Continuous, Spontaneous Questions

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 09 Jun 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jog1118	09 Jun 2003
in the not so many guides to tarot reading that i've read, it is always noted that clients should ask their complete set of questions prior to shuffling the cards. i've always wondered if, we as readers, can interpret the tarot even with continuous, spontaneous questions that may arise in the middle of a reading; what spread do we use; what exceptions to the rule do we make; etc. :confused:

sagitarian	09 Jun 2003
Here's my two cents. When I read for someone, I have them shuffle the deck WHILE they ask their (one) question, and I'm willing to do multiple readings. I don't want to know what the question is b/c that in return can influence the reader. If someone says, I want to know about my relationship with my boyfriend, and really the cards are saying "um, honey, get your head out of the clouds and concentrate on work" then I may not interpret what the cards are truly trying to say because I'm already influenced by their question. On the flip side of that, it's much easier to see what the cards are talking about with knowing the question. It's a lot easier to give them insights about the situation involved around their question. Another point, is sometimes, people don't have a question, so I just have them shuffle the cards, and basically tell them to not concentrate on any particular thoughts, but don't try to block thoughts either, more like, try to space off staring at a wall or something while you shuffle the cards, or at least mindlessly shuffle them. It's just up to you, on how it all works out best for you, and how you read, what deck you use, what spreads you use, so on and so forth.

Trogon	09 Jun 2003
I kind of go both ways... well, in regards to questions during a Tarot reading... ;) Generally, as we sit down to start the reading, I ask them if they have any specific question or issue which they'd like to address. If they have such a question or issue, we briefly discuss it and go from there. The reason I do it this way is, primarily, so I can determine which spread might be best. But also, as Sagitarian pointed out, it's easier for me to connect the issues to the question. Also, it helps me to see when the cards are bringing up an issue other than what the querrent thought they were asking about. I do find that quite a few readings that I'm doing are more along the lines of people just wanting a kind of general, non-specific reading. And thats fine with me as well. For those, I almost always do a 5-card PPF and we just go with whatever issues turne up.

BoomVoom	09 Jun 2003
usualy i can answer spontanious questions during or after the reading. i just looke at the relevant eria and see if there is an answer. if there isn't i say just that. if something is to vague and i feal that indeed there should be an answer to that particular question, i may aske the person to draw another card. BoomVoom

cjtarot	09 Jun 2003
Hi, What can you do...WELLL.. The person who reads for me doest things differently than I do..she has me shuffle then fan the cards out in an arch (which ever ones that cause my hands to warm up..) I pick 10 cards for the Celtic Circle and If we need to clarify an answer...need more insight, I pick another card from the fan. It works for her.. FOR ME: I have them shuffle, lay out the spread. THen if there is more..we pick the cards off the top of the deck...It's funny I can tell when the cards stop talking..it may be 2 more cards added or 6... PS... I really don't like the "is my boyfriend cheeting on me" type of questions...The Tarot is for personal growth not petty stuff. Blessings, CJ

Major Tom	09 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by sagitarian it's much easier to see what the cards are talking about with knowing the question. It's a lot easier to give them insights about the situation involved around their question. The question is essential. For me, the reason to consult any oracle is to get the information I need to get the outcome I want. If I am absolutely clueless as to what I want, why would I want to talk to god? Mine you, I did have this woman flee in terror when I told her she'd have a ask a question for her reading. :laugh: At the same time I have to be careful about what I want. :laugh: Has anyone besides me found living is easier when you do what god wants? :laugh: How about when you do what you want? ;) After all, the secret to life is what you want. }) Harumph! God is everything. And that includes you. :laugh:

Diana	09 Jun 2003
I think that continuous spontaneous questions could be rather confusing. Like drinking coffee, tea and coke at the same time. It's possible, but it could give you indigestion. I think (but am not sure) that anything is possible with Tarot. One of my future Experiments in the Reading Exchange will be to do a spread even before I have requested for a querent. I'm not even sure I'll ask for a question! I'm not sure yet whether I'll do the interpretation of the spread before or after the querent appears. (If anyone is mad enough to want to be my guinea-pig :laugh: ). This is not just a fun Experiment. I am trying to prove that Time is not an issue when it comes to Tarot. Time and Space are notions that do not belong to it. (I think.) Should be most interesting.......

Major Tom	09 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Diana It's possible, that anything is possible with Tarot. Time and Space are notions that do not belong to it. Should be most interesting....... If it's possible it's probably true. :) Doesn't this apply to life as well? Space and Time have nothing to do with it. It's all illusion. Your experiments should prove this. :) If you believe. :laugh:

G.I.R.	10 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by cjtarot PS... I really don't like the "is my boyfriend cheeting on me" type of questions...The Tarot is for personal growth not petty stuff. Blessings, CJ I have to agree. I can't stand petty issues. I myself, refuse to let my deck's and my own time on such frivolity. And for me, second only to frivilous questions are yes/no questions. Yes or no questions are dull and there is no such thing as a yes or a no card. It all depends on their opinion of the situation really. Also, I use a 10-card spread (I don't find it good for these questions). And my deck does not like answering yes or no questions. So I just tell those people to either come up with something more important or be a little more vague or both. I'm kind of demanding when doing readings. lol.

Trogon	10 Jun 2003
[note: please, keep in mind here, that i am speaking only about [i]my personal thoughts[/i] on this matter and I am in no way trying to say that anyone else's way of thinking is incorrect. I am only discussing this from my personal perspective.] Quote: Originally posted by cjtarot PS... I really don't like the "is my boyfriend cheeting on me" type of questions...The Tarot is for personal growth not petty stuff. Quote: Originally posted by G.I.R. I have to agree. I can't stand petty issues. I myself, refuse to let my deck's and my own time on such frivolity. Well, I definitely have to respect both your opinions on this, I do feel that, to a certain extent, I have to disagree. I feel that I have to keep in mind that, what may seem petty or frivolous to me, may be of tantamount importance to the person asking the question. A question about whether a boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on the querrent may seem somewhat frivolous to us, but to the person who is worried about their relationship, it is critical. I personally would approach that particular issue with a reading about their relationship, what they expected and needed from it and what other issues were making her/him concerned. A friend of mine, who is attending University, wanted a reading a couple of days ago about an upcoming test. Was this petty as compared to some other life issues? Perhaps. But to her it was very important because this was the second time she was having to take the course. I approaced it from the standpoint of; "is she prepared for this test", as well as "are there personal issues which she needs to be aware of". I feel she got a rather eye-opening reading. It helped her realize that, while she was prepared for the test, she had some blockages about the course which were causing her a lot of worry. She ended up feeling better about herself and how she was prepared for the test. Quote: Originally posted by G.I.R. And for me, second only to frivilous questions are yes/no questions. To some extent I agree with this. My feeling is that the Tarot isn't the best divination method for answering these types of questions. However, I have had people come to me with a yes/no question on their mind, but it was one which actually addressed a much larger issue. For example, a few months ago a friend of mine came to me for a reading on what seemed like a yes/no question; "should I move back east with my current boyfriend?" I did a Celtic Cross throw with the Goddess Tarot... The very first card drawn, indicating the main issue, showed that she had bigger issues than just wanting to know whether she should move or not. I guess my point is, at least for me, I try to be open minded about what a person is wanting and/or needing from me as a Tarot reader. So far (granted, I haven't been doing this my entire life) it has been my experience that people seldom ask me for readings when they're happy and have no issues to deal with or things bothering them. And I am not going to judge whether their question is not important, since it is important to them, and that is enough for me.

galadrial	10 Jun 2003
I was at a 4 day tarot workshop and one of the other students did a reading for me. It turned out to be about my (then) job at which there was another woman very similar to me with whom I was having friction. A card came up that could have indicated either one of us, it wasn't clear which. So the spontaneous question arose, which of us does this card represent? She used a small crystal suspended on a chain and held very still over the card in question and asked was this the querent, yes or no. The crystal began to swing back and forth, which indicated no. Then she asked, is this the querent's coworker, and the crystal began to swing in a circle, indicating yes. This was so helpful and seemed so useful to me that I started using a crytal myself for yes/no clarification during readings in regards to a specific card when there is ambiguity.

G.I.R.	10 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Trogon [b] [note: i feel that i have to keep in mind that, what may seem petty or frivolous to me, may be of tantamount importance to the person asking the question. a question about whether a boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on the querrent may seem somewhat frivolous to us, but to the person who is worried about their relationship, it is critical. i personally would approach that particular issue with a reading about their relationship, what they expected and needed from it and what other issues were making her/him concerned. [/b] I agree with you to a certain extent, but (to point out a little irony) you actually would do exactly the same thing I would. As I said before, I'd tell them to find something more important, to be more vague, or both. In this case I think that I too would probably give a reading about their relationship. And if you think about it, that is being more vague than the original question. Really I feel that all readings depend on who they're for to decide on how frivilous it is. Also, I think I am a bit picky about my readings, but I don't really care because as long as I'm not charging for readings, I only want to do ones that will further me as a reader. Also, I usually decline from doing them for people I just don't like very much. Although lately I've been willing to give readings to anyone who is willing to have one. I need the practice. And it's a lot harder to get practice when you're one of those people who doesn't like doing readings over the phone or internet (not personal enough for me). Here's an example of a frivilous issue, am I gonna get a job over the summer? (from a 15 y/o perspective a job is pretty frivilous, lol) Most of the people I read for are around 15 (my age). This makes a lot of issues frivilous, lol. (added later) After rereading my post (checking for errors) I noticed one thing. You used the word "tantamount." I find this funny. tantamount is a funny word. It is now going to become one of my new funny words. Hahahahaha!!!

Trogon	13 Jun 2003
Quote: Originally posted by G.I.R. I agree with you to a certain extent, but (to point out a little irony) you actually would do exactly the same thing I would. As I said before, I'd tell them to find something more important, to be more vague, or both. In this case I think that I too would probably give a reading about their relationship. And if you think about it, that is being more vague than the original question. Yes... I can see that. Our two outlooks are quite similar. But I still would hesitate to decline to do a reading for a person because I thought their question wasn't important enough. I don't feel that I am the one to judge that. This is all I was saying. This doesn't mean that another Tarot reader can't make a decision for themselves about the types of issues they will or will not do readings about. That is absolutely something that each reader needs to make for themselves. I don't think there's any right or wrong about this... just what is right or wrong for the individual. Quote: Originally posted by G.I.R. After rereading my post (checking for errors) I noticed one thing. You used the word "tantamount." I find this funny. tantamount is a funny word. It is now going to become one of my new funny words. Hahahahaha!!! ROFL!! What's really funny is, now that I look back at what I wrote, is that I had meant to use the word "paramount"... :|

Chronata	14 Jun 2003
I actually like the barrage of spontaneous questions that come from the subject. It gives me a better idea on what the person is *really* focusing on. Since I use 9 cards in my readings (more or less), I feel that there is usually enough info there on the table....(in my wacky and complicated Past- Present- Future lay out!) and I can go back over the cards.... and all the patterns...and answer all the continuous questions (even by pointing out the bare bones of the symbolism if I have to....) Usually, I find I'm just reiterating what I have already said,anyway. I'm just finding new ways of saying it, so that the subject just finally "gets it". And sometimes, a new question makes me look at what's already laid out in a new way....sometimes, even by spiraling my thoughts past the cards, past the symbols and into a higher place.... But then again...there are those times when I'm reading, where the next question is so "left field"...so completely off the subjects we already covered, that I make the person cut the deck one more time...and let the top card be the Final Answer!

G.I.R.	14 Jun 2003
I am very picky, but I don't care. I'm a jerk. Not really. I really perfer emotional issues to everything else. I find them more important, and more important to my growth as a reader and a friend. (most of my readings are for friends) (tantamount hahahahahahaha) sorry bout this comin in right after yours, person who types quicker than me, but the message before this one was sent in while I was typing, actually, that's really funny. Mwa ha ha ha! I win! Actually, person who types quicker than me, I agree. The extra questions are really useful for the reading. Yay! Yay for extra questions! Yay for me! Yay for the killer whales! Yay for shoes! Yay for everybody! ;)

Ravenswing	14 Jun 2003
Diana-- Your idea sounds absolutely wild... and I for one believe that it can be done. I see eternity as the matrix of all potential posibilities-- and they are all there at once. This to mesolves the problem of predestination vs. free will. All things have happened (predestination) but we choose our particular path winding through the matrix (free will). So you throw out the cards as you reach out and bring towards you the person whose path coincides with your reading... and there HAS to be someone that it matches up with. I guess you can think of it as moving both ways through time-- as we normally percieve it-- simultaneously... an incredible idea. a tremendous amount of belief... if anyone can pull this one off, it would be you... fly well ravenswing

The Continuous, Spontaneous Questions thread was originally posted on 09 Jun 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.