How to Know When to Stop Shuffling Tarot Cards

Tarot cards are indeed a powerful tool for fortune-telling and divination. They assist people in foreseeing the future and gaining a better understanding of past and present events. No wonder online tarot readings with professional readers are getting increasingly popular.

However, if you want to try practicing tarot sessions yourself, it’s also possible—as long as you’re willing to study the theory and put in the work. Make sure that you cover all aspects of tarot readings, including those that seem inconsequential to most amateurs, such as, for example, shuffling tarot cards.

To shuffle tarot decks correctly is a crucial step in the reading process, as it allows your energy or the reader’s energy to pass into the deck. However, knowing when to stop shuffling is also important, and it impacts our ability to get an accurate and meaningful reading.

So, let’s go through the best practices to know how to shuffle a tarot deck and when to stop shuffling tarot cards.

Practical Tips on How to Know When to Stop Shuffling Tarot Cards

Here are a few signs and strategies that will help you understand that you’ve shuffled the deck enough and it’s time to stop.

Intuitive Feeling

Paying attention to your intuition during the shuffling process is crucial. You must focus on your question but no other things and stop shuffling whenever your instincts signal you to do so. If you are new to tarot readings, it might take you a while to develop your intuition. But don’t give up—once you gain enough experience, you will start “hearing” what the cards are trying to say to you more clearly.

Clarity of Mind

Your mind needs to be in a calm and clear state when you stop shuffling. Take a deep breath, focus on your question, and do your best to mentally connect with the cards before you end the shuffling process. You have to shuffle tarot cards until you are sure your mind is ready, and it’s the right time to stop.

Physical Signals

This might be more relevant for experienced tarot experts, but some tarot readers may notice certain physical sensations or gentle warmth in their hands. That might indicate that the deck has accumulated enough energy and is the right moment to no longer shuffle tarot cards.

Count

Also, it may be a good idea to set a specific number of shuffles to know when you no longer need to shuffle tarot cards. This technique will allow you to have consistency in your tarot readings. However, make sure your number is realistic. It must not be too low or too high, and it must also be flexible. What the deck is trying to communicate to you matters more than your habits.

Focus on the Question

When you have carefully formulated the question to ask the tarot deck and feel like it’s the right way to word it, this may serve as a natural endpoint. One of the best answers to the question of how to know when to stop shuffling tarot cards is “once your question for the deck is ready.” It’s one of the most common strategies, and a lot of professional tarot readers use it.

How Long Should You Shuffle Tarot Cards?

From reader to reader, the shuffling time may vary. It’s all about the instincts and the energy of the tarot reader, as well as the deck. Some tarot readers prefer to shuffle until they feel a recognizable sensation in their hands; others choose a specific time to stop shuffling, as we’ve already mentioned. The important thing is to shuffle long enough to thoroughly mix the cards while focusing on your question and listening to your intuition.

How Often Should I Shuffle My Tarot Cards?

It is recommended to shuffle your tarot cards at the beginning of each reading. As you can imagine, clearing the energy from previous tarot reading sessions is important to get accurate answers from the deck. If you have a long session (say, if it lasts for a few hours in a row), shuffling the deck a few times during the reading is also a good idea. This will help the cards to stay responsive to the questions you are asking.

Is It OK to Shuffle Tarot Cards?

Absolutely! Shuffling the tarot cards is essential for activating their energy and forming a connection between the cards and the reader. There are a lot of techniques that will teach you how to shuffle a tarot deck—some of them easy, others not so much. You can switch between different shuffling strategies but never neglect to shuffle your cards before you start a tarot session.

When Should You Not Do Tarot?

It is recommended to avoid performing tarot readings when you are depressed, stressed, or feeling emotionally down. Negative emotional states can pass the energy to the cards and decrease the accuracy of the tarot reading. The cards can sense the reader’s energy, and they want you to be fully focused on their messages. If there’s something on your mind that prevents you from being fully in the moment during the session, it’s better to postpone the reading till you’re in the right headspace for it.

An Afterword

In conclusion, shuffling tarot cards is an integral part of the reading process. Trust your intuition and develop a shuffling style that you feel comfortable with. Remember only to perform readings when you’re in a balanced and positive emotional state. Otherwise, the answers the cards will get you might be vague or blatantly wrong.