Using Signposts

This is a good technique if you are reading for yourself or for someone who is willing to be interactive with you and the cards.

I’ve been working with the idea of adding signposts to my readings in various ways. I call them signposts because they mark something specific that you are looking for in a reading.

Here’s one way I use signposts. If a client wants to know if something is going to happen, I have them go through the deck and select a card that represents their goal. They put the card back in the deck and we shuffle. Then I flip through the cards one by one until we find that card. I place the three cards that came before it on the table in a line. Then I place the signpost card. Then I place the next three cards that would have followed it on the table after the signpost.

This makes a spread of seven cards. I then interpret the reading. The three cards before show the energy moving toward the goal. Now this energy could be very positive and the client could work with it to achieve the goal. Or they could be problematic and the client could decide if s/he wanted to find ways to push through (in which case, we’d pull more cards about that). The cards that come after the goal show the results of achieving it. Sometimes we think if we do something, achieve something, we will be happy and all will be well. But sometimes we find that what we thought we wanted isn’t quite what we’d hoped. This also can help the client decide if s/he wants to continue.

If you do magic, this could be a good divinatory practice before spellwork. Simply select a card that represents the spell and follow the same steps as above.