The Sceptic's Tarot

I’ve often talked about using tarot cards for problem-solving, but why should we use them like that?

You can use tarot spreads focusing on problems, but you can also use the cards as problem-solving tools without reading them.

Let's delve further into this topic.

Random stuff

Do you know Edward de Bono’s technique to solve problems by selecting a random word from a dictionary and using it as a stimulus to solve a problem? The word stimulates the mind to come up with creative solutions. De Bono has used and taught this technique extensively for many years.

Several variations of De Bono’s technique exist, and one of them involves pictures as a random stimulus. And that’s where tarot cards come in!

Tarot cards are designed to stir the imagination and let creativity flow. It's your imagination and intuition that give the ambiguous images meaning when you think: “What could this card mean?” Your imagination can adapt any card to suit any problem and tarot spread position.

What do I mean by ambiguous pictures?

Let’s look at an example. Take the Six of Cups. What is happening on this card? 

The traditional interpretations of this card include pleasure and nostalgia. But is that all?

I bet you I can come up with 24 more ideas on what is happening on this card! Ready?

1. Giving is better than receiving.
2. A secure relationship (see the guard at the back?)
3. The lady is picky (she has already discarded five other bouquets).
4. Sweet memories of first love.
5. Spring has sprung!
6. Making the best of the situation. (Children playing during a time of war.)
7. The sixth suitor (the previous five also tried flowers). Persistence.
8. The tentative beginning of a relationship.
9. Taking good care of someone.
10. Kindness.
11. Poisonous plants (see her glove?)
12. Children pretending to be grown-up.
13. Giving flowers to the hostess.
14. The little people (doesn’t she look fully grown next to a big child?)
15. A scene from a play set in the middle ages.
16. Taking flowers to put on a grave.
17. Wanting to stay young forever.
18. Making the best of imprisonment (the guard again).
19. A giant courting the most beautiful girl in town.
20. A fan giving flowers to an actress.
21. Two friends making up after a quarrel.
22. A gardener receiving instructions.
23. A lady’s maid collecting flowers for my lady’s bedroom.
24. An informal trader selling flowers next to a busy road. (This last one is especially pertinent in South Africa, where I live. The roadsides are sometimes packed with informal traders selling everything from food to costume jewellery to clothes and sunglasses.)

Another thought: Is she giving flowers to him?

More questions to tickle your imagination:

• Whose coat of arms is on the pillar behind them?
• Who is the man with the spear walking away in the background?
• Why is the lady wearing a glove?
• What are the other flowers for?
• Are they standing in a garden, a park, or a cemetery?
• Is it a memory, a scene from a book, something happening right now, or a metaphor for something else?
• Is someone spying on them from one of those windows? Are we the ones spying on them?

Convinced?

It is this evocative power of tarot cards that makes the cards ideally suited to problem-solving.

How do these stories help solve a problem?

Some types of problems are ideal to be explored by a tarot reading. Others are not.

Suppose your problem is Mother-in-law’s birthday is coming up, and you have no idea what to give her. This is not something that would work well with a tarot spread, so you try something else.

You shuffle your deck and draw the Six of Cups. Immediately, a solution suggests itself: flowers.

But this is too easy. With all the possibilities in this card, you could think of

• a beautiful Spanish fan for when she goes out;
• the recipe (instructions) for making that coffee cake that she has always wanted;
• perfume;
• a scrapbook for her dearest memories;
• a whistle or a (legal) weapon she can use to protect herself;
• a shawl;
• a visit to a spa ….

Let's consider another problem

I have to give a presentation to Management about the work my team has done, but I’m terrified of public speaking. What can help me get through the presentation?

I draw the Three of Pentacles.

Solution: One idea that immediately pops up is teamwork: instead of doing the presentation alone, the whole team can be involved in telling management about their parts in the project.

Another card for this problem: the Eight of Pentacles.

Solution: This man is a master artisan, presenting and showing his work: I am the expert, and as the expert, I should simply explain what I do.

Another solution: This man is presenting his carefully attending to details: like him, I should add examples and other details that Management would find interesting.

Another problem:

My ten-year-old son is not doing well at school, despite having quick intelligence. He seems bored with school and reluctant to spend time on his homework. How could I encourage him to do better at school? (That’s assuming there has been no trauma or pathological condition that can influence his schoolwork or concentration.)

I draw the Nine of Pentacles.

Three things strike me about this card:

• the feeling of wealth and security;
• the falcon, which suggests taming violent instincts (the falcon wears a hood to prevent it from attacking the woman); and
• being independent, but maybe feeling alone.

Tickled by the first possibility (wealth and security), I think: What if we were filthy rich? How would I solve the problem in that case?

Solution: Suppose in these circumstances, my son takes our affluent circumstances for granted, and it demotivates him from trying his best. Maybe I could take away the remotes to all his racing-car toys, which he will have to regain by doing his homework.

Using this solution in my (less affluent) circumstances: I could do the same thing with his phone.

Exploring the option with the hooded falcon, I come up with an outrageous possibility: What if my son has to fight his way through enemy lines to reach his classroom? That would interfere with his schoolwork! I would need to give him protective gear and weapons so that he can defend himself.

Then I think: Perhaps my son is bullied at school? I could explore this possibility with him and look for solutions to this new problem.

Another ridiculous thought, triggered by the idea of “independent but lonely": What if my son were King of the Mountain, but his subjects all ignored him? Then I could organize a huge party, inviting everyone in the kingdom to get to know him better.

Modified solution: a party inviting everyone he wants to be friends with.

And what if my wealthy son needs solitude to do his homework?

Solution: Lock him up in a tower until he has done his homework.

Modified solution: I could set up a corner of his room as a study instead of letting him work at the dining room table.

You can see how this works: you let a card inspire your imagination, and if you think of a bizarre or wild solution, adapt the solution to suit your circumstances.

And of course, there’s reading the cards with problem-solving spreads

We're back to reading a tarot spread, but that is also a way to solve problems.

Remember: If tarot cards are highly evocative, we should be able to uncover many creative ideas to interpret a card in a tarot spread. There is no need to stick to traditional meanings if you are trying to solve a problem.

The most effective spreads would be those specifically focused on solving problems.

Which spreads should you use?

There are many problem-solving spreads (google “tarot problem solving spread”).

Here are some of mine:

What’s my problem?

Find, define, solve

How else can I solve this problem?

What if I do nothing?

The root of the problem

BeCAUSE

As always, if you need a brief refresher on reading tarot cards, look at my free article, "How to read tarot cards: A quick guide."

You might also consider my tarot-reading course, "Reading the cards for your self."

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