How to Shuffle Your Tarot Cards Before Doing a Reading

Imagine a situation wherein you are sitting with your friend in your house. The beautiful smell of incense and calming music envelopes the room. Your friend has come to you for help. They need some answers.

You layout the tarot mat and prepare yourself. You know that to read someone else’s card you need to shuffle the deck all the while channeling your energy towards the process. 

As you try to shuffle tarot cards before the reading, you realize you are just reorganizing the cards randomly and un-artfully. It looks sloppy. What’s more, you fear the worst: not being able to shuffle the tarot cards properly and drawing the same cards over and over again. 

Shuffling the tarot cards properly is one of the most important steps before doing a reading. It serves as a meditation in which you ask for assistance, guidance, and protection from the chosen belief system. 

There are many ways to randomize the cards depending on how big they are printed. Many people places all of them face down and mix them at random. Or you can get really fancy and fan them out the way a blackjack dealer might and you can randomly pick the corner of each card you feel drawn to.

If you have good hands or your deck is about the size of playing cards you can always split them into two halves and let them fall and intermingle by adjusting the tension of your fingers.

However, you can just place the deck in front of the querent and let them cut the deck.

You are the reader so you get to decide. But I recommend that you choose something to keep your hands busy while you take a moment to do some deep breathing so you can ground yourself and focus on your query.

It is during the shuffle that you can ask out loud the particular question that you are looking for advice on. When you shuffle Tarot cards before reading, it will help you to ground and center your energy. It will bring you to your best state of mind possible so you can connect and get the information that you are looking for. 

Below are some simple tips on how to shuffle tarot cards before a reading. Remember it is not just about shuffling the tarot cards but the whole process that will lead you to the answers you seek.

Cleanse the Deck

Cleanse your tarot deck every time before shuffling with incense smoke. This will help you get more accurate readings. It is important to remove any negative energy that can have been passed on to the deck. 

Ruminate on the Question

You must imprint yourself onto the tarot card deck to be able to get the answers you seek. Take a meditative moment to ruminate if it is the right time to ask the cards for the answers you seek. Sometimes, your energy is not right or your mind is under stress. During these times, refrain from readings.

Focus and Shuffle

It is often said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. This is the same for reading tarot. When you feel that you are ready and your intuition speaks to you to ascertain it, then the answers will come.

When shuffling, there is no hard and fast rule. It’s the meditation of the mind that can help you. You can divide the deck into two piles and flip them into each other. Another way is to divide the pile into smaller sections and pile them on top of each other. Or, you could just choose your own way.

Draw Your Cards

When you are focused, you will just know when to stop shuffling. Your intuition or gut feeling, whatever you want to call it, will let you know that it’s time to lay down the cards. Do not hasten: let your energy lead you and flow freely. 

If you are new to tarot, then start by Learning How to Select a Tarot Card Deck, to start your journey to seek the answers.