Whether you’ve had your fortune read or are thinking about having it read, you may be wondering what it means when a tarot card falls out of the deck. You may be wondering if there is any significance if a card falls out unexpectedly. This is why we’ve gathered up the best answer for you.
When a tarot card falls out of the deck, what does it mean?
Cards falling out of a tarot deck while shuffling could have different meanings and depends on how much weight you place on the significance of this act, which leads you to either conclude:
- You/the person reading your tarot is clumsy and dropped a card or more.
- The card(s) that fall out are weightier, meaning with more significance, than others in the reading.
Of course, in the world of tarot and all fortune-telling, not all is what it seems. The answer may be different than this for you, more personal or having a different application than you may immediately think of.
Before we dive into the details. I wanted to point out the Related Articles section at the bottom of this post. I’ve collected a number of articles that I thought you would find interesting. Please check them out once you’ve finished reading this topic.
OK, Let’s get to it.. Continue reading to find out more about this mystical experience.
Table of Contents
What Will Happen When a Tarot Card Falls Out of the Deck?
If you’re doing your own or a friend’s reading, you need to first determine how clumsy you are. Some people tend to struggle with the weight, size, or flexibility of different decks.
It’s important to find a deck you’re comfortable with and even then, know how messy of a shuffler you are. If you’re a pro shuffler and a card or a few cards fall out of the deck at any point, ultimately, you must decide how important it is, whether it’s for yourself or someone else.
Some practitioners choose to ignore it and chalk it up to chance, while others rest more weight on a card that falls out.
If you or someone else is doing a reading and drop a card or several, you may want to study them with interest.
Some people consider the cards that fall out, especially those that appear to “jump out,” as special cards for the reading with extra weight added to them.
What to Do with a Tarot Card That Falls Out of the Deck?
Some people will pull a tarot card that flies out of the deck and set it to the side for the final reading, immediately deeming it significant. This is the first option, and one many do. We’ll look in depth into this option momentarily, but first, what else could you do with the card(s)?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you could tuck them right back into the deck and continue shuffling without even looking at the card face(s). This essentially means you assign absolutely no significance to it at all, which is a viable option and one commonly used.
Finally, plenty of people also compile a combination of the two while dealing with “flying” cards, as they’re referred to by the community, as they appear to fly out of your hands as you’re shuffling. We’ll also go in depth into the different combinations of the two commonly used.
Finally, it’s most important to note it comes down to you or the person doing your reading. If you know you’re a terrible shuffler, maybe beware assigning too much significance to every flying car.
But of course, stay open and be true to your needs and what works for you.
When Should You Consider Putting the Flying Card Back in the Deck?
There are a variety of reasons people simply tuck them back into the deck and don’t think about it. They’re very simple reasons, all of which use simple basic logic and are based on what you know about yourself already, as well as your deck.
Reason #1 to Put Flying Cards Back in the Deck: You’re Working on Your Shuffling Skills
The first reason you may put your flying card back in the deck when shuffling your tarot cards is if you’re a bad shuffler. Now, be honest here. If you struggle to manage all those cards or to get them to mesh seamlessly, you are not alone. It doesn’t make you a bad practitioner or that you’re bad at tarot.
It simply means you’re clumsy and struggle to shuffle.
This really is no big deal and can be quickly fixed if you want to. You certainly don’t have to. Simply tuck each lost card back into the deck and shuffle on. However, if you do want to learn, remember, repetition is key with this, as it’s muscle memory.
Start with your deck. Are you working with a large deck or a normal sized one? If it’s a standard size, like casino cards, you can also pick up a cheap pack of standard sized standard cards to practice with.
These won’t earn you any odd looks when you’re practicing shuffling outside the house and are small enough to take with you everywhere.
Reason #2 to Put Flying Cards Back in the Deck: The Deck isn’t Broken in Yet
The second reason you may put your flying card back in the deck when shuffling your tarot cards is because of the deck.
- Is it a new deck?
- Is it shiny and slick, or old and bendy?
- Is it big or standard size, or even mini?
These are all questions to ask yourself that may lead to the answer that you should tuck them back in.
If it’s yours and you’re used to having it, shuffling it, and suddenly you have flying cards all the time, you may want to read down to why you shouldn’t ignore flying cards. In some beliefs and some situations, it may hold significance to the reading you don’t expecting.
If you aren’t comfortable with the deck, try to be skeptical at best about flyaway cards unless you’re a professional shuffler who knows how to handle any deck.
This includes both decks you’ve bought or borrowed. Anything you aren’t used to could cause you to slip up and cause a flying card.
Reason #3 to Put Flying Cards Back in the Deck: What You Believe
The third reason you may put your flying card back in the deck when shuffling your tarot cards is because of your beliefs. Some people just don’t believe there is any significance to be associated with flying cards.
These are the most skeptical, and while they may be right, others will argue they’re ignoring obvious signs.
However, the real answer here is what you think. Whether if you believe flying cards have no significance because of your shuffling skills, the deck, or just because you don’t believe it, that’s fine.
It’s what you believe and feel is true. After all, you are the one giving the reading, so it’s completely on you to translate accurately.
It’s important to note that every reading is different. Just because you feel this way for one reading doesn’t mean you must feel the same for the next reading.
The following section delves into that further in depth.
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When Should You Set Aside Flying Cards During a Reading?
Now we know all the reasons you may want to simply tuck your flying cards back into the deck, what about when you don’t tuck them back in?
There are a multitude of reasons you may assign significance to them. The first is, of course, the name, which automatically makes it sound like you need to consider it significant: jumping cards appear to jump out of the deck and land wherever they please.
Everything about tarot is significant. It’s all about the significance and meaning behind each card, so for many, it simply feels wrong to ignore a jumping card.
These practitioners will do a variety of things, listed below, placing the most to least importance of jumping cards.
A Flying Card Could Be More Significant
Some readers will pull it from the deck and set it aside for the final reading, placing it with even higher significance than the others pulled in the rest of the reading.
These readers are those who place the most significance on the jumping cards. Not only are they pulled, they’re specially cared for.
These “jumping cards” are commonly left face down, to be flipped with the rest of the cards at the end of the reading. If you’re placing significance on the card, at least this much, you shouldn’t look at it till you’re ready to finish the reading.
This is because you didn’t even choose the card, it completely chose you. In fact, it jumped out of the deck for you. This could be interrupted as a sign that it’s the purest card, with no human interaction to possibly skew with the results of the reading.
When you choose a card, you’re to allow the card to choose you by which one seems to stand out to you. This should because the card draws you to it, but it may be influenced by any number of outside reasons either from you or from outside sources.
With jumping cards, they’re jumping out for you. This leaves you completely out of the equation, whether you are a reader or receiving a reader.
If you’re still slightly skeptical, try one of the other ways to look out for it.
A Flying Card Could Be As Significant as Other Cards
Other readers choose to set it aside, but only consider it as significant as the rest of the cards. While this card is obviously important, it isn’t as important as any others. If you’re truly choosing the cards that are meant for you, then you should be able to pick them for yourself.
Some readers also believe that choosing your own card is important because you should have that draw to it. A jumping card could be a universal message, but choosing your own card can be a more personal message.
Remember, the amount of importance the card carries lies with you. It’s important to not only make a blanket statement on what any action means but also to be able to apply it to each situation. Keep this is in mind no matter which may you’re inclined to believe.
Another way some readers will determine whether they’re significant or not is whether or not they’ll jump again. If the same cards jump more than once, it’s often considered very significant and will break any or all of these rules, including this one.
A Flying Card Should at Least Be Noted for Potential Significance
For those with skeptical minds, they’ll add it back into the deck, but only after making note of what it is to see if it reappears later on in the reading. If it jumps again, as mentioned before, many readers will take that as an elevation of its importance. Otherwise, it may appear in the end.
Most readers are mainly expecting it to appear at the end of the session, which seems to carry as much if not more significance than cards that jump twice. Not only did the universe try to throw the card out to you, it also led you to choose it once again.
Unlike the option placing the most significance on the jumping cards, you’ll always look at the cards in this situation. Check the jumping card to see what it is before you shuffle it back in, or make a note of it if you think you may forget.
If the card jumps out again, you should at least make note of it if not hold it in higher esteem. This is two coincidences, which a lot unless you’re a terrible shuffler. It may also appear during the final reading, which you should at least mention it to the person having their reading done if you haven’t already.
What’s the Most Thorough Way to Test the Significance of a Jumping Card During Tarot?
Finally, the most skeptical will create a list of criteria for them to consider it significant. These vary from person to person and situation to situation. It’s hard to make an exact list of requirements for any readings, much less specific situations you’ll encounter during them.
However, if you notice a pattern, such a card jumping twice and reappearing in your finale, you should make note of it. It may reappear to you, in which case it may be a unique tell you know about yourself and abilities. It could also be the person you’re reading for, if that isn’t yourself.
It’s important to stay flexible and open and understand that there are few hard and fast rules of tarot. For some people, jumping cards are a big deal, something holding the highest significance. For other, they don’t hold any significance at all and can be chalked up to bad shuffling.
As you bond with your cards, you will get a feel for whether the card that fell out was an accident or had more meaning. Here’s an article about bonding with your cards: “How to bond with your tarot cards: 15 ways that work!“
How Can I Become Better at Shuffling Tarot Cards?
The biggest reason you may question a flying card’s significance is because of your shuffling skills. If you’re experiencing a lot of flying cards, you may want to brush up on your shuffling skills.
We wrote a detailed article about shuffling tarot cards, you can read that here.
The best way to do this is through practice. After all, if you don’t practice at something, you’ll never get better at it. This is especially important in shuffling your tarot cards, as the physical motion of shuffling is one your body learns through repeated muscle memory.
Shuffling becomes muscle memory, and the better your muscles remember it, the better they’ll do it. This is why while you can take classes and watch videos, which we’ll cover below, the first step in bettering your tarot card shuffling is simply practicing shuffling your tarot cards.
Make sure to practice with a new deck before you attempt a reading with them. Or, practice with them doing your own reading before you give someone else a reading. This is because you want to make sure any flying cards aren’t simply because you’ve got a new deck, as we covered earlier.
What Classes Could I Take to Become Better at Shuffling Tarot Cards?
Sometimes, people struggle to pick up the trick of shuffling, regardless of the deck. If you find yourself experiencing problems with shuffling your tarot cards, you may consider many ways to learn, one of which is in person shuffling lessons.
Now, you probably won’t get a lot of Google search results if you simply search for tarot card shuffling classes. However, you don’t need to learn how to shuffle tarot cards only. If you simply struggle to shuffle, look for a class offering to teach you how to be a dealer at a casino.
I know, you aren’t looking to be a casino dealer. However, you will learn how to expertly shuffle cards. This will severely limit your flying cards caused by chance or simple poor shuffling. You’ll also pick up several skills you’ll be able to impress people with, as you’ll also be taught poker dealer tricks.
The one drawback to this option can be the cost. Good dealers are hard to come by and as such, make a decent amount of money, which means they can raise the cost of the classes.
This is similar to how much money doctors make compared to the cost of school for them. Unlike medical school, though, dealing classes rarely break $1,000.
What Other Shuffling Class Options Do I Have to Become Better at Shuffling Tarot Cards?
Professional poker dealer classes can cost you a lot of money, as we just discovered. While most won’t run you a grand, you may still be looked at a hefty fee. Are there any ways to get around this?
First, check your area for local casinos. These may offer short classes for patrons just intended to give them a taste of professional shuffling, but without the high cost or extensive trick training. This will give you a chance to have a professional dealer to help adjust your shuffling technique.
If you don’t have any local casinos, check your contacts. You may have someone in there who’s a secret card shark and can help you practice! Older people especially still enjoy playing cards and may appreciate a pair of young hands to shuffle. Just because they have arthritis now doesn’t mean they weren’t great shufflers in their day.
What Websites Can I Look at to Become Better at Shuffling My Tarot Cards?
If you don’t want to take any kind of classes, you can always take to the internet. There are two options when you go on here for shuffling help, videos, and websites.
First, we’ll look into some websites to help you hone your shuffling skills. In the following section, we’ll delve into some great videos.
Not only can you learn how to become a better shuffler, but you can also learn different styles of shuffling. This is great if you’re looking to impress some people during a reading, or to find a way that works best for you. Some people have better luck with different styles of shuffling.
What websites should you check out for tips on shuffling?
Bicycle Cards have a lot of information related to playing cards, shuffling and more… No brand of cards offers more selection of playing cards and locations to buy as Bicycle Cards. You can find plenty of tips here on how to shuffle.
In the article directly linked above, you’ll find different ways you can shuffle, including the blackjack shuffle, which does little damage to the cards, something you’ll want to think about with your expensive tarot cards.
Wikipedia’s article on shuffling will tell you all about the different styles of shuffling all over the world. While your grade school teacher firmly refused to accept Wikipedia as a source and you shouldn’t believe everything you read on it, it gives you a great place to start.
Like we mentioned above, some people have an easier time learning a different style of shuffling than is traditional. This can be because of a variety of reasons, but regardless, you should look into different styles if it interests you. Wikipedia has the most complete list of styles.
If you find a style that interests you, check out videos about it to learn how to do it, or to determine if you’re really interested in learning how to do it. This will probably be the fastest way for you to pick up different shuffling tricks.
What Videos Can I Watch to Become Better at Shuffling My Tarot Cards?
Finally, you should check out the millions of videos posted online about shuffling. This is where you’ll find the different styles of shuffling, not just examples to watch, but also tutorials so you can try them out yourself. These are one of your best, free resources when trying to learn a new technique or improve.
All of the websites listed above offer videos on how to shuffle your cards as well, so don’t feel as if these are your only options. There are also many, many others online you should check out. As we’ve mentioned, not everyone shuffles the same, so why would you all learn from the same videos?
While the websites listed above include non-tarot card shuffling, we’ve pared down the videos to just those related to tarot shuffling. However, if you can’t find the right video or website, open up to all forms of shuffling, regardless of whether it’s ‘tarot’ or not. You’ll have more variety this way.
Here are some of our favorite videos on how to shuffle your tarot cards:
- Eternal Athena Tarot has the top YouTube video on shuffling tarot cards, and for good reason. She carefully walks you through three different methods you could use and helps you learn along with the video, instead of trying to recall it all.
If you’re still struggling, try watching the video once before you attempt to do it with her. This will help you know what direction she’s headed before she goes that way.
- Ellen Goldberg created this tarot card shuffling how-to video with Howcast. She also shows you multiple ways you may wish to shuffle your tarot cards. She delves into why she does each thing she does, which is something many practitioners wonder about.
Ellen Goldberg has been in the business for a number of years and is well-respected as being a credible reader. She’s also incredibly sweet to watch in the video, as commenters compare her to a spooky fairy godmother in her mannerisms.
- Ask Angels with Melanie Beckler has a video on how to shuffle your tarot cards as well. She includes oracle cards, which are similar yet different from tarot, and gives you a total of five different ways you can shuffle your tarot cards, talking you through each one.
Final Thoughts
It’s up to you to determine if your flying cards are significant or not. This is merely a common list of reasons why readers do the things they do and shouldn’t be taken as any rules you must follow.
However, make sure and brush up on your shuffling if your readings turn into 52 card pick up.
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