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Tarot Cards That Fall or Jump
There can’t be a tarot reader in existence who has not at some time suffered from tarot cards that fall from the deck. That or a tarot card jumping from the deck, while shuffling or dealing.
What you do about that card? Or cards if more than one jumps? They can have a profound bearing on the quality of your interpretation.
Professional Advice Helped
Like a lot of tarot readers, the vast majority of my study was self-taught. However, long ago when I was first beginning to read, I had the benefit of talking with a professional reader.
I am not very physically coordinated at times, unfortunately. So, one of the first thing I did in her presence as I was nervously shuffling my brand-new Rider-Waite tarot deck prior to laying out a practice reading was to drop about a third of the tarot deck on the floor. Tarot cards that fall is one thing, but one third of the deck? Not very likely to be a message from spirit!
She smiled at me and said something like “Don’t worry. That too is part of this process. Pick them up and put them on top. Then shuffle again.”
So, I did just that. This shuffle fared somewhat better, and I cut the cards and re-shuffled until I felt it was ready.
Then I laid out the first few cards of a Celtic Cross. Two cards flew right out of my hands and landed on top of the spread. She gestured for me to stop laying them out for a moment to discuss why that happened.
Why Do Tarot Cards Fall or Jump?
She said when you are working with spirit and tarot cards, the tarot cards that fall behave the way that they do for a reason.
“Those particular cards are coming to the top – the forefront of your deck – because they are either meant to be the first part of your reading, or because they are meant to push the cards into the order that your spread will ultimately go into.”
Our discussion continued and she suggested that I decide what my tactic was going to be with those tarot cards that fall from there on out. She told me that some of the psychics she knew would insert “jumpers” into the center of the deck and then re-shuffle and completely lay out the reading again.
But her approach, she said, was to take the tarot cards that fall and place them at the top of the deck. If they fell out while she was laying out, she made them the next card in the reading.
“You have to decide what feels right to you,” she said, “so you will need to experiment and take note of how it comes out.” So, I tried her method – making it the next card of the reading if I was laying it out. That did not work for me.
Over time, in most readings, I began to see that jumper in that situation as an indication that it was not the correct next card for the reading – and I began, most of the time, to do a one card pull from the remainder of the deck in my hand to replace the jumper card. That is the process that I use, and over time, for me, it has proven to give the most accurate information.
How I Approach Tarot Cards That Fall or Jump Nowadays
Nowadays, dealing with tarot cards that fall or jump is nowhere near as unsettling as it first was. When I have one or more cards fall during a shuffle, I always put those cards at the top. I then shuffle at least one more time.
The process I’m describing here above is the one I use when reading for clients or friends. When I read for myself, I consider the tarot card that falls (or jumper card as I tend to call it nowadays) to be a somewhat pointed message from spirit for me. I do usually make it the next card, or even the outcome card of the reading. It works that way for me then but not otherwise.
Tarot Cards That Fall or Jump Are All Part of the Process
When you get a tarot card that falls from the deck don’t worry too much about it. I tended to overthink the issue when I first encountered it. That’s easy to do unfortunately but worrying about it won’t help you sort the problem out.
The gist of the issue is this: develop a process that works well for you. Tarot cards that fall is an issue that you will face time and again. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an amateur or a professional because it will happen.
There’s no rule book and not really a “proper” way that you must deal with tarot cards that fall. Experiment and experiment some more until you can settle on what feels right and works best of all for you. Trust your intuition – you will know when it feels right.
I watch tarot readers on youtube sometimes and its usually when I need to see if my intuition and my spirit are leading me right. I like to get a confirmation. I take that quite seriously. Then I see these people dropping cards. It really turns me off. Usually, I do not continue that reading video cuz they are just being clumsy with their long nails and manicures and unable to hold the cards properly. I feel a serious tarot reader would take care to not drop cards and shuffle them imbue them with their energy and do a proper reading. This business of jumping cards and dropping cards seems to me to be a trite way to explain away the lack of focus on the part of the reader. Please correct me if i am wrong.
The answer is you are partly right. The last time a card jumped for me was about 3 years ago and for Deborah 2 years ago. I have had this happen maybe 5 or 6 times in 30 years and around the same figure for her.
If someone is regularly dropping cards (whether clumsiness whether due to long nails or simply cards that are too big to shuffle easily) then it would be very wrong to assign an importance to them.
Common sense should prevail – it should be a rarity and only then should you take note. If a message is truly being given then it will be reflected in the the reading.