The back-to-front reading

Tarot spreads are usually read by interpreting or reflecting on cards that have been randomly drawn. How about reversing the order and giving the interpretations first?

Write down your question or problem statement.

Choose or design a spread that covers the aspects of the problem you want to consider.

For each card position, write down

1. what you would like to be true, or

2. what you would expect to see in a divinatory reading.

Don’t stop after one sentence. Really scratch around in your mind for wishes, fears, emotions, or beliefs around your query.

If you are familiar with Tarot cards, you might add which card(s) you think you deserve.

Now shuffle the deck and draw cards (at random) for the spread.

How much do the cards you drew contradict or confirm your “interpretations?” How many connections and contradictions can you find?

If you had been reading the cards in the normal way and drew the same cards, how would you have come to your “interpretations?” Force the interpretation and the card together.

What else do the cards suggest?

Which cards would you have selected to reflect your query? (The “inside-out” reading.)

Which cards would you have expected?