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Shuffling and Dealing the Cards |
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Shuffling the deck is one of the most important aspects of the reading. How the deck is shuffled helps put the energy of the Querent, or seeker, into the reading. The Querent should always be the one to shuffle the deck, and should do so as many times as he wants. Whether it's five times or ten, the Querent should feel comfortable with his shuffling. |
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Having the Querent do the shuffling accomplishes two things. First, it gets him to concentrate on this big deck, and second, it focuses his energy and subconscious thoughts on the Tarot. Readings shuffled by the Querent tend to be more accurate because the reader gets the feel of that person very quickly and accurately. |
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Separating the deck into three stacks is equally important, and you should make this part of the seeker's job as well. According to ancient wisdom, this separating is considered blessing the deck: As the deck is cut into three piles, the Querent's giving permission to be read with good blessings from above. We think a little ancient wisdom, not to mention a blessing, never hurt anyone. |
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For certain spreads, such as the Horoscope Spread (we'll show you one in Chapter 19), we like to have the Querent pick out a court card which she feels represents herself. But how do Querents know which court card represents them? |
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The answer is to ask the Querent to pick a card that feels like herself. To do this, have her separate the royal court cards (Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings) from the rest of the deck, and then lay them out by suit: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. As the Querent looks at the cards, she should consider the following: |
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1. Which one of the suits do you gravitate toward? |
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2. After you've picked a suit, which one of the court cards in that suit do you think represents you? |
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In many Tarot books, you can find physical descriptions of each of the suits. Wands represent light- or reddish-haired people, with light or ruddy complexions and blue or hazel eyes. Cups are considered fair types, with sandy-colored hair and blue or green eyes. Swords represent brown-haired people with brown or hazel eyes and medium to fair complexions. And Pentacles are people with dark or even black hair and brown or black eyes. |
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But what if a Querent picked a card that doesn't look like her? Not to worrythe card is an emotional representation, not a physical one. That's why we stuck all those descriptions in one little paragraph; we think they're too limiting. |
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At the same time, though, royal court cards can represent people in a reading. If a Querent's asked a question that involves someone in his future, we can sometimes tell what that person looks like (in general) before she even shows up. |
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