How to Shuffle Tarot Cards: Five Easy Methods

Prepare the deck

Clear a clean surface, remove damaged packaging and square the cards. Decide whether you will use reversals and how cards will be selected. A short pause to state the question can improve focus, but cleansing rituals are optional.

Five shuffling methods

1. Overhand: move small packets from one hand into the other.
2. Riffle: interleave two halves gently, without a hard bridge.
3. Hindu: draw small packets from the top into the receiving hand.
4. Pile: deal cards across several piles, then recombine them.
5. Table wash: spread cards face down and mix them with both hands.

How long should you shuffle?

Shuffle until the deck is reasonably mixed and your method feels complete. A fixed mystical number is not necessary. If you want a repeatable procedure, use several overhand passes plus a cut rather than relying on a feeling you may question later.

If the deck is too large

Divide it into smaller packets, shuffle each packet, exchange portions and recombine. A table wash is also accessible for small hands or stiff oversized cards.

How to include or avoid reversals

To avoid reversals, keep every packet oriented the same way and square the deck before cutting. To introduce them deliberately, rotate part of the deck during a table wash or turn selected packets before recombining. Do not let accidental orientation change your rules mid-reading.

What to do with jumpers

Choose before the reading whether a single fallen card counts. If several cards drop, return them and adjust your grip. The jumper-card guide offers a simple protocol.

How to reset a clumped deck

Separate cards from the previous spread across the deck, deal into unequal piles, recombine in a new order and use a table wash or several controlled passes. This reduces repeated packets without promising perfect randomness.