An inside-out reading

Creativity is thinking and doing things differently. Suppose we turn a normal Tarot reading inside out?

Usually the reader would draw cards at random, one for each position in the spread.

A second way of using the cards is to go through the deck face up and choose cards that best reflect a situation, an action, a feeling, a concept, or an aspect of yourself.

The choice of cards can reveal thoughts and motives that you have not been aware of, or the cards could reflect your attitude and beliefs around the situation.

Cards selected in this way are then used for reflection, freewriting, or journaling.

An “inside-out” reading is a reflective reading, so instead of shuffling the cards, go through them and choose three cards that in some way represent your question.

You can choose cards based on their traditional or book meanings, but you can also choose cards by the images alone.

If, for example, you are considering ending a friendship, you might choose the Three of Cups to represent the good in the friendship; the Queen of Swords for what is bothering you (your friend has been making snide remarks that she is passing off as jokes); and the Nine of Pentacles to reflect on how much her attitude is influencing your friendship. (Does she control the hawk, or is something in control of her?)

1. Using the cards as focus, record the thoughts that come up. Why did you choose these three cards? How do they represent the problem or aspect that you are considering? How do they not reflect it?

2. The next step is to read the cards as if you would a normal divinatory reading (that is, as if you had drawn these cards at random). What else do the cards suggest?

   Compare this reading with your reflection above. How do they differ? What are the similarities?

3. What themes or connections can you see among the three cards? What thoughts do they evoke?

   Perhaps all three cards come from the same suit or, as in the above example, depict women. Perhaps they are all court cards, or major arcana cards.

   Maybe the people on the cards are all facing the same way, or maybe the cards all have the same number.

   Do the cards perhaps depict a number progression (such as the Four, Five, and Six of any suit, or Knight, Queen, King)?

   Do the cards perhaps suggest growth (a numerical progression, for example) or decline?

   Do you see any similarities in the interpretation (book meanings or your own meanings) of the cards? ‘Stagnation’, perhaps (the Four of Cups, Four of Pentacles, and Hanged Man all depict a form of inaction) or ‘change’ (Death, The Wheel of Fortune, The Tower).

   A symbol could repeat on all three cards, or symbols that have similar associations.

   How do the themes link with your question?

4. If the three cards represented a story, what would it be, and how does the story reflect—or not reflect—your query?