Wrong question...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jumptothemoonyea	26 Mar 2005
Which questions are not appropriate to ask Tarot? Or what is a wrong way to formulate a question for Tarot? Or there is no wrong way? :)

snowy25	26 Mar 2005
A wrong question is one that isn't clear. An example: The querent asks:' Should I get married this year with my boss, I don't have a job yet, but I applied to this job and will I get more money in this job?' Then what IS the question? Does the qeurent want to know if s/he gets married? Does she need a psycholegist rather then a tarotist? Does s/he wants to know if s/he get's the job? You don't know this and in a reading you can get an awnser like the question is asked. It doesn't make any sense! So you need a clear question to start with.

SunChariot	26 Mar 2005
Well I don't think there is anything you can't ask about if you have a sincere desire to know. Of course I read only for myself, as a means of self-enlightenment. They do say, however, that you should not ask personal questions that pry into other people's lives (with the possible exception of a parent asking about his/her young child that needs his/her protection) as not everyone appreciates having random people looking at their life under a microscope. It can be an invasion of privacy. Some questions to avoid: 1) questions presuming an outcome that may or may not be true. If you ask "When will John ask me to marry him?", and it is not something that is slated to happen, the cards will have no way to asnwer. AND here is the rest of whatever I know on that topic, as this is the page I learnt on: http://www.learntarot.com/less7.htm The main page for the lessons is: http://www.learntarot.com/course.htm#lessons I find the part about not asking questions that deflect your responsibility for your life especially important. And yes I have heard and found that how you formulate your question is a very important part of a reading. It affects all that follows it. A clearer question will yield a clearer and more useful answer. Hope this helps. Bar

Sulis	26 Mar 2005
I think that tarot is best at answering questions that don't require a yes or no answer. Instead of asking 'will I?' which you would answer with yes or no, I think it's best to ask 'What is the best way?' or 'How can I?' - Questions like this encourage you to look at a situation from different viewpoints. This is what I think tarot is best at. Love Sulis xx

tarotbear	26 Mar 2005
To quote from "It's All in the Cards: Tarot Reading Made Easy" (ISBN 1-4027-0986-2) - possibly the best beginners book ever written on the subject and a copy should be in everyone's occult library! LOL!! ;P Tarot deals best with questions dealing with : Situations Challenges Improvements Outcomes Tarot does not deal well with : Yes/No Frivolous Open-ended Tarot deals better with How, What, What If, Where, Why questions. In another thread where y/n questions were discussed, the more that tarot can define the situation at present, the better your question is and the better your answer should be. Y/N does not needs reasons; you should be looking for the reasons.

Chara	26 Mar 2005
I've found that if a deck CAN answer a question, it will try. For example, my friend begged me to ask my tarot cards if she should buy a wig, or an airbrush. I decided to humor her, and used my Housewives Tarot. The answer? Ace of Swords (if you seen this card in the deck, you can guess what my answer was). I do try and make it easier for myself to understand the answers by forming the questions in a way that makes sense to me. Whenever I don't understand the question I was asking, the answer I get doesn't make sense to me either. It can depend on the deck though. My Housewives is more "easy going" than my Mythic Tarot, which once gave me a papercut when I tried to ask a question I felt was silly (oddly enough, the question was asked by the same girl who inquired about the airbrush/wig..) and I figured maybe I shouldn't bother. So, to try and make a point...if you know what you're asking, and you feel comfortable asking it, then it's a good question. If you have problems with the question itself (not the answers you could get, just the question) then you probably shouldn't ask it. But my friend is really happy with her airbrush, so I think I did well. :D

snowy25	26 Mar 2005
Chara wrote: I decided to humor her, and used my Housewives Tarot. The answer? Ace of Swords (if you seen this card in the deck, you can guess what my answer was). You made me curiouse about this. What does the Ace of swords look like in this deck?

cSpaceDiva	26 Mar 2005
Chara wrote: I've found that if a deck CAN answer a question, it will try. For example, my friend begged me to ask my tarot cards if she should buy a wig, or an airbrush. I decided to humor her, and used my Housewives Tarot. The answer? Ace of Swords (if you seen this card in the deck, you can guess what my answer was). I looked at this deck and the Ace of Swords didn't answer it for me. I got more of an airbrush feeling from the Ace of Wands. On the other hand, had you gotten the 5 of Cups, I'm sure you would have advised her to go with the wig. :D Back to OP, I find that questions about situations the querent has little or no ability to change go nowhere, UNLESS with better understanding one can change his/her own feelings and attitudes about it.

Chara	26 Mar 2005
snowy25 wrote: You made me curiouse about this. What does the Ace of swords look like in this deck? It's a hand holding a knife, and some cakes and pies with slices cut out of them. :D cSpaceDiva wrote: I looked at this deck and the Ace of Swords didn't answer it for me. I got more of an airbrush feeling from the Ace of Wands. On the other hand, had you gotten the 5 of Cups, I'm sure you would have advised her to go with the wig. :D Ace of Wands! That would have been a good one too. Airbrushes look more like knives than featherdusters to me though. But now I'm always going to think of 5 of Cups as "the wig card". *laughs*

SunChariot	26 Mar 2005
Sulis wrote: I think that tarot is best at answering questions that don't require a yes or no answer. Instead of asking 'will I?' which you would answer with yes or no, I think it's best to ask 'What is the best way?' or 'How can I?' - Questions like this encourage you to look at a situation from different viewpoints. This is what I think tarot is best at. Love Sulis xx That's been my experience too. I know it seems to work for others, but I don't ask yes or no questions anymore. I tried for a while to use the method Mary Greer suggests in Tarot for Your Self. I was getting answers and presuming they were accurate, until one day I noticed that they were contradicting themselves. I tried one more time with a yes/no question. I asked the cards if this method was giving me accurate results. It said no. Then I asked if I should stop using it and stop asking yes/no quesitions. Both answers were yes. I never did one again. Although I have still had many wonderful readings since, and am currently learning the pendulum which is ideal for yes/no questions.:-) Bar

bassetized	26 Mar 2005
[quote+bar]I never did one again. Although I have still had many wonderful readings since, and am currently learning the pendulum which is ideal for yes/no questions.:-)[/quote] I have trouble with yes/no Tarot questions, too, although I find a spread that lets you look at two or three different options works great. And I agree the pendulum works well for yes/no. Lots of times I combine the two--a Tarot spread to get the overall situation, outer and inner factors, maybe, then some yes/no questions with the pendulum, and then maybe another Tarot spread to find out how to best accomplish the goal. --bassetized

SunChariot	26 Mar 2005
bassetized wrote: [quote+bar] I never did one again. Although I have still had many wonderful readings since, and am currently learning the pendulum which is ideal for yes/no questions.:-) I have trouble with yes/no Tarot questions, too, although I find a spread that lets you look at two or three different options works great. And I agree the pendulum works well for yes/no. Lots of times I combine the two--a Tarot spread to get the overall situation, outer and inner factors, maybe, then some yes/no questions with the pendulum, and then maybe another Tarot spread to find out how to best accomplish the goal. --bassetized[/quote] How's that been working for you. I only started learning the pendulum a month ago. I am nowhere near ready to start a reading....stilll working at the practise exercises. But when I get good enough, I was thinking to try what you described (combining the two tools in a reading). :-) Does it work well??? Bar

The Wrong question... thread was originally posted on 26 Mar 2005 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.