a friend and pulled two additional cards, the second being Temperance. Now, I could have stopped there or I could have pulled more cards and told a larger story. I started to lay out more cards but peeked and saw next card was the 10 of swords. I decided to put that card back and stop the story there. We were at public pool, and getting into a deep dialog might have been awkward (we were supposed to be keeping an eye on our kids).

My question is, if you read like this (and does anyone else read like this) when do you stop pulling extra cards? Does recieving a major indicate the end of the story? Or do you keep going until you feel done, in the process perhaps uncovering an entirely different concern than the one first asked of the cards?

 

[balenciaga]

Drawing a Line in the Sand

Or do you keep going until you feel done, in the process perhaps uncovering an entirely different concern than the one first asked of the cards?

I think it is a good rule of thumb to "read until you feel done". Read until tarot changes the subject and then stop. And you were wise to keep the 10 of Sw buried, especially if you did not feel like trodding down that path, as it were. There are times I am sure when you would not mind, but not all times are like that.
You can decide ahead of time to pull a set number of cards, too, and that will solve the problem altogether.

 

[WalesWoman]

I think the 10 Swords was the message, enough is enough, anymore is over kill.

I don't know what makes me stop when I'm doing something similar to this. A sense of becoming overwhelmed by too much information sometimes, or realizing that I'm doing this until a card I want to show up does... or sometimes I just want to see what is next... sort of asking... OK, and then what? I have done 78 card readings for myself this way, but don't recommend it, because I can't really take it all in or understand it. It's like turning pages in a comic book, looking at the picture and not reading the words... a general drift but no real comprehension.

Usually by that time I know that I should just sit back and look at what is in front of me instead of looking at what I can't see yet. That I'm looking for some sort of assurance that isn't going to come from any reading or I would have recognized it by then.

 

[Twilight Sky]

Sometimes I also get curious and keep going when I know the original question has already been answered. I agree that stopping where you did was good thing. In that situation you don't want to get into a deep conversation (plus I have a feeling WalesWoman was right- maybe that was your cue!) When something like that happens to me, if I feel strongly enough that there was more, I just give the friend another reading at a later time.

Doing my readings, I can usually sense when it's time to stop. There's no real indication based on the type of card, just the feeling I get.

 

[Kenny]

I normally just keep pulling until I feel the need to stop. If after the stop the question still hasn't been answered I start a second row.

 

[frelkins]

i am scarcely a reader, but i do notice that in many public readings here people pull 3 cards, then 6 more to "clarify" - only to end up posting the entire mess for help because they are confused!

the truly amazing readers here, on the other hand, seem to pull 3 or 5 cards, and maybe one more, tops. it is amazing, for example, what umbrae can do with a window/door reading - 2 cards. we've all seen 13 totally rock out 3 cards.

while of course everyone must find the style that works for them, i am a rapid convert to less is more. LB's 3 card readings with courts were certainly mind-blowing in the surgical analysis.

 

[Cocobird55]

I tend to continue to pull cards until I feel the reading is done. Sometimes when I ignore this feeling, it seems like the reading goes off in a totally different direction and becomes disjointed.

 

[coeur]

I frequently stop after the first round of clarifications, because the interactions between the cards get complicated when you start pulling out a lot of cards! Also, I have been working on milking more out of fewer cards so I find the simplicity to be a challenge to read more out of less.

 

[Acacia]

I think the 10 Swords was the message, enough is enough, anymore is over kill.

Yes! That is exactly what I felt when I saw the card, I only just remembered it. I felt that if I went on it could keep going on and on and on. And we were in a public place, trying to keep an eye on our kids at the same

 

[WeepinWillow]

I too just keep pulling until I "sense" the story has unfolded sufficiently to answer the question asked. I am horrible at spreads and kind of just "go with the flow".