AUTHOR’S NOTE: A question occasionally arises in the online divination community regarding whether anyone has attempted to explore past lives with the tarot cards.

I have a couple of existing spreads for this purpose, but I’m currently reading parapsychologist Dean Radin’s book on yoga, Supernormal, in which he makes a case for reincarnation and past-life memory. His observations inspired this essay and the associated layout, which is intended to produce a speculative chronicle that hints at perennial existence and is attributable to subconscious recollection. With few exceptions, it does not admit the testimony of angels, spirit guides or deceased ancestors into the debate; you’re on your own there.

Before I begin, I want to recount a personal anecdote that offers the most compelling evidence for reincarnation that I’ve ever experienced. My son was around three years old when he began a conversation with “Last time when I was a girl . . . ” but when we showed mild amazement at this unexpected statement, he clammed up and never said any more about it even though we encouraged him. I figured his lingering connections “on the other side” must have been displeased with the slip of the tongue.

This is one of the more mystical and spiritual uses for the tarot, and not one I spend a lot of time thinking about. But I decided I would have another go at creating a workable approach to it. In earlier efforts I focused on specific attributes that would have been prominent (and therefor detectable) in the subject’s prior-life circumstances: personality and character traits, daily routines such as employment and family affairs, and significant milestones and accomplishments. Here I chose to use Shakespeare’s “Seven Stages of Man” model that offers a general overview of progress, presenting the cards in my familiar “bell-curve” or “crest-of-a-wave” array with several modifiers.

This is a seven-card pull with three “numerical essence” cards that are calculated in each instance from the three cards that feed into it. (This calculation is identical to that applied to the “quintessence card” derivation described elsewhere in this blog.) The “Karmic Burden” card is the link to the seeker’s present conditions. This reading can be performed for any number of previous incarnations. By excluding or modifying the “Karmic Burden” position, the nine-card spread can also be used for any ordinary developmental scenario.

Step #1: Shuffle the deck while concentrating on the objective (cut if you wish) and deal seven cards face-up from left-to-right into the “arc” pattern. Reversals are not meant to be read, although they can be if you prefer.

Step #2: Using the face values of the three “Growth Phase” cards, calculate the “numerical essence” card (always a trump card) for the “Lessons Learned” position. (I employ all of the cards in the subset for this, including the court cards as 11 through 14.)

Step #3: Using the face values of the three “Decay Phase” cards, calculate the “numerical essence” card for the “Experience Acquired” position.

Step #4: Using the face values of the two calculated trump cards, calculate a third “numerical essence” trump card for the “Karmic Burden” position.

Step #5: Read the seven sequential cards and the two trump cards above them as a story describing the evolution of the previous lifetime.

Step #6: Read the “Karmic Burden” card as the residual implications of that lifetime that have been carried forward into the present life and must be dealt with in the here-and-now.