Shuffling large cards?

I recently acquired a Voyager deck and while I'm thrilled with it, I haven't done any proper work with it yet because the actual size of the cards intimidates me.

The cards are quite large and the stock in very thick, plus I have small hands, and it's impossible for me to shuffle in the regular way.

I'm disappointed because I find shuffling cards very relaxing and a pivotal part of getting into the proper mental state for a reading. : ( So I've stalled in getting started with this fascinating new deck.

Any tips.....? Many thanks!

I like to do a stack shuffle at first to randomize the deck properly.
You put down a number of single cats
(Edit: cards. I should correct this if it wasn't so funny) face down and deal the rest of the deck onto them. Then you rearrange the Stacks.

If you don't do this too orderly then already some single cards will stick out of the complete stack. Grab one and replace it at the top of the deck. Then another and so one.
If no cards are standing out holds the deck in one hand and with the other shift it to the sides at various heights so there will be some cards standing out. (I hope this is understandable... basically you try to get hold of single cards or groups of cards and put them on the top of the deck)

Repeat this until you feel comfortable. Cut if you want to, I do some times already during the shuffle to further randomize the cards.
Hope this helps ^^

the way I shuffle my DRuidcraft is I make a nice (gently) messy pile on the table and swish them around a bit and draw from there

I generally use an overhand "slide and pull" method as seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN-F4XNW2jk&feature=youtu.be

If I have the room, I might "deal" the cards for several imaginary players, then mix them up.

Farzon said:

You put down a number of single cats
(Edit: cards. I should correct this if it wasn't so funny) face down and deal the rest of the deck onto them. Then you rearrange the Stacks.

Click to expand...

Brilliant. I too prefer "single cats". And this method worked fairly well when I tried it out.

Rhiamon said:

the way I shuffle my DRuidcraft is I make a nice (gently) messy pile on the table and swish them around a bit and draw from there

Click to expand...

I tried this and it was very relaxing to swish them around! The backs of the Voyager cards have this cool blue DNA pattern on them. Very trippy to move them in circles.

BodhiSeed said:

I generally use an overhand "slide and pull" method as seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN-F4XNW2jk&feature=youtu.be

Click to expand...

Excellent video, thanks. I was able to follow along closely. This one is going to take some practice, but I like the overall feeling of it and I get the sense that the cards are being mixed thoroughly enough.

Thanks for these tips!

BodhiSeed said:

If I have the room, I might "deal" the cards for several imaginary players, then mix them up.

Click to expand...

That's an excellent idea! Swishing them around might cause the images to get scratched depending on the surface used. 'Dealing them out' would be safer!

these are some great ideas! i haven't exactly lost any sleep over how to shuffle big, bulky cards but have often wondered if there are some really good ideas out there. thanks!