Do you tell the querant as he picks? (complex question)

For my question, let's say we are doing a simple Past, Present, Outcome spread.

*********
**1*2*3**
*********

Which do you do?

Scenario A. Tell the querent to pick three cards, and position them in the spread, and proceed with the reading.

or

Scenario B. Let the querent choose the cards one at a time.

(With all cards faced down)

You: Choose one card that you feel will speak about the past that affects you now.
(querent picks, you put card in spread)
You: Now choose one that you feel will give you an advice for this present moment. What are you supposed to do?
(querent picks, you put card in spread)
You: Now, choose one last card which you feel will tell you the outcome of this situation.
(querent picks, you put card in spread)

You proceed with the interpretation.

How are those two options different?

In each case, the first card chosen goes in the past position, the second card goes in the present, and the third card goes in the outcome position

Are you doing interpretations in between the draws in the second option?
Are you placing the cards face up or face down as they are drawn?
If they are face down, how do you go about turning them up?

CrystalSeas said:

How are those two options different?

In each case, the first card chosen goes in the past position, the second card goes in the present, and the third card goes in the outcome position

Are you doing interpretations in between the draws in the second option?
Are you placing the cards face up or face down as they are drawn?
If they are face down, how do you go about turning them up?

Click to expand...

The first option the querent picks cards not knowing until interpretation what their respective position in the spread is for. In the second option, you kind of engage a little more help from their intuition by guiding them to focus on bit more on the implications of each card they are drawing.

Are you doing interpretations in between the draws in the second option? : No, only after the full spread is revealed.

Are you placing the cards face up or face down as they are drawn? : Face down.

If they are face down, how do you go about turning them up? : Turn them up one by one, from the side of the card to preserve their orientation (Upright or Reversed).

Sorry if my question wasn't clear the first time.

My style has always been to have the sitter shuffle and cut, then I take the cards off the top of the deck and put them in order in the spread. No particular reason other than it's how I learned a long time ago. If and when I start having sitters draw from a fan, I'll just have them put the selected cards face-down in a small pile and I'll set them in the spread as usual.

readerico said:

Which do you do?

Scenario A. Tell the querent to pick three cards, and position them in the spread, and proceed with the reading.

Click to expand...

No.

Scenario B.

Click to expand...

No, not that, either.

I use scenario C.

I get the client to shuffle the deck until they think it feels done.

I get the client to cut the deck into four piles.

I get the client to put the four piles back together in a different order.

I pick up the deck myself, lay out the cards myself, take a deep breath, look at the cards and begin talking.

Whether I read for myself or for others, I lay all the cards out face down first, then I turn them over and interpret them one at a time. Once all the cards are face-up, I'll do an overview/review of all the cards.

Rodney

It depends on time. If I'm reading at a party for a lot of people I fan the cards and either say "All right select seven cards and hand them to me one at a time" or "First choose the card that represents the past. Now choose the card that..."

If I have more time I have them shuffle three times, cut into three piles, and then choose the pile or even (if they're at all new age) have them rub their hands together very fast to make them "sensitive" and then have them pick the cards that pull them.

I always shuffle and choose the cards myself. It saves time, makes the querent feel less uncomfortable, and makes no difference whatsoever to the quality of the reading.

Personally, I believe that querent involvement does make a difference in the sense of "subconscious induction" (but that's a topic for a different thread, and one we've hashed over endlessly before). I guess I'm old-school (I started with tarot back in 1972), and believe that the more interactive a reading is, the better.

You can do what you like readerico - it's up to you to find out what your "style" is.
(this has reflections of your recent thread "newbie question: turning cards").


Thinking of it presently...
I would shuffle the cards whilst I talk to the querent.
Then let them shuffle the cards whilst they think of their question and tell me what it is.
I may or may not get them to cut the cards (2 piles usually).
Then I fan the cards out and tell them to pick 3 cards, face down (the fan is face down).
I then arrange the cards into positions 1,2,3, and turn them all over...
Then I begin reading.

BUT - I don't always follow this format.

Face-to-face, I like to get the querent as involved as possible. I enjoy it more myself that way . Then I'm not just reciting the story - but we're building and exploring the story together (the life story of the querent).