When cards tells the obvious - where´s the problem?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 29 Sep 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Bosorka	29 Sep 2003
Hi all! I would like to know - what do you do, if cards tell you what you already know, or what´s just obvious even if you don´t know details? For few last months my cards stopped to explain, just keep to repeat things I already know, or what I can deduct, if I start seriously think about matter. Do I put wrong questions, or do I use cards too much? Thanks

Diana	29 Sep 2003
Ask the cards what you DON'T know. Do some spreads only for the Obscure, the Hidden. But of course, if you're asking the same question to the cards over and over again, you're not going to get much more insight. Only you can tell if you're using the cards too much. Or tell us how often you use them so we can give our opinion.

Bosorka	29 Sep 2003
Well, when I´m really disturbed by something, I do three cards reading about once in one-two weeks. But what made me really crazy was last reading for one my friend. She asked about boy, whom she wants - and as she told me few months ago, she´s maybe not so in love with him, as she thinks he´s her last chance to get married. When I did a reading for her, it was a little bit confused, as there was possesion, fight, perhaps marriage and dissappointement. So we decided to pull one more card, asking what they have to do to be a couple. She pull ace of cups. Love. I mean, it´s obvious! So I asked for more explanation, and though I don´t remember now what was on positions what that card means, for what it is good and what is the situation, on position what that card definitely doesn´t mean was three of swords. Obvious!

gloria	29 Sep 2003
Hi Borsorka, I know just what you mean. I did a reading yesterday when this very same thing happened. (It has many times before) My friend rung to tell me of a friend of hers being rushed into hospital. Obviously she was extremely worried about him and whether he would be okay. The cards showed what we already knew about him and what led upto his sudden illness. One card in particular made me smile, the 4/cups R.Waite, I feel pretty sure he won’t be wanting a drink at the moment. Surely it’s great that the cards are confirming we are on the right track. And there will be an element that we won’t be aware of, the Future or Outcome. What about placing another card in each position and maybe it will show another dimension to the reading. Hope all goes well, Gloria.

Dark_angel	29 Sep 2003
Sometimes I find that an initial spread appears to just confirm what I know, or think I know. What I then do is reshuffle, thinking of each card/aspect I want clarified, and it always sheds valuable light on the situation. If you ask for the obscure straight away, sometimes you won't understand it; if you start from what you know, it's much easier to expand from there. xxx

Thirteen	29 Sep 2003
You say you look at the cards and they tell you what's obvious--but sometimes the obvious is not so obvious...until it's pointed out. There's a joke: Sherlock Holmes and Watson are camping out in the wilderness. Sherlock says, "Watson, what do you see?" Watson says, "I see the night sky." "What else?" asks Sherlock. "I see stars, millions of stars." "What else?" asks Sherlock. "I see the possiblity of those stars being suns around which planets revolve and perhaps serve as homes to creatures such as ourselves." "Is that all?" Asks Sherlock. "Yes," says Watson. "What am I missing?" "Watson, you bloody idiot," shouts Sherlock, "our tent's been stolen!" Which all goes to say, sometimes we don't notice the obvious till it's pointed out to us. Like "what does this couple need?" "Love." Obvious--but you didn't think of it, till the cards said it, did you? When the cards give an obvious answer it's rather like they're slapping you upside the head. Telling you to "Wake up and pay attention! It's obvious!" Either that or they're saying, "Hey, why bother asking? We both know the answer?" Don't you ever feel like saying that to people sometimes? Especially people wallowing in their troubles so deeply that they're blind to how easy, how direct and simple it is to clear things up? Let's remember as well, that some people don't want to see that obvious answer. To see it is to see a way to solve the problem--but not get what they want. A girl wants this guy, but it's not working out. Why not? "No love" says the cards--simple, but not what the girl wants to hear. She wants a deeper, more complex answer, she wants to feel there's more to it than that--and thus, that there might be hope. The obvious answer is often the answer that tells the brutal truth, and that isn't something we always want to hear.

WolfSpirit	29 Sep 2003
Thirteen has a great answer... but it could also be your questions are too vague or too general. Vague questions will give answers that don't tell much. What helps me a lot, is sit down with a piece of paper and write down questions I really want to know. Then I lay the cards, sometimes one card may lead to another question. So I draw a card for the new question as well. It is best to write it all down so you know what card belongs to what question (sounds a bit silly, but it can be confusing). What also helps, is leave the cards lying for a while and come back to it later. Maybe then you see new things in the cards. Sometimes I think I understand a spread, but when I look at it the next day I see something that makes it a lot clearer still. This can suddenly come to me when I sit down for a moment to contemplate what cards are in front of me. Hope this helps !!

Bosorka	30 Sep 2003
Thank you all! Perhaps I should learn to move from question to question, when I feel that I didn´t receive what I wanted, and what I received was all that I already knew. By the way, WolfSpirit, it´s not so silly to draw your questions - it happened to me that I forgot what exactly I asked, when I had to deal with confusing cards. As to clarification cards - is it worthy to draw one for each position? I mean, won´t it be than more confused? Also I´ve read somewhere that it can happen that you´re drawing clarification cards until you don´t receive answer you want. How do I know that it´s time to stop? (Well, after some time you must reach that wonderfull 10/cups, or 2/cups for relationship...)

WolfSpirit	30 Sep 2003
Hi Bosorka, I think a golden rule is not to use clarification cards to replace the original card, but only to answer further questions or to get a more specific answer. For example, if you get for outcome the three of swords, you may not like to leave the querent (or yourself) with this so you could ask a further question "what can I do to start healing myself" Or if you ask "what should I do differently" and you draw the World, that may leave you stumped so you could ask what should I concentrate on first".

The When cards tells the obvious - where´s the problem? thread was originally posted on 29 Sep 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.