Do you put your cards back in order after a reading?

[Guest Night Shade]

Hi everyone

 

I remember reading somewhere that you should put your cards back in order after a reading to remove the vibes from that reading and cleanse them for next time.  I used to do this, but it got to be way too much trouble.  Now, I just put the cards away as they are, which doesn't seem to be affecting my readings at all.  What do you all do?  Do any of you do this, or have any other rituals or practices for putting your cards away?

[Bookworm]

I never put my cards back in order. Not being a particularly orderly person, it never occurred to me. :)

[gregory]

I don't as then I only have to shuffle extra hard next time.

[Rupicapra]

I don't as then I only have to shuffle extra hard next time.

exactly this!

 

some people say that to recharge the deck after doing a lot of readings, they put the cards in order and leave it out in the full moon overnight or the sunshine too. That is a nice thing that I do from time to time.

 

[gregory]

You are very energetic. I figure my cards recharge themselves when they feel like it and when I'm not looking.

 

Or not :D

[DevonCarter]

I don't as then I only have to shuffle extra hard next time.

exactly this!

Same.

I generally like to leave them shuffled up, and sometimes will randomly pick them up and shuffle just to shuffle. I would only put them back in order if I had a good reason to - like comparing two decks or something like that.

[Guest libra]

I put them back in order to kinda... Put them into "hibernation" if I'm not going to be working with them for a while. I found it I didn't do that, when I picked them up after a long period of disuse, they were really sassy at me.

 

I'll often choose a card that I want to see to be the bottom of the pile before putting it away after a reading, but that's mainly so a card I like is the first one I see when I pull that deck out again.

[Guest Night Shade]

I don't as then I only have to shuffle extra hard next time.

 

This is another reason why I stopped!

[Guest Night Shade]

I'll often choose a card that I want to see to be the bottom of the pile before putting it away after a reading, but that's mainly so a card I like is the first one I see when I pull that deck out again.

 

I do this too, and put one at the top of the pile as well.  I feel like it surrounds the deck with positive energy.

[Thoughtful]

After a reading l just shuffle the cards and give then a gentle tap.

 

l like your idea Night Shade of putting a positive card at the top and bottom of the pack. Will definitely do this from now on, thank you  :thumbsup:

[MysticMoonlight]

I leave a card on the bottom that I like, too! I'll keep cutting the deck until it lands a card on the bottom that I either want to bring that feeling/energy toward me or I just like the imagery for whatever reason. I didn't know it was a thing but it's a nice thing  :heartz:

 

I do not put my decks back in order after readings but I do put them in order if I buy them used just to reset the deck before I start my own work with it. It works for me.

[Grandma]

I ALWAYS put them back in order.  First the Majors, Fool through World, and then each Minor suit Ace through King, in the order of Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles.  I even have an unvarying method of sorting them back into order.

 

It's got nothing to do with the energy of the cards and everything to do with my OCD-like tendencies.  Oh well.

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

I only reorder when selling or gifting, and always order decks that come to me, used or  new, best to know if a card is missing right off.

[Saturn Celeste]

I don't as then I only have to shuffle extra hard next time.

Ditto!

 

Something I am particular with my decks though is reversed cards.  I never leave reversed cards in the deck because I put reversals in for each reading.  Each reading is special.  After I'm done with the deck I make sure there are no reversals.  Ready to do it all over again for the next reading. ;)

[~D~]

I read reversals too...When I'm all done with a reading I just make sure the cards are all facing the same way again...

[gregory]

First the Majors, Fool through World, and then each Minor suit Ace through King, in the order of Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles.  I even have an unvarying method of sorting them back into order.

 

NO no - Cups, Wands Pentacles, Swords :D

 

I only reorder when selling or gifting, and always order decks that come to me, used or  new, best to know if a card is missing right off.

Oh god yes - this ! ALWAYS check when you get a new deck.

[Guest libra]

First the Majors, Fool through World, and then each Minor suit Ace through King, in the order of Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles.  I even have an unvarying method of sorting them back into order.

 

NO no - Cups, Wands Pentacles, Swords :D

 

Waaaaat? It's CLEARLY Pentacles, Cups, Wands then Swords!

[Guest Night Shade]

First the Majors, Fool through World, and then each Minor suit Ace through King, in the order of Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles.

 

I'm with Grandma[/member] on this one.  If I open a new deck, and it's not ordered this way, then I'll put the cards in this order. 

[Eric13]

I dont put them back in order.

I give them another shuffle after the reading and when I pick up the cards I spread those cards through the the deck. Usually the shuffling addiction kicks in too!

[Esk]

I've been told the cards must be put back in order after a reading, but I don't do it and I won't, no matter how many times I've heard and read that. It just doesn't feel natural to me, it's like for me a deck "alive" is a deck shuffled. I can't really explain this but that's how I feel. I assume the energies of a reading disappear on  their own and don't need a reordering process. Actually everytime I've tried to do it I've  noticed no difference at all except that it doesn't feel right to me.

The only times I reorder a deck is when I want to show the cards to someone, or when I want to study or look at them in order. But as soon as I use it for reading they are mixed up once again.

[stephanelli]

I never put cards back in order after a reading.  The only times I order them is when I want to do some studying with them that is easy if they are in order.

[HermitWriter]

I'm with the majority so far too. I'll reorder them sometimes when I'm doing a cleansing ritual, but even then I usually just shuffle the deck through some incense smoke or something like that. I think it feels too much like a blank slate when I reorder the cards, even when it's for study, though it does make more sense when I'm showing them to another person. There's something much more interesting to me about flipping through a deck of shuffled cards.

 

But I do agree that reordering them with a new-to-you deck makes a lot of sense. Both for checking for completeness, and to start fresh with your own journey with those cards.

[bekkilyn]

I want the cards to be a shuffled as possible. I'd tried re-ordering before, but then after shuffling, I'd still find something like five consecutive minor pentacles in a row followed by four majors, etc. and I like things to be more random than the chance being 75% you'll get another major after getting one. So now I shuffle multiple times every time I pick them up and before putting them away. And if they have directions, I leave them all mixed up there as well even if I don't do reversals. The more shuffled and random and mixed up the better!

[AnomalyTempest]

Right now I have only a small number of decks and they are all used almost daily. No way I have time to reorder all those decks every day. I tend to reorder when starting a new project with a deck (i.e. working a new book or system). I read reversals if they happen to show up organically but I don't mix them that way on purpose. I tend to let things be as naturally occuring as possible.

 

When I do order them they go in order of the LWB explanations so different decks are ordered differently.

[Madame Squee]

Thank you for the great question, Night Shade!

 

I don't reorder the cards at the end of a reading, because I like to preserve the order of the deck in case I need to go back and look at additional cards. 

 

I do, however, count the cards at the beginning of every reading by dealing them in a clockwise circle into 6 piles of 13. Then, I pick up in whatever order appeals to me. After that, I shuffle several several times until the deck feels right, cut and lay out the reading.

 

I don't think my counting procedure does anything to improve the quality of my readings. It simply satisfies my OCD desire to know that all the cards are there before I begin. Almost 100% of the time, all the cards are there. Sometimes, however, I find that I left a card in the box or that I included a title card in the mix. And sometimes, new cards stick together. But once (in 20 years), I discovered a missing card under the table, with absolutely no clue how it got there.

 

I always look through new decks for missing and/or duplicate cards before I use them, and this is the order I use for study and to prepare decks for trade or storing: Majors (0 to 21), Swords, Wands, Cups, Pentacles (Ace to King).