A good practice.

This might seem tedious to some, but I find that it's a good practice when you're getting to know a deck. You could use it for any deck, but I'm posting here because Thoth is the deck I'm currently learning.

What to do:
-Choose a spread that you are familiar with.
-Place cards in their positions one after the other without choosing randomly.
-Read the spread and put the cards aside.
-Repeat until you reach the bottome of the deck.

Rationale:
I think this works well for a number of reasons. It allows to you work with all the cards consistently so that you can learn their meanings at the same rate. It also helps to contextualize the cards in a familiar spread. Also, when you do a real reading and cards are drawn randomly, it can suck when you see a card that you can't remember the meaning of because it just never seems to come up when you practice. By not choosing randomly at all, I feel more prepared to interpret a card when it does come up in a reading. It will also prevent you from seeing a certain card as the most important in a reading because its the one you know the best, which opens the stage for a whole new subtle level of intuitive reading.

see what I mean?

This idea intrigues me and I'll try it. It will be interesting to watch the cards "walk through" a spread like the 7-card horseshoe.

Thank you, Kosmos,

What a great idea. When I get a new deck I have been shuffling and pulling a few cards, to get the feel for it, but this has never felt very complete - kind of like I 'm neglecting the rest of the cards. This idea sounds really great. Now all I have to do is decide what spread to do it with.

Thea Lynx

A very interesting idea!

Do you shuffle the cards before you lay them out, though?

Or do you work your way, a spread at a time, through the majors and minors in order?

Sounds like an interesting way to become familiar with one's decks. It might even be an idea to occasionally just shuffle and deal the cards in order from the top in whatever spread you so choose. Maybe do this three or four times a week, to further familiarise yourself.

C

Thanks Kosmos. I really like this idea and can't wait 'til I get home to my cards to give it a try. This should not only help me with the cards, but also reinforce the spread in my mind (I'm notorious for forgetting what this or that position means at times, even, embarassingly enough, with smaller spreads).

Hedera said:

A very interesting idea!

Do you shuffle the cards before you lay them out, though?

Or do you work your way, a spread at a time, through the majors and minors in order?

Click to expand...

Hi Hedera. I would shuffle before doing this so that you get different combinations of cards each time you go through the deck. That way your understanding of the relationships between the cards develops with your understanding of the cards themselves.
That being said, I also do find it very useful to go through the deck in order so that I can follow the 'story' of each suit and the major arcana as they unfold. I think this is also really worth doing because when I do a reading, I can see what a card means more clearly if I know the story leading up to that card and what happens next (especially for cards that look negative, for example, it can be good to remember that 'sorrow' 3 of swords, was preceded by peace and followed by a truce or that 'failure' 7 of disks, was preced by success and followed by prudence). It's helped me develop an appreciation for how dynamic each card really is. So I would say do both.