I've been having this problem for years! How do you personally choose to shuffle and deal tarot cards during a reading?
I've tried bridge shuffling and then cutting the deck in half, placing the bottom half on top and pulling that top card
I've tried mixing them in a huge pile and using intuition to pull
I've tried laying them out in a straight line and using intuition
I just haven't found what feels right to me so I'm looking for ideas and insight. What works for you?
It's all about what feels right! I personally don't shuffle the same way everytime. Before I do any readings, I meditate slightly, calling out to the spirits who wish to help and look over my reading to make sure no negative energies try to interfere.
During that time I am very introspective, deciding on what spread and what kind of shuffle to use, by following my intuition. Sometimes I shuffle for a longer amount of time, other times not so much.
With practice it becomes easier to be in tune with your intuition and what feels right for you. You just have to listen to yourself.
I always tend to just mix the cards over each other in a very typical way. As was said above, I definitely recommend meditating first because it helps you to be more in touch with your own spiritual energy. I just shuffle until it feels "right" I guess. Then I spread the cards across the floor in a line and close my eyes. I hold my hand over the cards visualizing the meaning of the card I am picking (if it is supposed to be surrounding factors, how I see the problem, etc.) and wait to feel some kind of energy. Then I pull the card that I feel the most energy from.
This might not be for everyone, but it definitely works well for me.
Sometimes, the card I pull doesn't necessarily seem right as I flip it over and think about the meaning, but even that helpsbecause it makesmy own feelings regarding the matter clearer to me, and that helps me move forward on it, whether that's emotionally or physically doing something about it.
I just hold it in one hand and shuffle it around with the other. The card that ends up on top may not always be the one that belongs in the reading in my experience. Sometimes there is a little persistent "buzz" somewhere else in the deck that tells me that a very necessary card is in there and it wants out. Maybe it is just me being neurotic though. It all depends on what feels good in your hands and what kind of relationship you have with your deck.
I like to bridge shuffle a couple times, then sort of let a few cards at a time fall from the deck into my other hand, flipping it back and forth so that some of the cards have the opportunity to come up merkstave(upside down) then bridge shuffle a couple more times. Then I pull three from the top at a time and have the person im reading choose the one he or she is most drawn to from each set of three until I've pulled for the whole spread.
There's really no right or wrong way, It's all about what you feel is right!
I have only recently started using tarot, but I try not to bend the cards by bridging too much. I use an overhand shuffle for the majority of shuffling, its the easiest shuffle there is. then when the time feels right after so many shuffles that way, I rifle or leaf (the most common kind of shuffle, may be what you refer to as bridging) them one time, cut the deck in half to switch halves, then deal them from the top into whatever spread I intend to use. Right now Im using a 5 card spread, it seems easiest while I learn more about the cards.
I'm not a huge fan of bridge shuffling. For a thicker deck, it gets a bit awkward, as well as eventually causing damage on the edges of the cards more quickly than overhand shuffling.
Something I do is occasionally keeping the deck face-down, and stacking the cards in a prime number of stacks to be sure the deck won't be evenly distributed, between readings. I think it's a way to redistribute the cards, and make sure the last drawing's cards won't be next to each other. But I typically shuffle in two ways: Overhand as my main kind of shuffle, and a pull-from-both-front-and-back kind of shuffle. I'm not saying I'm the only one to come up with this, but I started doing this with playing cards when I was a teenager: I hold the deck in a way that I can use my other hand to draw one card from both the top and bottom at the same time. With tarot, I'm not so concerned about exactly one card. The idea is to mix the cards up and improve random dispersion.
With regular playing cards, however, the front-and-back system has pretty interesting results when starting with a sorted deck. It's pretty fun to try sometimes. The second time through, things start to match up.
Very much a novice at the art, however, I am curious to know what grounding method is taken before the shuffle in the first place. The Shuffle is a 'faith' action, being that you give the control to "chance" that what is pulled will be what was meant to be pulled. So the method of shuffling may have lesser to do with the issue and more to the energies present at the time.
(Just a thought though)
Personally (nerd side showing up) I like the method used in the Yu-Gi-Oh TV show, where they take the middle of the deck and place it on top and again but to the bottom. I do this because it keeps the cards more crisp and neat looking.
Hello, Its all about your intuition. You might also want to watch some tarot readers on youtube to find your inspiration/niche. I founf my inspiration in Shonettas Divine Tarot. Also Charmed Tarot.