An Intro Post and a Question

[stellina]

Hi everyone!

I'm Stellina, and I've been reading Tarot for about a year now. I actually started my Dreamwidth account mainly to have someplace to post up daily draws and other forms of Tarot journalling exercises, so I'm really happy to see a Tarot community here! I'm also studying cartomancy with regular playing cards.

Some of the decks I like/use on a regular basis are the LS Mini Universal, the Medieval Scapini, and the Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg (that one's mostly for the winter, though). I have a few others, but mostly I stick with those three because I feel like I can interpret them pretty well, and also due to the sizing of most decks -- the Goddess Tarot, for example, is just huge for my hands. (I hear they have a mini version out now, might give that a try)

Which brings me to my question -- how do you handle shuffling large decks? Right now I do the "take a chunk from the back of the deck and sort of redistribute smaller chunks in front or back of the deck" method, but I really just wish I could riffle shuffle them. I've tried the Faro shuffle, too, but it's really hard to do! Any suggestions?

Thanks all, I am really looking forward to future discussions in this community!

~S

Comments

[ex_lindsay366]

As someone with bad hands (fibromyalgia), i've found that whatever form of shuffling i'm capable of that day? That's the right way. Cards that hurt are not cards i communicate with very well.

That being said? One of my motivations behind designing my own deck is that i can make it a much friendlier size. I'm going for standard poker-card side, which i can shuffle quite well, even on a bad day.

[stellina]

That's a good point -- doesn't matter too much how they get shuffled as long as they do. I worry a little about how random my current method will make them, but I may just need to invest more time in the shuffle.

Are you going for a commercially produced deck? Because that is an awesome idea, I know a few people who'd be interested in a poker-size Tarot, for portability and shuffling reasons alone.