How do you handle 2 questions asked?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 May 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

yve	27 May 2004
A quearant comes to you, and they don't want a general reading, they don't have one specific question, but they have 2 questions that are of importance to them...this has happened so many times to me (love and money; love and health, love and career; family and love; family and career...etc), that I thought I had better get some advice on how to handle it...up until now, i've been doing a general reading for them (one that answers their immediate questions, as well as other things they didn't ask for), for I don't know how to handle 2 question readings...i'm probably making more work for myself than is needed? Advice please!

Mojo	27 May 2004
Charge by the hour.

Satori	27 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by yve A quearant comes to you, and they don't want a general reading, they don't have one specific question, but they have 2 questions that are of importance to them...this has happened so many times to me (love and money; love and health, love and career; family and love; family and career...etc), that I thought I had better get some advice on how to handle it... Hi yve, Let's say you read with a Celtic Cross spread. Some parts of the spread probably hit upon the 2nd question. I would go back to those cards and say somethng like, "Let's look a little closer at that health question you had." Then just double up the cards on those spaces. You know, pull a clarification card for the 2 or 3 cards that seem to speak to the issue. If none do, you could pull 3 clarification cards off the top and do a quick situation now, problem, best outcome reading. or do a Mother Earth/Father Sky reading with 2 cards and show them the two sides of the question and how they relate to each other. And then charge for the extra hour....;o) Good luck

yve	27 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by elf Hi yve, Let's say you read with a Celtic Cross spread. Some parts of the spread probably hit upon the 2nd question. I would go back to those cards and say somethng like, "Let's look a little closer at that health question you had." Then just double up the cards on those spaces. You know, pull a clarification card for the 2 or 3 cards that seem to speak to the issue. or do a Mother Earth/Father Sky reading with 2 cards and show them the two sides of the question and how they relate to each other. And then charge for the extra hour....;o) Good luck I never thought of pulling extra cards on the spots that deal with the 2 questions to get more depth...for some reason I didn't think it would validate the reading (I don't know where i got that notion!). I thought it wouldn't be accurate, the cards laid trying to deal with several questions would skew the results of the reading (after all, if I did two different spreads to deal with the 2 questions, I would pull different cards than dealing with them in the same spread!)...perhaps these are some silly ideas stuck in my head to which there is no basis or validity to...By the way, what is a "mother earth/father sky" spread??? Thanks!

HOLMES	28 May 2004
it is when they dont' know what to ask i do a general reading such as the chakra spread. what i do is ask them to ask the most important question first for i tell them that is what the tarot answers first. and then i make them ask the secondary important question last. usally if the question is important enough , the secondary question comes up in the reading, if not, lots of the clearing has been doen that they can become more specific for the second question. :)

jema	28 May 2004
I have two approaches to this. The first one is that I think it is actually important for the client to pick one issue that is the most pressing one for them and work on that one thing first. Focusing on just one question may actually be part of the solution for their problem. But if I find that their questions in some way is connected I just tailor-make a spread for them. Just ask the cards what the client need to know about the issue. There is not reason why a spread cannot ask about love and money.

Satori	28 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by jema But if I find that their questions in some way is connected I just tailor-make a spread for them. Great idea Jema! A Mother Earth/Father Sky spread comes from the Medicine Cards. Simply it is a two card spread used to provide balance in times of confusion. It deals with the male and female energy we all have and balancing that energy. The recommendation is to pick a card with the right and left hands but I use the spread sometimes to see what 'needs' balancing. So if a querent can't make up their mind I'll just do this as a secondary quickie. The other thing to remember is that some querents think they have to get it all in on the one reading. Jema is right that depending on the querent you may need to take a stand and ask them to choose. But I find that if someone really wants to hear about 2 issues the reading will go smoother if you allow space for both issues to be dealt with. The cards will show you the primary issue and I feel it is okay if you say, "Right now it looks like your financial issue is central to the spread. The boyfriend comes in over here, and we'll get to that, but for now, let's look at that job." Or whatever it is you say.... And of course, some people just can't be made happy. And don't be surprised if the ones you can't make happy are the ones you know the best. I have a friend who will come to me for free readings then go down the road to the 'professional psychic' and pay her $65 and then call me back to tell me all about it. Half the time she'll say she likes my readings better, but will never offer me money. Ah well.

Nitewindz	28 May 2004
Few things in life are completely unrelated. Love, wealth, health, fame are all intertwined. So I prefer to do a general reading, the Tarot will show how they are interconnected and which issue is more pressing. And Claudia is right you can always pull extra cards for clarification, to a point. I don't like to put more than 2 extra cards on any one spot in Celtic Cross, but I also use my own modified spread that includes an extra card to describe the best action the person can take. But if someone has two specific questions, I'll do two smaller, more specific spreads, say 5 or 6 or cards each. I like to use two different decks and put the spreads side by side, so a third, hidden issue can easily be revealed, which is often the case. Again you can pull extra cards for clarification, but because these are small specific spreads addressing specific issues, I won't pull too many extra cards. If I end up with, say 7 or 8 cards on the table for a 5 card spread, the Tarot is telling me that the issue needs a general reading.

yve	29 May 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Nitewindz I like to use two different decks and put the spreads side by side, so a third, hidden issue can easily be revealed, which is often the case. Interesting, i've never heard that you can use 2 decks to do spreads side by side...have you done this long? Does it seem to work well?

Simone	29 May 2004
Yve, another idea is to use the spread I proposed in the Belline thread - you'll cover three areas plus a general idea, and you can add as may cards as you feel is necessary. Or use a similar layout, with only the two areas concerned, and add the cards as needed. Love Simone

The How do you handle 2 questions asked? thread was originally posted on 27 May 2004 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.