How to Shuffle Tarot Cards: 5 Techniques for Amazing Energy

You just bought your first tarot deck and are excited to see what the cards say. You’ve got the whole setup – beautiful clothes, favorite crystals, and candles to set the mood. After taking a deep breath to clear your mind, you weigh the cards in your hands, and then it hits you…

What do you do now?

Are you a fan of cutting the deck into two stacks? Maybe three? Are you supposed to spread them all over the table like a kid spreading fingerpaint? Or gracefully fan the edges together and then form them into a bridge like a poker dealer? Perhaps send them from one hand to the opposite-hand stage magician style!

Shuffling tarot cards is an essential part of every tarot reading. Yet it’s easy to overthink how to shuffle tarot cards or overlook this step entirely until necessary. It’s a good idea to start shuffling now because it takes practice, like all things with tarot.

Below you will learn 5 great ways to shuffle tarot cards to suit your style and give your readings the best energy possible. Try them all, and you’re sure to find the perfect shuffle!

Is There a Correct Way to Shuffle Tarot Cards?

No, there is no one right way to shuffle your tarot cards.

Anyone who tells you their way is correct and that you can’t shuffle any other way is misinformed or a gatekeeper. A personal practice such as tarot calls for personal comfort. How you handle your tarot cards is up to you, shuffling included.

What matters is what works best for you!

Some people can’t get overhand shuffling because they have smaller hands. Some prefer to riffle shuffle because it looks the coolest. Others swear by cutting the cards over anything else. And maybe someone needs to use a shuffling machine because it’s impossible for them to shuffle independently.

There is no wrong way to shuffle the cards!

Each shuffling technique here (and any others you can come up with) is a way to shuffle for someone properly. So let’s get to all the many ways you can practice shuffling to find the best for you.

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1. Scramble Shuffle

This is a great way to shuffle your brand-new tarot deck to mix those cards.

Lay the entire deck on the table or floor. Use your hands to spread the cards all over the surface. Twirl them around in different directions, randomly passing them over and under each other. Keep it up for a minute to ensure they are good and mixed up.

Once satisfied, bring the cards back together into deck form or pull directly from the messy pile for your reading.

2. Cut the Cards

Cutting the deck (a pile shuffle) consists of separating your tarot deck into a few different piles and then putting them back together in a different order.

You can do this in a few different ways.

Use your left hand to cut the deck in half and put both piles before you. Take the pile that used to be the bottom of your tarot deck and put it on the top. Do this as often as you feel necessary before pulling the cards.

The left hand is traditionally used to cut, pick, or control the cards because the left side is connected to intuitive, receptive energy.

Alternatively, cut the deck into three piles and put the cards on the table. If you’re reading reversals, turn the center pile over so it’s upside down. Stack the piles back together in the opposite order, with the first pile on the bottom of the center pile as the new top of the deck.

3. Overhand Shuffle

An overhand shuffle is a popular shuffling technique that many readers use.

To practice this shuffle, place the whole deck of cards in your left hand or your non-dominant hand. Use your opposite hand to pull as many cards as possible from the back of the deck with your thumb and middle finger. Drop the cards back onto the top of the deck in small sections until they’re all gone.

4. Over and Under Shuffle

This shuffling method is a variation of the overhand shuffle with just one difference.

After you pick up the cards from the back of the deck, drop one small section on top of the deck. Then, flip the deck forward onto your fingers and drop the next small section on the bottom of the deck. Repeat on the top and then on the bottom, alternating until all of your cards are in one hand.

5. Riffle Shuffle

how to shuffle tarot cards: You’ve probably seen this casino-style shuffle done with regular playing cards.

To do a riffle shuffle, separate your tarot deck so you have half the deck in each hand. Hold them face down with your thumbs on the short end of each half. Starting from the bottom, run your thumb along the edge of the cards to fan them out, holding the two sides close enough that the ends or corners of the cards interlace. Push the two sides together again.

This shuffling technique is fantastic for mixing tarot decks, but it’s important to note that it can bend and wear on your tarot cards after long periods of use. It’s not recommended for more delicate decks.

Bonus: Combine Shuffling Methods

It happens naturally. You start shuffling one way and switch to another method before pulling the cards. Some tarot readers use different techniques for different reasons, such as a riffle shuffle to clean out energy before using an over-and-under shuffle.

After scrambling to mix the cards, use a different shuffle to prepare you for pulling cards.

Use any shuffling technique before cutting the cards to ensure they are in a completely different order than last time. Or cut the cards a few times before switching to an overhand shuffle.

No combination is off the table!

Shuffling Energies

While shuffling, note how your tarot deck is acting in your hands.

For example, if you’re shuffling and the cards behave smoothly, the energy around that question is friendly and calm. On the other hand, if the cards are messy and flying everywhere in big chunks, there may be a lot of erratic energy around what you’re asking about.

This is one of those extra steps that add to your tarot readings if it feels right, but it’s not entirely necessary if it doesn’t work for you.

How Long Should You Shuffle Tarot Cards?

 How to shuffle tarot cards. It’s up to you!

Use intuition to feel how long you need to shuffle the cards before pulling. You might like to shuffle several times in every tarot reading, like three or five. Maybe you prefer to continue shuffling until it feels right to pull a card or until a card jumps out. Some tarot readers use shuffling to put them in a meditative state before they pull any cards.

Eventually, you’ll form your practice of shuffling and pulling tarot cards that feel natural in your hands.

How Do You Pull Tarot Cards?

How to shuffle tarot cards: Pulling tarot cards is another matter all on its own. But just like shuffling, it’s all about what feels natural to you. Use your intuition to draw the cards in a way that makes the most sense to how you shuffle.

If you cut the cards, you can pull cards off of the new top of the deck or from the top of the center pile to fill your tarot spreads. Even if you use another shuffling method, you can always cut the cards to pull your cards when you are done shuffling.

Fan the cards out and allow your intuition to guide you to what cards to pull as you move your hand over them. Or allow the person you’re reading for to pull their cards if you’re comfortable with that.

Overhand shuffling is perfect for reading jumper cards (cards that jump out of the deck independently). You can also shuffle, stop, and pull cards from the top several times. Or allow the deck to fall open in your hand and pull from the natural divide.

There’s no wrong way to pull tarot cards; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Do You Shuffle in Between Pulling Cards?

You know what the answer is by now, don’t you?

It’s up to you!

Tarot is a private practice that no one can dictate for you. Do it if you like to shuffle between every pull in your tarot card reading. If you want to shuffle once and pull all of your cards off that one shuffle, do it. Do you want to keep shuffling until enough cards jump out of the deck to fill your spread? Please do it!

Do you, and you will never do it wrong!

What Do You Do With Cards That Fly Out of the Deck?

Any cards that fly out of the deck are called jumper cards. They are used differently by different readers, just like everything else.

Some see jumper cards as considerable energies trying to jump out at you and set them aside to make a note of them during the reading. Others read jumper cards exclusively and use them to pull cards, shuffling until enough cards jump out to fill a spread.

Or you can pick those suckers up, stick them right back in the deck, and keep on shuffling!

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