Genna
Hi Genna- I've never felt comfortable just pulling from the top of the deck myself. Doing this requires a certain belief the shuffling is so perfect that I can get a 10 card sequence for a Celtic Cross that is exactly in order. For me I rely on thumbing thru the deck as it's fanning and I get an 'instinctive' sense of 'yes' this one or no, pass it by until you get the hunch feel. What I do is after the card is chosen I then take the top part of the deck that's been fanned thru to get to that yes card and throw it underneath the 'leftover' deck, the portion below the chosen card. Then repeat.
This keeps the cards circulating almost in a cutting the deck fashion. So what I'm saying, even if the deck is 'in clumps' I'm only drawing one card from the clump, then it gets recycled over and over and I may feel intuitively to pick again from that area or not. Just depends. I mean, sometimes we are supposed to get sequential cards, no? I'm saying if that's what the deck wants to give me I certainly don't want to override it just to get a sense of randomness.
Yes, onesun, it feels more intuitive to pick the cards instead just dealing from the top; one at a time, maybe two beside one another sometimes if it feels like it. I was afraid of the resposability to make the choices myself, as in dealing from a fan, before starting with Lenormand, but not anymore. So probably I will start fanning Tarot cards too, but not ordering them, they are too many.
As you say, Lenormand go very quick to order in four piles. It is also my way to show respect to my guides in choosing the cards, and to my first teachers advice. And getting the feeling of a fresh start, like I mentioned before. I do the same to Kipper cards (also 36).