Is it not good to ask the same question more than once?

I heard someone say you shouldn't ask one question repetitively; if you want to ask the same question again, wait for three months.

I've done tarot reading for a friend of mine, and she was kind of troubled by the result of the reading, so she asked me to do the reading again, with the same question but using a different deck. So I did. While I was doing the second reading I didn't feel good about it. I had this weird feeling from the very beginning, and the results turned out to be very inaccurate. The first reading was accurate, only she didn't like the "future" the tarot foretold.

I'm a newbie of tarot reading, quite ignorant of tarot reading rules and such. And I was wondering if there's really a "legacy" against doing repeated readings for the same person regarding the same question in a short time period. Thanks to anyone who can clarify my confusion.

Situations can change quickly, so I wouldn't limit readings to once every three months for a question.

BUT...I wouldn't pull out another deck and re-read a question because someone didn't like the answer the first deck gave, either. Once in a while you'll throw the cards and they just plain won't make sense at all. If that's the case, I'll re-throw, but if they're still not making sense, it's obviously not the right time for the question (it doesn't happen often, but once in a while you get those 'huh?' readings). If they're making sense, though, one reading is plenty.

Changing decks to give someone the answer they want to hear is not a good practise - and like you, I don't see how the 'nicer' second answer is apt to be the truer one.

If you were happy with the original reading you did and felt very positive about doing that reading, I would wait a month before asking the same question again. And if you or the client didnt like the outcome of the reading then pull a DV oracle card to help soften the reading a bit. They are gentle cards and I think people like their messages.

I am also a newbie but here's some comments. I do not think there is a 'legacy'
per se. But the basic idea of a reading is for a querent to ask of Tarot a question. The reader prepares these cards and does the spread. There is then
a 'message' to be looked at and into and dissected. Now human nature comes
into play. A querent and not just your friend may well say,not out loud,"But
that is not the answer I want to hear". The process is repeated, more confusion.
And then a new reader is made to wonder if they are doing something incorrect.
In fact,I feel, the cards have answered once. Any further readings would needs
be a different angle on that first question. Repeating the question with another deck would not really work: think of the different imagery.

Clear Autumn,

Welcome to AT and to the world of tarot!

You've asked a mouthful of questions and I'm sure you're going to get a lot of answers.

To the question of reading repetitively, I would say it depends. If I did a reading for someone who then went out and acted on the results of the reading and a few days later wanted to know "what now?" I probably wouldn't have a problem with reading again on the same question. If I did a reading for someone who didn't like the answer they got, I wouldn't do another reading on that same subject again. I might not even read for that person again.

As for the Querent not liking the outcome of the reading, I'm of the school that believes that the tarot tells you not what will happen regardless of what anyone does, but what will happen as long as the current factors surrounding the situation remain the same. If the factors change, the outcome may change. Say for example the reading said that you were going to have a fight with your mate and in a fit of anger you're going to have a one night stand with someone else. Just because the cards said it was going to happen doesn't mean it has to happen. You can choose not to argue with your mate, not to get mad and not to cheat. If any of those things change, the end result will most likely change.

There's another thing you can do when the Querent doesn't like or understand the result of the reading. Instead of a do-over, do a new reading on "What can X do to avoid/change/counteract the outcome of the last reading?"

Tarot cards are inanimate objects. BUT many readers can tell you that when they've asked the same question repeatedly the answers they get from the cards get more and more confusing. It's almost as if the cards finally have enough and say, "I answered this question the first time you asked it. Since you keep on asking it, I'm only going to give you silly answers." Don't make your tarot cards mad at you. (That's a joke. Kinda.)

HTH,
Rodney

Clear Autumn said:

I'm a newbie of tarot reading, quite ignorant of tarot reading rules and such. And I was wondering if there's really a "legacy" against doing repeated readings for the same person regarding the same question in a short time period. Thanks to anyone who can clarify my confusion.

Click to expand...

Back in 1952, Frank Lind of Britain's Insight Institute wrote a little book called How to Understand the Tarot which mentions the problems associated with doing repeated readings for the same question. This is the first reference I can remember seeing in print, so it has been around awhile, but where and when it started I don't really know. Where Tarot is concerned I don't think there are any hard and fast rules really, but this seems like pretty good advice to me.

Is it good? no, is it bad, likely not, is it a waste of time...generally.

I find people who read for them selves over and over on the same question are looking for not the truth but what they want to hear, and people who ask for multiple readings on the same topic UNDER the same circumstances and SITUATION are not looking for the truth, but reinforcement of their way of seeing things, or justification of thier actions, or a sympathetic ear.... "he was wrong and IS an ass". "I will get him to be mine and he DOES love me inspite of the way he acts".

Trust the first readng on these sort of things.

Here's the way I do it. If the first reading makes sense (even if I don't particularly like what I've been told) then I don't re-do the spread. It would be like asking a friend a question, getting a satisfactory explanation which makes sense, then asking the same question again half an hour later. If the first reading didn't make sense, I would either assume the message will reveal itself with time and contemplation, or I would simply put it aside... I wouldn't re-do the spread in that situation either. Tarot isn't like a Magic 8 Ball; I just wouldn't feel right shaking the tarot up again if I didn't like the first answer.

If I was reading for someone and the "future" cards were depressing, I would perhaps try pulling a card or two and asking for advice on how to change that future pattern. I'm with rwcarter -- I believe the future cards entail "what will happen as long as the current factors surrounding the situation remain the same." Re-doing the spread is time consuming and confusing.

I usually don't do second readings during the same week -at least- unless the person who asked is sure that he/she's feeling different about the issue.
I agree with Gavriela, situations can change very quickly, but most of the times I'm asked to do another reading on the same issue it's because the querent didn't like the answer... can't do much more than telling him/her what I'm seeing. So I try to explain this to him/her, help her work around the problem in order to solve it... Mainly, I try to tell the querent he/she's not gonna get a different answer from a 2nd or 3rd reading, whether I use a different deck, do the reading the day after and standing in one leg (??) or whatever the answer will tend to be exactly the same.

Hmm, it happened to me, to do a obsessive reading for myself....where I wanted to know as much as possible for a situation that was created to me....and I did it more than three times a day....and the answers always seemed to occur with the almost same possible meanings....just that in this case I only had a profound opinions on how the situation is going further.

But I never did this for someone else...that would be ridiculous and not reasonable at all. Boring as well.