To Touch or Not To Touch !

[Aldor44]

Hey all!

 

I am curious to hear your take on the ancient old question of whether the querent should or should not handle the deck - i.e. shuffling/ picking cards himself for his own reading .

 

So far I shuffle then let the querent shuffle and draw the cards- but I know not all like it.

 

What do you do and why?

 

[Lady Butterfly]

Honestly, I don't feel like it makes much difference.

I shuffle and then let the querent cut, then I spread the cards and let the querent pick them. There are one or two people I read for who I shuffle, then they shuffle and cut and pick in their own style.

And then obviously, for remote readings, I do it all including the picking of cards.

 

I feel like every method yields accurate readings if everyone involved is focused on the task. So I think it pretty much comes down to what you prefer yourself.

[Wanderer]

For me, it doesn't feel as though it makes a difference. I know some people feel that foreign hands can interfere with something about the deck, but I've never had such reservations. I suspect my cards can hold their own in any clash of 'energies' and if anything it will help them to get the measure of the sitter. Sometimes the sitter draws the cards, sometimes I do - it depends on how familiar they are with the cards, though, rather than any concerns I have about them. 

[Wheel of Fantastic]

I always ask clients to cut the deck - this is important to me as I use a simplified version of the Opening of the Key. This means the clients imbue some of their energy into the reading and it certainly helps me; many clients tell me the readings are very accurate so something is certainly working!

[Saturn Celeste]

5 hours ago, Aldor44 said:

So far I shuffle then let the querent shuffle and draw the cards- but I know not all like it.

If I do a reading face to face, I shuffle but let them cut the deck.  I don't want other people handling my cards unless it's friends over and they want to just look at a deck.

[Alchemist]

Depending on the querent, I range from not letting them touch the deck at all to only letting them do a simple cut (mixing them myself, prior to the cut.) My previous modus operandi was to let them mix the cards as they saw fit, so they felt more invested in the process. However, an over-exuberant querent chipping the corner off one of my De Laurence cards while trying a "wash" shuffle brought that process to a halt.

 

In the time since I stopped letting the querent mix/touch, I've noticed a few things: the querent doesn't seem to feel any less invested in the process/reading than back when I let them mix; the querent, most times, seems to have more reverence for the cards now that it's something they shouldn't handle; and I'm more comfortable using my favored, vintage decks as I know they won't get damaged. What I haven't noticed is any less/more difference in the accuracy of the reading

[Aldor44]

1 hour ago, Wheel of Fantastic said:

I always ask clients to cut the deck - this is important to me as I use a simplified version of the Opening of the Key. This means the clients imbue some of their energy into the reading and it certainly helps me; many clients tell me the readings are very accurate so something is certainly working!

What is this opening of the key you mentioned ? @Wheel of Fantastic

[Wheel of Fantastic]

3 hours ago, Aldor44 said:

What is this opening of the key you mentioned ? @Wheel of Fantastic

The Opening of the Key (OOTK) was/is a tarot divinatory technique used by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Aleister Crowley is probably the best known proponent of the technique and was a member of the Golden Dawn. I use a much cut down simplified version as a prelude to using a heavily modified version of the Celtic Cross. I learned about this version from Vincent Pitisci who is a tarot reader of some 50 years; I can't claim credit for it. The readings are very powerful and it does seem to let you tap into a client's energy - it's the only way I can describe it.

[Grizabella]

I read online more than in person these days so I do all the shuffling and cutting and dealing but when I read in person, I don't mind others touching my cards, shuffling or cutting. 

 

Most people know, I think, that I'm in my 70's so I've been around a long time.  I don't have a lot of superstitious stuff going on. I read the cards on any topic (with only 2 exceptions) and I don't have a bunch of rules about how many times a sitter gets to ask the same question in any length of time or anything like that. I just read the cards. Everyone who knows me knows I'm ethical so I don't have a code of ethics I stick on the wall or anything. I don't have the "entertainment purposes" disclaimer on my website or my wall either.

 

I do like to have a sitter's energy in my cards if I read in person. If they don't choose to shuffle, I have them write the question down and I put it on the table or under the deck as it sits on the table.  A coin or a piece of jewelry on the table works, too.  The lack of personal energy when doing online readings doesn't seem to be limiting, though. 

 

On AT there was a really long thread about the superstitions and myths surrounding Tarot that was really good.  I wish we had it here.

[Guest]

Personally, I do the shuffling, cutting, and dealing.  The cards are the tool of the reader and respond to the reader. In the reading, the cards are spread before the reader.
 

Letting clients shuffle the cards is just not something that has ever appealed to me. But none of the readers I knew allowed it. So I’m not unbiased there and adopted the practice. It just made sense to me.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Guest

[Eric13]

When comes to a reading, I and only I shuffle. I have the current cut the deck in three, I have them state the question, or maybe not, but then I flip the first three catds and choose the pile from one of those facing cards. 

If people want to look at any of my decks and the vintage ones usually get the attention, then I let them look at the cards. They're just cards. I'm one with them, but they are sociable and generous. 

[DejaVoo]

1 hour ago, Wheel of Fantastic said:

The Opening of the Key (OOTK) was/is a tarot divinatory technique used by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Aleister Crowley is probably the best known proponent of the technique and was a member of the Golden Dawn. I use a much cut down simplified version as a prelude to using a heavily modified version of the Celtic Cross. I learned about this version from Vincent Pitisci who is a tarot reader of some 50 years; I can't claim credit for it. The readings are very powerful and it does seem to let you tap into a client's energy - it's the only way I can describe it.

I'm also a student of Vincent Pitisci 🙂

 

I don't mind if clients cut the cards into 3 stacks after I shuffle them.  Then I turn over 3 of the top cards and choose whatever pile that is relevant to the question.

[Jewel]

I usually do all the shuffling unless it someone I know knows how to shuffle cards.  For me it is not about energy contamination or any superstitions it is about not getting my cards bent or mangled.  If I know the person can shuffle just fine they are welcome to shuffle and cut the cards.  Otherwise I shuffle they cut.

[Blasianpersuasion]

@Aldor44 Okay I think this is the thread you are talking about. My question from my thread would be a long the lines of if my ex Jason And I will get back together, will he contact me to reconcile and/or date again. Something along those lines however you wanna word it. I intuitively know it won’t be probably the next month so I’m not asking for like super soon in the future. Maybe 2-3 months or so?

Edited October 26, 2019 by Blasianpersuasion

[Aldor44]

3 hours ago, Blasianpersuasion said:

@Aldor44 Okay I think this is the thread you are talking about. My question from my thread would be a long the lines of if my ex Jason And I will get back together, will he contact me to reconcile and/or date again. Something along those lines however you wanna word it. I intuitively know it won’t be probably the next month so I’m not asking for like super soon in the future. Maybe 2-3 months or so?

Hey @Blasianpersuasion

 

This is the right thread..

 

 

[Wheel of Fantastic]

On 10/24/2019 at 10:34 PM, DejaVoo said:

I'm also a student of Vincent Pitisci 🙂

 

I don't mind if clients cut the cards into 3 stacks after I shuffle them.  Then I turn over 3 of the top cards and choose whatever pile that is relevant to the question.

Yup, that's what I do too. It really works for me.

[RekirNoir]

For myself I tend to prefer the other person shuffle the cards when I am doing a reading for them. I let them shuffle however much they want while thinking about a specific topic or question and then cut the deck when they think it is sufficiently shuffled. Once the reading is done I "clean" my deck by doing 3-10 shuffles thinking about clearing energy or a pure light or even a shower or bath or something of that nature and putting them away in a bag where I store them. If the person I read for had a really negative energy or the reading was particularly emotional I will use a cleansing ritual with sage to clean the cards once the person is no longer around or at the least before doing another reading. I believe there is a lot of energy that can transfer to the cards an gives a more accurate reading, but I also have a lot of empathy an my energy will tend to overpower the reading if I shuffle for them. It also makes remote readings impossible for me unless I have a strong personal connection with the person.

[Barleywine]

On 10/24/2019 at 3:53 PM, Wheel of Fantastic said:

The Opening of the Key (OOTK) was/is a tarot divinatory technique used by The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Aleister Crowley is probably the best known proponent of the technique and was a member of the Golden Dawn. I use a much cut down simplified version as a prelude to using a heavily modified version of the Celtic Cross. I learned about this version from Vincent Pitisci who is a tarot reader of some 50 years; I can't claim credit for it. The readings are very powerful and it does seem to let you tap into a client's energy - it's the only way I can describe it.

Very interesting! I used to do something almost identical, which I was doing decades before I heard of Vincent Pitisci. I used the 1st Operation of the OOTK to see which elemental pack the Significator fell in, which I treated as a kind of preliminary read-out of where the second part of the reading might go; call it a topic-area "heads-up," since I usually didn't know the sitter's question in advance. It may or may not have been accurate in the final analysis, but I at least broached the possibility with the querent (Crowley's "tell the querent why he has come" bit, although I didn't abandon the reading if I was wrong). Then I did a "heavily modified" CC of my own design that was (and still is) rooted in Eden Gray's version from 1960. Once I started reading professionally I didn't have the luxury of that much time so I cut straight to the CC.

 

To answer the OP, I always bring thoroughly randomized decks to a reading session and expect my sitters to shuffle and cut the cards for the final draw. If they don't want to shuffle, I at least ask them to cut.

Edited March 4, 2020 by Barleywine