How to shuffle large and giant tarot cards?

There are some pretty massive tarot cards out there. I recently bought a “giant” sized tarot deck, and immediately as I took the cards in my hand, the first question that popped into my mind was: “How do you shuffle large tarot cards?” 

Large tarot cards come in the format of 3.75″ x 6.5 inches, which is one inch wider and two inches longer than the standard Tarot deck. The larger size makes shuffling the cards more challenging. Techniques best suited to shuffle such cards are:

• Cut and pile
• Deal Shuffle
• Over the top overhand shuffle
• Wash shuffle or Smushing
• Sideways Riffle Shuffle

The great thing about giant tarot decks is that they display the card imagery beautifully and clearly. You can see all the fine details like never before. But the downside is that big tarot cards make your hands feel extremely small. You feel clumsy like you had never held a card deck in your hands before. And the most challenging part is shuffling. I went ahead and tested different methods with my giant Tarot of Marseille deck and summarized the best ones below. So let’s jump right into it. 

How do you shuffle large tarot cards the easy way?

It takes some time getting used to handling the larger cards but attempting to shuffle them like standard sized tarot cards won’t make it any easier. Therefore, it is good to know how to approach these giant beasts the easy way. 

The shuffling techniques that we will be looking at are also useful if you are someone with small hands and are using a standard-sized deck. So in a way, while using a more oversized deck, we get to emphasize and feel some of your struggles. 

Before we go into the ways of shuffling, I want to remind you that there isn’t a right or wrong way of doing things in tarot, so if these are not the methods you like, you can try whatever suits your repertoire. If you have a normal sized deck, check this article about how to shuffle tarot cards.

Method 1 – Cut and pile shuffle

This shuffling method is as easy as it gets. You will place your deck of large tarot cards in front of you and divided it into several smaller piles or groups. I would recommend using at least four groups. This will leave about 20 cards per each pile. Then start picking up smaller clumps of cards randomly from one group to another and repeat this for some time. You can also pick the groups up and bring them together and repeat.   

PROS: Straightforward method and doesn’t require any extraordinary skills to handle the cards. If you don’t like reading reversed cards, it will be easy to have the cards pointing in the same direction with this shuffle. 

CONS: This method isn’t an efficient shuffling method in creating randomness, which is the whole point of shuffling. In the last chapter, I will explain why. 

Method 2 – The Deal Shuffle

The Deal Shuffle is excellent and easy if you don’t feel comfortable with the deck in your hands. It’s done by dealing the entire deck at once to five to seven piles in arbitrary order and then collect the stacks together. Then repeat. To enhance this, you can pick up the stacks in random order. 

PROS: Straightforward method and won’t make you fumble the cards out of your hands. 

CONS: It’s a bit slow and ineffective. Dealing 78 cards takes a bit of time, and if you repeat it, it will take some time, even if you are a fast dealer. 

Method 3 – Over the top overhand shuffle

The overhand shuffle is a standard method that people use to shuffle regular playing and tarot cards, but we do this a bit differently because we are using larger cards.

The idea behind this shuffle is similar to the “cut and pile method”. But in this, you are moving clumps of cards on top of each other while holding the deck in your hands. 

Naturally, the overhand shuffle is performed sideways, but it is far easier to do it over the top with giant cards. So place your cards vertically on your stronger hand and start releasing small clumps to your other hand. 

PROS: A relatively easy method to get a handle on and doesn’t require much skill to handle the cards. 

CONS:  Because the idea is similar to the cut and pile method, this is a very inefficient shuffle to create randomness. The difference is astonishing compared to our next two ways. 

Method 4 – The Wash or Smushing

“The wash” is one of my favorite shuffles, as it is easy and efficient. If you have a small surface to work with, this might not be the ideal method to use. Even with standard tarot cards, this method requires a bit of space, so prepare to open up your table for the big cards. 

The wash or smushing is performed by simply placing the cards in front of you in a table. Then randomly pushing them around into a messy pile. Continue mixing the pile for at least a minute, and you will have a nice random shuffle in your hands. 

While you are doing this, be careful not to drop the cards off the table. Also, don’t wash too hard and cramp the cards together too violently to avoid damaging them. And make sure you are mixing the whole deck and not just some parts of it. To help with this, you can bring them together a couple of times and rewash them. 

PROS: A relatively easy method, and it is very efficient in creating randomness. This method also doesn’t require any skill. 

CONS:  Takes a lot of space, so it is not ideal if you have a small table. 

Method 5 – Sideways Riffle Shuffle

The classic Riffle Shuffle is the most known in playing card games. It is a flashy and impressive way to shuffle, but it is also very effective in creating randomness. However, it is not particularly popular with tarot readers. I believe the number one reason is that it involves bending the cards. While this is a real problem, especially if you don’t know how to do it properly, it also requires a bit of deck handling skills to shuffle this way. To be honest, I am not so good with this method.  

Another reason is that the standard tarot deck is already more extensive than an ordinary playing card deck, both in size and thickness. The regular tarot card size is over an inch higher and half an inch wider. Also, there are 78 cards in the deck, which means that the deck is about 50% thicker than the regular playing card deck. 

Anyhow, to do the riffle shuffle with a giant deck, the easiest way is to do it sideways or let’s say in a sideways angle. You start by dividing the deck into two and holding each half in one of your hands. Then you apply pressure from the middle with your index finger and release the cards from your thumbs little by little so that the cards flair into each other. Once the whole deck is together, you tug the sides together and give it another go. 

PROS: Very efficient and fast shuffle. Looks great as well. 

CONS: A bit difficult to do and requires a bit of bending.  

The method you choose is entirely up to you. If you go with the first two it will take a considerable amount of time to achieve the same randomness as with the riffle shuffle. There is a mathematical theory behind it, and according to it, the difference is astonishing – 10,000 shuffles vs. 7! Check out the chapter below to learn more. 

Can you shuffle cards too much?

You cannot shuffle cards too much. The point of shuffling is to randomize the order of the cards as much as possible. The amount of randomization correlates with the time you shuffle, but the difference will become negligible the more time passes. 

Suppose you are doing a card reading for someone who is paying money for your time. In that case, there are some time constraints you need to take into account. 

Who shuffles the tarot cards?

In tarot, some readers allow their seekers to shuffle their cards. This choice is entirely up to you, but it is an excellent way to involve the client in the reading experience and transfer their energy into the deck. I at least let the seeker cut the cards at the end. 

However, because we are talking about larger cards, this might be a bit dangerous. When you give a large deck to someone who has never held such a giant deck in their hands, it can be painful to watch. Heck, the fact that we are talking about this issue in this article is a sign that it might not be wise to let your client shuffle large tarot cards. Let’s face it. It will be clumsy and slow, and most likely, the cards will end up on the floor or damaged some other way. 

So it might be wise to keep them in your safe hands after you have spent time learning to shuffle them. 

Why are some tarot cards so big?

After all of this, you might be thinking, why are some tarot cards so big?  If you are interested in the subject, you should read the article I linked. But to put it short, the reason is to display the card imagery more distinctively. 

The larger cards can display the details of the imagery up close and personal. It is easier to study the symbolics that hides the meaning of the card from a larger canvas. Some of the larger decks are meant for study purposes, rather than for tarot readings.