The Four Noble Truths/Medical Model Spread

This is a special spread I created to go along with a Buddhism tarot project I’ve been working on (or at least thinking about!) for many years.  I hope someday it will become a reality.

Because the spread has four positions, it’s great to use with Arcana Stones.  It also has an “extended version” you can use with a full deck (or with Arcana Stones, if you want to throw the 15 percent rule out the window!).

 

Background

The Four Noble Truths is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism.  The goal of Buddhism is simply to put an end to suffering.  When the Buddha, after many years (and many lifetimes) of searching, discovered the way to do just that, he taught the cure for suffering in the form of the four point medical report used by the physicians of his culture. 

The First Noble Truth describes the symptom (the problem):  Suffering exists. 
The Second Noble Truth gives the diagnosis (the cause of the problem):  Craving causes suffering.
The Third Noble Truth is the prognosis (the possible outcome):  The ending of suffering is possible.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the prescription (what is needed to cure the problem):  Following the Eightfold Noble Path will end suffering.  The eight steps of the Path are right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.  The eight steps are often grouped into three aspirations:  morality, meditation, and wisdom.

The Spread

Randomly draw 4 stones or cards and line them up left to right.

1.  Symptom:  The issue or problem you want to know more about.
2.  Diagnosis:  The cause of the issue.
3.  Prognosis:  The likely outcome.
4.  Prescription:  Advice on how to deal with the issue.

Optional additional step:
Path:  Steps to put the advice into effect.

Draw the number of cards or stones corresponding to the number of the Prescription stone or card.  If the number is over 9, add the digits together.  (For example, if the Prescription is 14-Temperance, draw 5 Path cards.)  For Pages, draw 1; for Knights, 6; for Queens, 3; and for Kings, 2.

Like the steps of the Eightfold Noble Path, these steps don’t need to be taken in consecutive order and may be better understood or more useful when organized into groups.  So rearrange the Path cards or stones until you have put them into a Path pattern that makes sense to you.

I hope this spread works well for you.  Let me know if you try it!  I’ll post a reading using it shortly.