The Art of Asking Powerful Questions in Your Tarot Readings
- Jackie K.
- Sep 29, 2017
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 19, 2022
I believe in asking the right questions when I'm doing Tarot readings, which is why I tend to spend a little time with my clients before I proceed. Reason is simple. As a reader, I believe I should understand why certain questions are asked, what is troubling my clients and the core reason they are seeking Tarot therapy. Sometimes, they may believe that "A" is what they are seeking answer to, where else it should have been "B". And in some cases, I will need to rephrase their question to ensure that they are getting the right answers.
To understand this further, I'm sharing an article by Biddy Tarot "The Art of Asking Powerful Questions in Your Tarot Readings" which she covers 3 main points: 1) Ask open-ended questions, 2) Get to the heart of the question, and 3) Ask follow-up questions. I hope this will provide useful to other Readers as well.
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Consider these two scenarios.
Scenario #1: You ask the Tarot, “Will I ever find love?” and you draw the Hermit. Uh, no, you won’t find love and you’ll live a life of solitude. You end the reading feeling completely bummed because you really wanted to find ‘the one’ in the 12 months and now it’s not going to happen.
Scenario #2: You ask the Tarot, “What can I do to create the love life I truly desire?” Again, you draw the Hermit. Well, now. If you want to find ‘the one’ in the next 12 months, first spend some time on your own, reflecting on the type of relationship you really want. By being on your own, you will come to a deep realization about your inner resources that will support you in finding true and authentic love.
This time, you end the reading feeling empowered and optimistic, knowing exactly what it is you need to do to find the kind of love you’ve been dreaming of.
Of those two Tarot readings, which would you prefer? I know which one I would choose.
You see, asking the right questions in your Tarot readings is absolutely critical to getting the right answers – the answers that help you to shape a path forward and manifest your goals and dreams. When we ask good questions, we get good answers. And similarly, when we ask crappy questions, we get crappy answers.
So how do we ask good questions?
ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
Questions that can be answered “yes” or “no” are closed-ended questions. They’re fine if you want a fast answer, but the trouble is that they don’t allow for any deep reflection or exploration of a situation – they simply state what is or isn’t going to happen.
By asking the Tarot open-ended questions, on the other hand, you get far more interesting insights.
For example, instead of asking, “Will I find a new job?” you might ask, “What has been blocking me in finding a new job, and how can I release these blockages?” The first question can only be answered “yes” or “no”. The second question invites deeper reflection and opens the space for understanding how you can manifest your goal of finding a new job.
To ask open-ended questions, avoid starting the question with Will…, When… and Should…, and instead ask What…, How… and Why.
GET TO THE HEART OF THE QUESTION
A client starts the session with the question, “What’s my soul mate like?” Now, sure, you could launch right into that reading by drawing a few cards and seeing what comes up. You might end up with an idea of a potential soul mate, but will it really be insightful and helpful for the client?
Or, you could ask a few questions to understand what’s really on your client’s mind and how you can help. Perhaps you find out that your client is single right now and has been having trouble finding the right partner for her so she wants to know what her soul mate is like so she can recognize him when he appears.
Well now you have more information to work with and now you can start to create a reading that will be much more helpful. Instead of asking the Tarot, “What’s my soul make like?” you now ask, “What signs might I see when I have met the right partner for me?” or “What can I do to attract the right partner for me?”
Instead of taking a question on face value, explore it, unpack it and get to the heart of what’s really being asked. You’ll find that you can then address the deeper questions that exist and deliver more meaningful insight.
ASK FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS
Every question can be broken down into ‘follow-up’ questions that serve to explore the different elements of the original question. So, a question like, “How can I live in alignment with my soul’s purpose?” can be broken down into the following questions:
What is coming into my conscious awareness about my soul’s purpose?
How can I discover my soul’s purpose?
What is my soul’s purpose?
How am I presently living in alignment with my soul’s purpose?
What inner work do I need to do to be in alignment with my soul’s purpose?
What resources are available to me that will help me to live in alignment with my soul’s purpose?
What will bring me closer to my soul’s purpose?
What may stand in the way of me fulfilling my soul’s purpose and how can I overcome this?
…and so on.
Now, do you notice what’s happening here? As we start to break the original question down into follow-up questions, we also start to form the beginnings of your very own customized Tarot spread. You could literally draw one card for each of the questions above and you’d have an in-depth and fully customized Tarot reading.
So for your next Tarot reading, check in with yourself first – Am I asking the right question of the Tarot? Is it open-ended and does it allow for deep exploration and insight? Does it get to the heart of the matter? And are there follow-up questions I could ask?
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