Hello,

 

I'm always surprised by how little is said about the way cards are pulled.

To me it seems almost the most important - I feel I suck at pulling cards. With Tarot that feeling has passed, but it's a hefty deck and somehow, overhand shuffle than cut in two, restack and pick from the top is ok.  

With Lenormand, I'm not sure. I don't like the fan version. 

So what is your way of doing it ? Do you fan out your deck and choose one by one ? For larger spreads it seems a long process.

Do you shuffle, cut, restack ? 

Do you cut in three piles and select one from each (and in which order then ?)

Curious to see how you feel about pulling "the right way".

 

Celine

It's a great question Celine and I'll be interested to hear people respond. I've been wondering how other's cut the deck too. I pull from left to right from 3 piles

I shuffle, cut, restack, and pull from the top. I never riffle, but about two dozen overhand shuffles seems to randomize the deck enough.

I'm a five year old disguised as an adult. I like to spread them all out, mix them all around, finger painting style. I move my hand over the cards or sift through them until I feel a tingle. 

 

If I'm using a spread, I'll focus my mind on #1. If multiple cards feel like #1, I pull them all out and decide which one feels "the most right." 

 

Put the others to the side and repeat. 

 

Once I am done, I flip over the cards for the spread and read them. Then, I lay out the extras solitaire style to see how they all connect. 

 

Sometimes I overhand shuffle or just fan them out and pick a card at random. And when I'm completely alone, I say to myself, 

 

"Pick a card, any card! It's tarot, kid, there are no wrong answers!" 

 

The Magician roleplay is entirely optional and srrictly for my own amusement.

I love the way you describe your method - such a quirky approach and one that reveals the dance between the reader, querent and cards 

Some really nice answers ! Whenever I feel like I can't make sense of the cards, I become very insecure about shuffling and pulling cards, and that blocks me completely. And as a beginner, well, it throws me into bottomless depths 😁 

Nice to see such differences in the way you all do it !

 

I have tried almost all the shuffling methods available in the market. I used to be really anxious about getting it right, afraid that the wrong method will hinder the accuracy of my readings. I also had almost all the other phobias related to cartomancy: anxiety about using the wrong deck, anxiety about mistreating my deck... You name it and I probably had it.

Now I'm at a place where I can confidently argue that none of these really matters. I've done consecutive readings on a topic using different decks/ shuffle& pull techniques and the results are consistent. Blasphemous, I know, when countless people argue that doing multiple readings on the same question is a sinful disgrace. But I just needed to know, and now I do know that these things matter just so little. 

 

I think if you look around you will come across a thread in the Tarot section where folks discuss shuffle& draw issues. Only that the main concern was potential damages to the cards. I think it's worth checking out for practical reasons. It can be wise to use different techniques with different card stocks/sizes, therefore making it useful to get to know a couple of different ways of shuffling.  But the focus is more practical rather than metaphisical. 

 

Currently I'm using a super mini self-published deck, and I do an overhand shuffle after dividing the deck into 6 piles and regrouping them together. I cut once with my non-dominant hand and draw cards by counting. The way I count is influenced by Andy Bc. Iris Treppner and Bjorn Meuris had other ways. 

I do it this way mainly because the size of my current working deck is so small that it makes riffling a pain in my unspeakable part that is better left unsaid for the sake of civility. I designed it this way for portablity, thus sacrificing the satisfaction and convenience of riffling. If I'm using a poker-sized deck, I would simply riffle once and then overhand shuffle. There was a time when I would riffle 7 times in honour of the 7 celestial lights and then proceed to cut. I don't do that now because I want to preserve my decks better, but then this could equally be overprotecting my decks. Look around and you will see more experienced folks telling you that riffling doesn't damage your decks as is told by recent myths, as long as you are doing it properly. 

 

I think the main reasons why cards don't make sense can be categorized as the followings: (1) You don't know your method that well, which, to be honest, can only be solved by a learning process; (2) You are having an off day, which doesn't have to be spiritual, I wouldn't want to do anything after I dragged my body through a late night shift; (3) The cards are in fact telling you the truth, but reality is so weird that it just didn't come to you what it actually meant, this does happen, its frequency declining but never going completly away with you becoming a more experienced reader, and (4) You are just not supposed to know, yet.

 

@Sadewa has made very good points. I admit I rarely post comments in the past few years, but here I felt compelled to. The way I was taught many years ago is a simple one, shuffling is a means of focusing your intention, that’s it. Pulling cards?  Pick a method you like and stick with it. Why stick with it you ask?  Again going by how I was taught you are training your tools in how you work so they know how to properly respond.  Yes that gives an animism to your tools I should think but I don’t have an issue with that. There is my two cents worth. 

I'll make it short so as not to clutter the thread so it stays on those two very good posts : @Sadewaand @WizardintheWoods provided two very useful, helpful and down to earth replies, thank you so much. I should love to pin them somewhere.

 

On 12/15/2024 at 10:32 PM, Celine said:

I'm always surprised by how little is said about the way cards are pulled.

To me it seems almost the most important ...

I encourage students to experiment with different methods to find their sweet spot.

Myself? It depends on the spread. For most spreads I shuffle then fan the deck. I do this for Tarot and smaller Lenormand spreads.

When I lay the trumps for a French Cross I shuffle then roll dice and count. For LN GT I shuffle and lay the tableau starting with the top card.

I have one friend who shuffles enthusiastically and the cards that fall out are the ones she uses for her spread. I always worry a bit when she borrows my cards but she manages to do this without harming them.😉

 

i riffle shuffle no matter tarot or lenormand. i only do this 3-5 times before i start pulling, maybe way more if i feel like im really unsure. then i pull straight off from the deck unless i feel for some reason i should cut the deck. but ive only cut the deck once or twice. always get the right cards in the end but thats how it works for me. ymmv

I felt the same way when I started reading cards, no one tells you how to do it, so I do what feels right and I think that's how it should be.  You're relying on your intuition, so it makes sense to find your way of reading. For me, I start by dividing the deck into 6 piles, then shuffling them together, then overhand a few times until I feel ready to deal.  I don't fan them out, I just deal from the top of the deck.  

 

I shuffle five times (for North, South, East, West, and Self) without riffling (I haven't been able to master that!) and keeping the question in mind. I don't cut the cards. Then I spread the cards across my surface, and close my eyes to get the general direction of where I should pull my first card, then open my eyes and use my intuition to choose the first card.  Then I proceed to count the number of cards I need, moving to the left.  The top card becomes card #1, the next card is card #2, etc.

 

I prefer smaller cards because I have small hands--it's just a matter of practicality and ease.

I shuffle overhand (I'm awful at riffling and have creased a couple of decks), then I cut into two piles (back on Aeclectic Mary K. Greer pointed out that, because there are only 36 cards, that seems about right), reassemble the deck and deal from the top. I almost always use the Grand Tableau, so nothing necessary gets left out.

Edited February 7, 20251 yr by Barleywine

1 hour ago, Barleywine said:

I cut into two piles (back on Aeclectic Mary K. Greer pointed out that, because there are only 36 cards

You do you, of course. But this is the first I've heard of that. I've always managed to get the traditional three healthy piles.
 

You most likely weren't in on the conversation, it was kind of said in passing. There's probably no reason to cut at all, but as a hidebound traditionalist I don't feel comfortable skipping it.

3 hours ago, Barleywine said:

You most likely weren't in on the conversation, it was kind of said in passing. There's probably no reason to cut at all, but as a hidebound traditionalist I don't feel comfortable skipping it.

I wouldn't have started doing it that way anyway. Mary's great with Tarot and history, but she came to Lenormand extremely late. Grain-o-salt, etc.
I do the old trad cut (the one your friends might call a "wh*rehouse cut" if you slip up and do it while playing spades or poker with them 🤣) Riffle & bridge several times, cut three piles to the left with the left hand, pick up the middle pile, put it on the left hand pile, put those on the right hand pile. Same with Sibilla, Tarot, everything. There's no "magic" in it. It's just that I've always done it that way, it works, and there's no reason to change. There's much to be said for being hidebound.

Edited February 7, 20251 yr by katrinka

2 hours ago, katrinka said:

cut three piles to the left with the left hand, pick up the middle pile, put it on the left hand pile, put those on the right hand pile

I learned something similar from Eden Gray's first book back in 1972, and still do it that way with tarot. (I call it part of the "theater of tarot.") If anyone asks why, I just say ". . . because."