An Experiment with Dominoes and Cards

Here is a two-phase spread that uses a normal shuffle and face-down deal of tarot or oracle cards to “set the stage” for the three-card reading and a random draw of dominoes to choose which cards to read. This turned out to be more complex than using dice for the selection step since any number from two to ten can be represented by more than one domino, but it did allow me to set up a broader “target window” with greater flexibility than that supported by a single six-sided die. Also, to make it work I had to pre-select a group of tiles for each range of the spread and get creative with the numbers from thirteen to fifteen. The “train” metaphor of the title is just a quirk I added because it’s what I like to do, so don’t read too much into it. I haven’t tested it yet but will later today.

Of course I could have just pulled three cards from the top of the deck, but where’s the fun in that? I’m always looking for novel ways in which the Universe can mess with our heads and this seemed like an intriguing approach. I also decided to just “go for the throat” with direct-outcome cards and no developmental narrative. What emerges is a three-part “best case,” “worst case” and “middle-of-the-road” outcome scenario that can be read as showing opportunities for making the most of the nominal “good” cards and dodging the worst of the “bad” ones. I haven’t proposed doing so, but it might also be instructive to read the two cards on either side of the highlighted ones for a little more perspective on their condition; Elemental Dignities could be useful in this.

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on August 6, 2022.