Yes/No Tarot doesn't work (?)

Amanda

EyeAmEye said:
I do think yes/no questions can be answered by tarot. I don't think the reverse/upright type spreads are effective, nor do I think you can set specific cards to mean yes and others no.
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I agree with this.

JSNYC had a good Yes/No spread that is posted on this forum and it is the one that I typically use when I do Yes/No readings. Instead of affixing 'yes' or 'no' to particular cards (or using uprights/reversals), he developed (I think seven) "key" type of cards to have an inflection in their tone regardless of whether they landed in a Yes or No position. For instance, the Magician was a key card and it's tone was emphatic so if the Magician landed in the Yes position, it was basically saying, "Yes, definitely! You can definitely make that happen!" and if it was in the No position, it was basically saying, "No way! You can't do that!" and then it was designed to also interpret the opposite position and an 'additional information' position, where you get a better sense of things by weighting them all together so that it is possible for an answer to be, "Yes, but.." or "No, if..." -- by giving certain 'key' cards a tone of inflection, rather than a strict meaning, it makes them doubly versatile for either a Yes or No position. I have had some really good feedback here on this forum by utilizing that spread.
 

Barleywine

Teheuti said:
I've seen many readers ask the question, throw the cards and then answer a different question entirely. "Will ___ ever find her soul-mate?" Answered with, "I see you've been deeply hurt . . ." Were the cards that showed "pain" really answering "No"? Does the reader just not want to deliver the bad news? Unfortunately many readers don't even notice what they've done; essentially they're seeking to "fix" the anxiety both in themselves and the client.
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This sort of "over-reading" seems to be endemic to a great deal of modern interpretation. Many times a very direct, unambiguous question (like a yes or no) is asked, but what is delivered is an in-depth psychological analysis. I agree that there is often a perception that something needs "fixing" (it might even be true) but that's not what was asked for. I try to answer the specific question as clearly as possible - without embellishment - first and then, as long as there's time, branch out if my interaction with the querent leads me there. On the other hand, I have difficulty making sense out of one-card or two-card draws to answer anything other than qualitative questions (like "What kind of day will I have?"), since too much is left to intuitive conjecture to really get down to specifics.
 

Brown Eyed Mystic

Teheuti said:
I've seen many readers ask the question, throw the cards and then answer a different question entirely. "Will ___ ever find her soul-mate?" Answered with, "I see you've been deeply hurt . . ." Were the cards that showed "pain" really answering "No"? Does the reader just not want to deliver the bad news? Unfortunately many readers don't even notice what they've done; essentially they're seeking to "fix" the anxiety both in themselves and the client.

I like James Ricklef's version where he will only answer with: "Yes, if . . ." "No, if . . ." or "Maybe, if . . ." It provides a much richer context, opens possibilities and invites discussion. Ultimately the person is left with a feeling of potential.

Personally, I use Yes/No questions when it feels right and have seen some great break-throughs when a person has to confront an absolute (whether they accept that absolute or not).

I've also found a SERIES of Yes/No questions can be used to clarify the parameters of an issue, especially when the answers aren't seen as absolutes, but rather as refining the issue or honing in on what is really important. Pendulum work (dousing) often uses this approach.

There is an art to asking Yes/No questions with Tarot and it's worth learning.
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LOVE your answer Teheuti!

And readers starting to mend things for the sitter... I think this *may* gain tarot a bad rep. Because if the sitter is anything like me, impatient, give me the direct answer now, dammit-types, they can easily get frustrated. Of course, the sitter also neds to understand tarot isn't an exact science (or is it!?)

If I ask a Yes/No question, I would expect it to be accurate all the times unless my questioning was not specific enough or too vague, because how else am I supposed to know whether tarot yes/no works or not?

For example: A friend asked me to do a yes/no for: Will they call me today? We got a Yes. Then she asked: Will they call me tomorrow? We got another Yes. Pretty specific questions.

They didn't call on both days.

I naturally got wary of that technique.

How can I say I got a yes also carries huge importance. Right now I'm just starting out so I'm using yes/no meanings attached to cards by other readers and tarot bloggers. So a Devil will point to a No and a 10/Cups to a Yes. That sort of thing.

But is that accurate? May be, may be not.

So interpreting answers as positive or negative depending on the card is also key.

BEM
 

Brown Eyed Mystic

Barleywine said:
This sort of "over-reading" seems to be endemic to a great deal of modern interpretation. Many times a very direct, unambiguous question (like a yes or no) is asked, but what is delivered is an in-depth psychological analysis. I agree that there is often a perception that something needs "fixing" (it might even be true) but that's not what was asked for. I try to answer the specific question as clearly as possible - without embellishment - first and then, as long as there's time, branch out if my interaction with the querent leads me there. On the other hand, I have difficulty making sense out of one-card or two-card draws to answer anything other than qualitative questions (like "What kind of day will I have?"), since too much is left to intuitive conjecture to really get down to specifics.
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I agree.

BEM
 

Brown Eyed Mystic

EyeAmEye said:
I do think yes/no questions can be answered by tarot. I don't think the reverse/upright type spreads are effective, nor do I think you can set specific cards to mean yes and others no.

I think the trick lies in interpreting the card and/or cards to the specific question asked. For example:

Question 1: Will I get back together with John? Answer: Death

In this particular situation, I would read Death to mean "No. Your relationship with John is, well, dead..."

Question 2: Will I die? Answer: Death

For this question, I would read Death as "Yep. Get ready to face the Reaper, sir".

As others have said, tarot is descriptive. The cards can answer a yes/no, but the answer lies in the meaning of the card as it relates to the question asked.
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Yep, that's a good point you make EyeAmEye. Sometimes a "negative" card can also be a yes depending on your question.

BEM
 

Brown Eyed Mystic

Amanda said:
I agree with this.

JSNYC had a good Yes/No spread that is posted on this forum and it is the one that I typically use when I do Yes/No readings. Instead of affixing 'yes' or 'no' to particular cards (or using uprights/reversals), he developed (I think seven) "key" type of cards to have an inflection in their tone regardless of whether they landed in a Yes or No position. For instance, the Magician was a key card and it's tone was emphatic so if the Magician landed in the Yes position, it was basically saying, "Yes, definitely! You can definitely make that happen!" and if it was in the No position, it was basically saying, "No way! You can't do that!" and then it was designed to also interpret the opposite position and an 'additional information' position, where you get a better sense of things by weighting them all together so that it is possible for an answer to be, "Yes, but.." or "No, if..." -- by giving certain 'key' cards a tone of inflection, rather than a strict meaning, it makes them doubly versatile for either a Yes or No position. I have had some really good feedback here on this forum by utilizing that spread.
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Thank YOU for mentioning this Amanda. I looked up his method and found it here for anyone else that's interested: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=134034

Gonna try it now.

BEM
 

Brown Eyed Mystic

dancing_moon said:
It's a tool that, in my opinion, is perfect for changing your life in addition to getting definite answers and clearing misunderstandings, and as such, it'll sometimes be 'wrong' exactly because your own decisions and actions change the outcomes in the desired direction.

I ask yes/no questions from time to time - not in order to see what will definitely happen but in order to have a sneak peek at what has the highest probability of happening - and then change it if I don't like it. :p Naturally, the question of accuracy is totally irrelevant in this approach. :)
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Interesting, so in relation to a question like "Will he/she call me today"? it could simply be pointing that they are thinking of calling you? Whether they do or not depends on their will. Is that what you're saying dancing_moon?

BEM
 

Shade

Teheuti said:
I've seen many readers ask the question, throw the cards and then answer a different question entirely. "Will ___ ever find her soul-mate?" Answered with, "I see you've been deeply hurt . . ." Were the cards that showed "pain" really answering "No"? Does the reader just not want to deliver the bad news? Unfortunately many readers don't even notice what they've done; essentially they're seeking to "fix" the anxiety both in themselves and the.
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I absolutely resemble this remark. Years ago, in college I was watching a gay romantic movie called Defying Gravity where a character says he is more certain of his love for Paul than of anything else in his entire life. (Soul mate!). After a half a bottle of wine (it was college) I pulled out my cards and asked "will I ever find my "Paul?" I got the Hermit.

I cried a bit and concluded the answer was a definite No. Every reader I have ever told this to has tried their level best to explain why the answer isn't no. The deck was "messing with me for being so flippant," or the Hermit represents this search, etc, etc.

Despite the fact that I'm in a two and a half year relationship now I still conclude that the reading was a no, I won't find my "Paul" in the sense that we don't usually have human relationships based on absolute certainty and if there is such a thing as a soul mate, I won't find one, where we do have that soul-level certainty I won't this time around. But still, readers I speak to about this become very uncomfortable because I think for them they could never tell a client they won't find their soul mate.
 

Shade

Incidentally, my favorite yes/no spread is to pull out you wheel of fortune and seven other cards at random, mix them and place them as follows.


____1, 5
3, 7_______4, 8
____2, 6


If the wheel is in the top pair it is a yes, if it is in the bottom, it's a no. If it's on the left that is "yes if" (read card next to it). If it's on the right it's "no unless" (read the card next to it).
 
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