AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here is a multi-path spread that uses a twist on the three-coin I Ching hexagram creation technique to select which sub-pack to read for the answer: short, medium or long-range approach to resolution.

The idea is to shuffle the deck (reversals may be used) while concentrating on the question, then deal cards randomly and equally into three adjacent sub-packs, placing as many cards in each one as you want for the final spread. (Here I’m using three-card stacks.) The position titles can be changed to whatever you prefer.

Take any three identical coins and flip them one at a time starting with the left-hand pack and working to the right.

Continue until you wind up with one coin face-up or face-down that differs from the other two. In this case I received one head and two tails on the first round, but it won’t always work out that quickly. The single “heads” coin landed in the first position on the left.

Here is the spread derived from the “Short-Cut” sub-pack. I asked about a minor, typically benign, self-diagnosed skin condition (Winkler’s disease) and wanted to know whether I should get right on it or let it ride for a while. Without a biopsy it’s impossible to say conclusively that there is no skin cancer involved, so the advice for me was not to wait, but to be conservative (4 of Disks) in having it checked out and surgically or cryogenically removed (Princess of Wands), since it is persistent and won’t heal on its own (Devil).