Reshuffle a row of wands or cups?

[littleredcourgette]

If you have a new deck of cards (1 week old, about 5 readings in total, shuffled each time) and you've shuffled them a bit before the reading and pulled up a row (4 or 5) of the same suit, would you reshuffle? Would you discount the reading? I recently drew ridiculously favourable cards (a row of cups) for a situation that IRL looks dire. Should I re-do the spread?

[Lantana]

What method do you use for shuffling? Riffle shuffling usually mixes up a deck pretty good, but overhand shuffling can take a long time to randomize the deck completely. Since I'm an overhand shuffler, I spend a good 20 minutes cutting and shuffling a deck when I first open it so I can get it shuffled the way I like.

 

This is why, when what you've mentioned happens to me, I take it as interesting and make note of it in the reading. But if your deck is new and still mostly in order, I can see why you'd be concerned.

 

 

[Ephemeridae]

I would read the cards as they were dealt. Then, after the reading, I would do a real long shuffling session so I would be more confident that they were properly randomized for future draws.

[Page of Ghosts]

I'd also do the reading as is, then divide the deck into 10 piles more or less before I shuffle like usual, so I know it was properly randomized. The 10 pile method is one I try do remember when the deck is new and in order, it mixes them up pretty well even though I prefer to riffle shuffle.

[littleredcourgette]

Thanks for the responses. So you would trust your reading without any doubt?

 

I don't have a shuffling method that I know the name of. I just sort of slot cards in between other cards and I keep doing it until it feels right. I sort of feel as if I have "cheated" with this spread. Should I? I previously did an online tarot (facade) and got a similar positive outcome but now I'm questioning everything.

[Page of Ghosts]

I think it could cause more confusion if you do another reading right away. Give it some time and see what happens and how it matches your reading, if anything changes in the situation I'd first then do a new reading on it.

 

I had a spread where this happened to me, new deck that I didn't shuffle properly. It was only a deck interview with 6 cards and I got at least 3 Pentacle cards including 2 of the courts! I haven't used the deck a lot (Sun and Moon Tarot) but I always thought I should try out the deck and see if it's as earthy as it says it is and if not do the interview again. But for the little spread I once did with it, it did seem to be a bit direct and down to earth so I don't know, haha.

[Ephemeridae]

Thanks for the responses. So you would trust your reading without any doubt?

 

I don't have a shuffling method that I know the name of. I just sort of slot cards in between other cards and I keep doing it until it feels right. I sort of feel as if I have "cheated" with this spread. Should I? I previously did an online tarot (facade) and got a similar positive outcome but now I'm questioning everything.

 

It's not that I wouldn't have doubt. It's just that doubt, as a matter of principle, isn't going to help answer the question.

 

I don't think it's possible to "cheat" the deck. In a five card tarot spread there are 2,533,330,800 possible results. I do not think some spiritual energy or guide or whathaveyou goes through every possible combination and picks out the exactly right one! The cards that are drawn are random chance (I believe, anyway), and it is up to the reader to intuitively and symbolically find the meaning. I don't think there is a wrong or untrue set of cards to receive for a spread. That's just my own personal belief, though.

[Mand]

There's no reason why five of the same suit couldn't come up quite naturally - by the law of averages, it's going to happen in a certain percentage of all readings. In fact the odds against *any* specific sequence of cards are exactly the same.

 

And just because you expected the cards to tell you something more negative, doesn't mean they're wrong. You say the situation "looks dire" - but that's only how it looks to you. If you already knew everything about the situation inside and out, you wouldnt be doing readings about it. :) Beware of rejecting readings that don't give you the answer you were looking for (it's easy to fall into that trap).

 

I agree it's a bad idea to keep asking the same question without much of an interval between. Try and read the cards as they fell - too much happy-happy-happy isn't necessarily a good thing anyway. Too many cups, for instance, could be saying something about rose-tinted lenses or a tendency to escapism, or over-emotionalism. Think about exactly what the position meanings are; perhaps some of these cards refer to something you should be trying, or an attitude you need to take, rather than what the facts are? But whatever the positions, every card has both positive and negative interpretations (especially if you weren't using reversals).

 

Just some different ways to think about it. :)

 

ETA: it's a bad idea to keep asking the same question - but you did get a similar positive reading online, which kind of reinforces that perhaps the situation isn't such a lost cause as you feel.  :-\

[Page of Ghosts]

For the trust issue you asked about - yeah I trust my cards but then there is the issue of human error. Sometimes I don't interpret a card correctly or I don't pay attention so I don't see what it's talking about. I'll see it later when I look back on the reading and have an aha moment, but sometimes it's possible to miss stuff. I got the Tower as my situation for the day today and there wasn't anything obviously tower-ish going on in my life. Maybe it's something in the news? The last time I got it as a card of the day I think was when that large building burned down in London this summer and there were a lot of coverage. Either way, it didn't really come up in any major way so I'm a bit confused to what exactly it was!

[Trogon]

I tend to agree with other folks here. It is possible to have all of the cards in a 5-card reading come up in the same suit. In fact, I have had it happen a time or two (can't remember the exact circumstances, but I know it's happened). The fewer the number of cards you're using in a given reading, the more the chances increase for something like this. So, I personally would just read the cards as they are.

 

However, I would take into account the fact that all of the cards are Cups ... it would tend to strengthen, or increase the emotions being portrayed. So, as Mand mentioned, there may be a tendency to be over-emotional about something, to the point of "giddiness", or those rose-tinted glasses Mand mentioned blocking out reality. Or for another example, if there were an indication of sadness, it might be increased to moderate to severe depression.

 

I'll also agree with the thought that, with repeated readings on the same issue, you may just start getting the results you expect or want, rather than what you need. Taking time between readings on a situation, to give time for things to develop, is usually a good practice. This also allows you time to mull over the reading you got and see if there's a different interpretation that fits the situation better. The exception to this is in cases of a daily struggle type of situation, where you're doing a short reading on how to deal with the issue for that particular day.

 

As for shuffling, there are a few different methods which will give very good randomization. Riffle-shuffling is pretty common and is the method you'll see most often at card games. Here is a video with a

that is fairly good. I personally use the method which he warns against (because of the possibility of damaging the cards) ... I will pull a section out of the middle part of the deck (and rotate it) with every shuffle though. I usually do at least 3 shuffles before a reading, sometimes more, but almost always an odd number, because that's what feels right to me.

 

If you develop a good shuffling technique for yourself and use it fairly consistently, I think you'll be able to feel more confident that you're getting good mixing of the deck and hence getting the cards you're supposed to get.

[littleredcourgette]

Thanks very much for the shuffling techniques info and in clarifying some things.

 

The cups were in outcome positions: 9 of cups as near future. 10 of cups distant future and Knight of cups as final outcome. The question was regarding whether I'd have a romantic future with this person. These came up in a row. I also got Queen of Cups but earlier on in the spread for advice but it was coupled with 9 of swords. Like I say there were other suits dotted throughout.

 

I definitely won't be doing another reading on this as I find this romantic issue exhausting. I'm curious about how long you leave it until another reading. What if nothing new has happened between now and the end of the month?

 

I really appreciate your help. This is a great community btw. I just wanted to add that.

 

[Mand]

I definitely won't be doing another reading on this as I find this romantic issue exhausting. I'm curious about how long you leave it until another reading. What if nothing new has happened between now and the end of the month?

 

For myself, it doesn't have to be things actually happening, events unfolding. If I'm "in a different place" regarding the situation - needn't be a big epiphany, can be just realising the novelty has worn off, perhaps there's less urgency or tension when I think about it - or more - that is something new.

 

You will find you know whether you've moved on a bit, or maybe you'll have a sense that it's time for another reading. And if you're good at being honest with yourself, you will also be able to tell whether you want to read just because you enjoy thinking about the situation (ie it's self-indulgent to read), or whether you are drawn to reading again because it's time to. We have a sense for this kind of knowing, it's called intuition, and it's easy to feel when you have the nerve to accept that what you want could be a bad idea.

 

On the other hand...

 

If desperate and/or obsessed ;) it's also possible to ask different questions. I don't mean simple rewording, we can't get away with asking "Where did he go?" instead of "Which places was he in?" :D I mean for example:

- What do I need to know about this?

- What should I do? or How can I help xyz happen? (staying open to "Do nothing!")

- combination of causes leading to the situation;

- Where are things headed?

- or whether the main cause(s) are psychological, work-related, trivial, anything beyond what I've thought of - using the suits, say;

- How quickly is this developing? which is sort of how long before I see how it's turning out.

 

I'm sure you will think of many, if you want to read more often about anything (not this particular situation, I get it).

 

Sometimes I even ask whether I should be reading about this at all... sometimes the cards most clearly tell me "Enough already!" :)

 

Good luck with the situation and with the cards. :)

[littleredcourgette]

Thanks. I actually do find that I'm doing a lot of that - finding different angles to look at the situation from so that I can do another reading. I want to ask every possible question. That can't be healthy Tarot is very addictive. I feel like it's a bit of a drug. I'm getting the urge now. Is there a 12 step? Maybe that's a beginners thing like when you're a kid and you get a set of felt tip pens and find any excuse to use the bright pink one. That's as good as my analogies get. My fingers just want to shuffle and display cards.

[Mand]

Haha, being addicted gives you a lot of good practice! You're right, the novelty can wear off after a year or three. Or not... I think in that case you'll need to go full-time professional. ;)

 

My problem was always dreaming up more things to read on. Some suggest the characters in a drama or book you're halfway through, but fiction never worked for me - or then we can read about events in the news. That way you get feedback as the story develops. Also, there are all sorts of games to play and other fun - as an excuse for more shuffling. :)

[EmpyreanKnight]

I've read somewhere that 7 good riffle shuffles is enough to completely randomize a Tarot deck. It has a solid mathematical basis too. So I usually shuffle 7 or more times, and whatever the results are I would accept them.

 

 

That said, when I felt real doubt about the cards I drew (which only happened in one reading), I just got another card from the pile that would indicate whether I should keep the cards or not. In my case, I interpreted the answer as a Yes, so I didn't re-draw and just proceeded with my interpretation. Which in the end turned out to be accurate.

[chongjasmine]

If it is a new deck, and is not prone to much shuffling, then I will reshuffle.

If the deck is quite old and had been shuffled much, and I pulled up a row of the same suits, then I will not reshuffle. I will accept the result as it is.

[EmpyreanKnight]

I just did the math on 4- and 5-card flushes, and it seems that it's not altogether that improbable.

 

To get the probability of 4 cards of the same suit, I got:

 

14  X  13  X  12  X  11  X  4

78      77      76      75

 

= .00281 or around 1 in 356.

 

It means that for 356 readers who perform a 4-card spread, 1 of them would have all of the cards with the same suit.

 

For a 5-card spread, it is:

 

14  X  13  X  12  X  11  X  10  X  4

78      77      76      75      74

 

= .000379 or around 1 in 2,639.

 

So yeah, it isn't as highly rare as it would seem.

[Mand]

I've read somewhere that 7 good riffle shuffles is enough to completely randomize a Tarot deck. It has a solid mathematical basis too. So I usually shuffle 7 or more times, and whatever the results are I would accept them.

 

 

That said, when I felt real doubt about the cards I drew (which only happened in one reading), I just got another card from the pile that would indicate whether I should keep the cards or not. In my case, I interpreted the answer as a Yes, so I didn't re-draw and just proceeded with my interpretation. Which in the end turned out to be accurate.

 

I like that idea of asking for another card to decide whether to keep the ones drawn, especially doing so before seeing which cards they are.

 

As for the probability - it's even less astonishing when it's four cards within a larger spread such as (say) a Celtic cross, if not specifying *which* four. Isn't it? Sounds like you're the mathematician. :)

[EmpyreanKnight]

I've read somewhere that 7 good riffle shuffles is enough to completely randomize a Tarot deck. It has a solid mathematical basis too. So I usually shuffle 7 or more times, and whatever the results are I would accept them.

 

 

That said, when I felt real doubt about the cards I drew (which only happened in one reading), I just got another card from the pile that would indicate whether I should keep the cards or not. In my case, I interpreted the answer as a Yes, so I didn't re-draw and just proceeded with my interpretation. Which in the end turned out to be accurate.

 

I like that idea of asking for another card to decide whether to keep the ones drawn, especially doing so before seeing which cards they are.

 

As for the probability - it's even less astonishing when it's four cards within a larger spread such as (say) a Celtic cross, if not specifying *which* four. Isn't it? Sounds like you're the mathematician. :)

 

Thanks Maud!

 

Yup, you made the correct assumption. You asked the probability of finding at least 4 cards of the same suit in a 10-card spread. Using some quick calculations, it seems that it is not so uncommon. I computed a probability of at least 6%, meaning that in any 16 random 10-card readings, at least one of them would have four or more cards of the same suit. I would try to post more rigorous and exact calculations later. :)