๐Ÿ”ฎ TaroBom
KOEN

Tarot Spreads

๐Ÿ”ง Problem Solving

Separating the visible problem from the real one

6 cards

1. The Visible Problem

2. The Real Problem

3. What You Tried

4. What You Have Not

5. What You Need

6. Once It Clears

Reversed cards

What each position asks

  1. 1. The Visible Problem what you think the problem is
  2. 2. The Real Problem what the problem actually is
  3. 3. What You Tried the approaches you have already used
  4. 4. What You Have Not the approach still untouched
  5. 5. What You Need what you cannot supply on your own
  6. 6. Once It Clears where you stand once it is resolved

What this spread does

Six cards for a problem that has refused to move. The layout rests on one premise:

A problem that stays stuck is usually stuck because you have identified the wrong problem.

Far more often than not knowing the method, people are hammering confidently at the wrong thing. So positions 1 and 2 split the visible problem from the real one.

When to use it

Use it when you have hit the same wall more than once. For a first encounter, a three-card spread is plenty.

It also suits situations where you have already tried several approaches, since an entire seat is given to what you have attempted โ€” a quick way to see whether you are repeating wasted effort.

How to read it

Setting card 1 beside card 2 is basically the whole spread.

If the two share a key, you are looking at the problem correctly. Skip ahead to card 4.

If they are in completely different keys, stop there and think. This is the most valuable thing the layout produces. Pentacles in position 1 with Cups in position 2, for instance, hints that what you filed as a money problem may be a people problem.

Card 3 is not a place for regret. It confirms โ€œno further mileage in this direction.โ€ You can put the approach it describes down now.

Card 4 is the advice seat. Read 3 and 4 as a pair โ€” tried this, have not tried that. If card 4 looks daunting, that is very likely why it has stayed untried.

Card 5 is what you cannot supply alone. People skip this one, but the longer a problem persists the more likely it needs something external โ€” a person, time, money, or information.

Card 6 is the picture of it resolved. Use it less as prediction and more to ask why you want this solved at all. If the card is not appealing, the problem may simply not be worth the effort.

A common mistake

Dragging the interpretation of card 2 back toward card 1 because you prefer card 1โ€™s story. That defeats the purpose. Position 2 exists precisely to show you what you would rather not look at.

If the root looks internal, continue with Facing the Shadow. If it has narrowed to two options, use Either / Or.

Try one of these next

๐Ÿงฒ Horseshoe Spread Seven cards: the situation and what to do about it ๐Ÿ”€ Either / Or Two roads, laid side by side ๐ŸŒ‘ Facing the Shadow Five cards for the part of you that you pushed away

Browse all spreads โ†’