Shuffling is for breaking habits

On my desk there's a deck of playing cards from Hermès. The patterns are all geometric, square by square, in bold colours.

The card is thick. The edges are silvered and catch a little light when the room is dim. I love the feel of my fingers running along the edges, and the crisp, clean sound of shuffling.

Every time I shuffle, I think of one line.

Shuffling is for breaking habits.
Drawing is for setting a new order.

The same cards, rearranged, may draw your attention somewhere else. And shuffling gives you just enough time to think once more about what you want to ask today.

The studio's card

The day I drew a card for the studio, I drew the King of Spades. Spades in playing cards correspond to Swords in tarot, so the King of Spades is the King of Swords.

Swords belong to the element of air. They're often used to talk about thinking, judgement and how we speak.

I like what the King of Swords reminds me of: get things clear first, and don't rush to give a pleasant-sounding answer.

So when I read, I explain how I'm seeing the cards. If you hear it differently, just say so.

Common questions