drawing too many cards

[BrightEye]

Recently I've found that when I ask a question and draw just one card, that is my answer. For some reason I always draw more cards though because I think I get a more nuanced and balanced reading, but in the end I 'know' that the first card was my real answer. Should I go with that? Or is it always better to draw at least two cards?

[tarotbear]

NO.

If you believe that you get the answer you need from the first card, stop second-guessing yourself in hopes that there will be nuances in the next card or cards. If not ~ you'll not stop until you've gone through the entire deck to ask your one card question.

[rwcarter]

If you go into the reading thinking "I'm going to do a one-card draw" then don't pull any additional cards.

If you go into it thinking "I'm gonna pull cards until it feels right to stop" then stop whenever it feels right (whether that's one card or the whole deck).

If you go into it thinking, "I'm gonna do a 3 card draw" and one card feels right, then stop at one. But if one (or two) card(s) doesn't feel right, then pull the number you were originally intending to pull.

[Chiriku]

Originally Posted by tarotbear

NO.

If you believe that you get the answer you need from the first card, stop second-guessing yourself in hopes that there will be nuances in the next card or cards. If not ~ you'll not stop until you've gone through the entire deck to ask your one card question.

Yes. Might I add that "nuances" is usually code for "the answer that I want to hear or that I think most likely/plausible."

Originally Posted by rwcarter

If you go into the reading thinking "I'm going to do a one-card draw" then don't pull any additional cards.

If you go into it thinking "I'm gonna pull cards until it feels right to stop" then stop whenever it feels right (whether that's one card or the whole deck).

If you go into it thinking, "I'm gonna do a 3 card draw" and one card feels right, then stop at one. But if one (or two) card(s) doesn't feel right, then pull the number you were originally intending to pull.

Yes--useful distinctions, Rodney.

I am strongly anti-"clarification" cards. Strongly. By "clarification," I mean what tarotbear's talking about and scenario #1 in Rodney's post--i.e. "I'll just pull another card for 'clarification.'" That's another euphemism along the lines of "nuances."

[Chiriku]

The other thing is: one-card answers are often much more incisive and illuminating than multiple card spreads. I don't like admitting that for many reasons: because I am a spread-creator and collector par excellence, because I want excuses and opportunities to interact with a generous portion of a deck, and because in general in life I am a "more is better person."

But I can't get away from what I've observed: one-carders force you to delve deeper, make more apt connections, and pinpoint underlying motivations and factors at play in a way that many-card spreads--and certainly those amorphous "three-card throws with no positions"--cannot often approach.

[Tarot Orat]

I agree with the rest of the crowd so far - if you only intend to pull one card, only pull one card. I don't think there's any card in any deck ever made that one can't study for a full day or longer. Even an unillustrated pip - ponder the numerology, the suit symbol, the elemental dignities, etc. and you can look at a Marseille 2 of Coins in as much depth as a major arcanum from the most esoterically-detailed and beautifully-painted artists' theme deck.

When I see at AT post in the Readings forum with a title like "Help! Card A with Cards B, C, and D clarifying" I very, VERY rarely look at it...."clarifying" generally just means "confusing" and the more cards, the more confuzzled any attempt at interpretation.

I have to say, since I've been doing a one-card daily draw rather than three cards, I have been getting much clearer answers and it's been much easier to meditate and reflect on how the cards apply to my day. Three-card daily draws with no specific assignment for the three positions just gave me too much to think about and I'd be halfway THROUGH the day before I even got a chance to do anything besides write in my journal!

[BrightEye]

Thanks for all the helpful thoughts and suggestions. I'm not one to draw more cards because I want to hear a certain answer. Often I'm more inclined to draw an additional card if the first card is a positive answer to my question (like yes, the guy really likes to see you again... but that's too good to be true).

I usuall draw 3 cards, or think i want to draw 3 cards. This morning I drew some cards asking Why can't I finish this essay I'm working on? I drew 3 cards. I usually turn them face up as I draw them. The first card was 8 of Cups, which told me the truth: that I've simply lost interest. The other two cards just confused the matter.

[Chiriku]

You're welcome, BrightEye.

Originally Posted by BrightEye

I'm not one to draw more cards because I want to hear a certain answer. Often I'm more inclined to draw an additional card if the first card is a positive answer to my question (like yes, the guy really likes to see you again... but that's too good to be true).

Nor am I the sort who draws cards (any cards) with a subconscious desire to hear what I prefer to hear. That's why I wrote:

Originally Posted by Chiriku

Yes. Might I add that "nuances" is usually code for "the answer that I want to hear or that I think most likely/plausible."

Because reading for myself is essentially an exercise in ruminating on possibilities I already know, at some level, exist, my mind is adept--too adept--at interpreting any card to fit with what it already believes to be most plausible or likely.

That tendency is not erased by limiting oneself to one-card draws, but I do think that focusing on one card can pack a greater punch and, as such, can force us to listen to messages we might not otherwise have considered likely.

Originally Posted by BrightEye

I usuall draw 3 cards, or think i want to draw 3 cards. This morning I drew some cards asking Why can't I finish this essay I'm working on? I drew 3 cards. I usually turn them face up as I draw them. The first card was 8 of Cups, which told me the truth: that I've simply lost interest. The other two cards just confused the matter.

There you are: a perfect illustration of why three-card, positionless draws are an effective choice far less often than popular tarot wisdom--books, bloggers, forums-- suggests. Many people like the interaction among the three cards, but liking something doesn't necessarily mean it's the most effective. Many people in the Your Readings forum here who like three-card positionless draws insist on using them even when others point out that the self-same reader is repeatedly confused by and far from adept at using them.

[tarotcognito]

My answer to your question would be to follow your gut instinct. If a one-card pull has been giving you satisfactory answers, you'd be ill-served to pull more.

I rarely do readings of more than five cards. Usually two or three does the trick just fine. And I almost never use clarifiers. I did when I first started out in Tarot. Now I'm at the point where I believe that clarifiers have the potential to muddle the issue more than actually clarify it.

That's just me, though.

[SunChariot]

Originally Posted by BrightEye

Recently I've found that when I ask a question and draw just one card, that is my answer. For some reason I always draw more cards though because I think I get a more nuanced and balanced reading, but in the end I 'know' that the first card was my real answer. Should I go with that? Or is it always better to draw at least two cards?

There is no such thing as something being always better. What is the best way to read varies from reader to reader and even from reading to reaidng.

IMO, what is best is to listen to your intuition and just do what feels right to you each time. That way you won't go wrong.

Babs