Tarot Shuffling Options

Ok so i got a tarot deck couple weeks ago from my trusty barnes and noble. So i was reading up on it and i was wondering as to how your supposed to get the reversed cards if you shuffle upright and lay them out upright how would they ever become reversed cards am i shuffling the deck the wrong way? I was wondering this because upright and reversed have opposite meanings. Any help on how i should shuffle them or approach this? Any help will be great. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/i_triangle.gif)

Look at the back of your cards. Most decks will have a repeating design that looks the same regardless of which end is up. Some, like my Rider-Waite deck from the early '70s, have a design that won't--these have ankhs on the back so it's easy to tell whether or not the cards will be reversed when I pull them from the deck.

One way to get reversed cards is to periodically flip one stack around when you're shuffling. I assume you're using the riffle method? This means you're shuffling the cards as you would playing cards. If you're not, try it--it takes a bit of practice because the cards are larger, but they also get mixed better which is what you want.

If you're not using that method, turn all the cards in your deck the same way. On the back, take a Sharpie and mark a dot along the edge where the right-side up top of the card would be. Then, when you shuffle, you can turn some of those dots so they're facing the other direction and you'll get mixed normal/reversed cards. Just don't play poker or blackjack with these. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Does that help?

This post has been edited by Darkmage: Mar 8 2010, 04:15 PM

Thank you darkmage this method did help me. Thank you for the insight i will try this i really like the tarot it seems to be a better place to work than scrying for me since i am still a student at the practices. I am going to try this method right now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) .

Thank you darkmage this method did help me. Thank you for the insight i will try this i really like the tarot it seems to be a better place to work than scrying for me since i am still a student at the practices. I am going to try this method right now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) .

In my humble opinion, the use of averse cards is really up to the reader. Remember the fundamental axiom of Tarot most simply stated by Rabbi Ben Lamed Clifford: "The tarot works because you work". If you choose to work with cards averse and put an "opposite meaning" on each then so be it. Each card is a microcosom in and of itself - and thus each card has both a positive and negative aspect to it. In any case, you may choose to read aright cards as "well dignified" or the positive aspect of the card, while the averse cards may be taken to represent the "ill dignified" aspect of that card.

Often, I recommend to beginning readers to not use averse cards simply on account as it makes the cards more difficult to interpret. In any event, my suggestion to you is to experiment with reading the cards both considering and not considering their orientation - see what feels natural to you and then stick to your method.

Sirius666