Asking serious questions

I do ask serious questions sometimes, but I am essentially asking pieces of paper. If I am to ask a serious question, I know that the I can be wrong and the choice is up to me.

Sometimes the cards reflect what I think about the object of concern and not what is. I only find out the cards reflected what I felt.. which can help. I try not to concern myself with "what is" vs. "what I think or feel of it" too much.

If you feel that if you receive a negative answer, it will affect your actions, then I wouldn't read on serious things... for now. There are things I don't want the answer to, just yet.

If you receive a negative answer... is it really negative and why do you think it is?

Perhaps at another time, you will be able to to read on serious things without worrying about the cards affecting you.

Tarot is a tool to help you to find the right answers, not a device that will tell you the answers.

"Bad" answers can serve as cautionary advice. Use the advice to find a way to eliminate or minimize the possible negative consequences of a decision, but don't let it scare you away from a path unless you truly come to believe that the path is wrong for you- not because the cards say it is wrong, but because you came to see it as the wrong path yourself. The cards can inspire different ways to think about an issue, but just because a reading is cautionary doesn't mean that the problems are unavoidable.

Frankly, if you ever find yourself doing something because a deck of cards told you it was the best thing to do, then you might just have issues taking responsibility for your own actions. You own your actions, not the cards- never forget that.

-tb

I think my biggest caution about using tarot to make big decisions is that it shouldn't be the only tool you use to evaluate the situation. You should of course use your mind and emotions, and even your body's reactions to things. Trust yourself. But trusting your intuition is also important to learn, as someone mentioned.

Book interpretations can be helpful when you're starting out, if you don't think you're getting anything intuitively, and if they're good book interpretations. Good book interpretations should tell you what the card might be about, what its temper is. The book interpretations that give advice are useless, because of course the author doesn't know your unique situation and is writing in general terms or most likely scenarios, and according to their opinion. So if the book says to DO something, ignore that. You still decide what to do, you're just asking what the cards reveal in the situation at hand that will help you decide.

I would pay more attention to suit and number, as well as the image, and what they mean to you, than to advice from a tarot book about what to do if you draw that card. When you gain a feel for the suit and number, then you can use your own knowledge of your situation to help determine what the card means -- in this situation -- and then make your own choices. That's where intuitive reading begins.

In other words, trust yourself, trust the cards and your quieter, softer feelings about them -- rather than your louder, more dramatic surface emotions. But don't trust the book to decide for you or give you advice about what to do.

Also remember that in life there are no definitive answers to some questions. Some situations have trade offs. The job I love might pay less money, or the less polluting and fuel consumptive car I want may cost more than I can afford. It's what we can live with, and learn from, that counts. We do the best we can, using all the tools at our disposal. But even that doesn't always guarantee the "perfect" outcome we hope for -- and sometimes in retrospect we're better off not getting what we hoped for. Sometimes we get something better. So it's not always best to count too much on, or try to control, any particular outcome.

I do think tarot can help to reveal what the trade offs might be in a situation, and that helps us make choices.

Nevada

Someone on here once told me a long time ago (as I was looking for an answer to a very difficult question) that the best thing to do is to ask what you can do, either for the other person or for yourself, to prepare and move through whatever it is you are facing.
This is basically the advice you're getting here That perspective helped out my readings a good deal, I'm a better reader because of it, and the future is constantly in flux. The only thing we can control is ourselves, and action instead of reaction is key.

Everyone has given me much to think about.

I think, after my brief experiences with the Tarot, that it really isn't for me.

I think (in some ways) that it limits my intuition and the direction I feel I am being pulled towards.

I'm not able to predict the future or anything, but I do feel a high level of what is "right" and "wrong" as far as direction in my life. I think everyone has that, but whether or not they choose to tune in is a different story ...

I have found that instead of enhancing my intuition lately, the Tarot has blocked it. I've been too concerned with what the cards say!

But I have enjoyed reading and corresponding with people on here, and I will continue to read. Tarot is a very interesting subject, and I do believe that many people have a wonderful gift in regards to reading cards.

Dragon-Capricorn said:

Sometimes I wonder whether or not I should ask serious questions to the Tarot.

If I don't like the answer I receive, I feel like it will affect the decision I make. Maybe sometimes it is good, but maybe sometimes it is bad. How do I know for sure?

For example, I have no problem asking things about finances, or what does so-and-so think of me, etc. But for really serious things - like health, or something else I have in mind (looking into adopting a child), I don't want to consult the cards.

I feel like if I were to receive a negative answer, it would affect my actions in a negative light, therefore producing an even more negative outcome than originally intended.

Thoughts?

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My thought is, for example, if you want to know about your health why not ask something like "What steps can I take now that will truly improve my health?" or "What steps can I take now that will lead me to the best outcome when it comes to adopting a child?(presuming adoption is what you want).

But you get the drift. With these kinds of questions, not only will you not receive negative answers, but following these steps will lead you to your happiest future in these areas. You can even ask in general, "What can I do not to lead my life towards my happiest future?" These will give you steps you can take to improve your life and if you take them you will improve it.

The way you phrase the question affects the answers you get. Like if you don't feel prepared yet to hear anything negative on a topic you can ask for only positive info to be given if that is what you want.

You can ask "What positive information can you tell me about my health now?" I'm not saying that is usually the way I would go, if think I would prefer the truth, but the point is that you can always feel free to write the question in a way that gives you the kind of information you want and does not tell you the kind of info you are not ready to hear.

But I even did this myself lately. I am trying to diet and well...it's hard. I felt I wanted only positive encouraging info on how to succeed. I did not want to hear negative info as when I feel down I eat more! My question then was:
"What can you tell me now that will motivate me in a positive way (only) to stick to my diet?"

Anyway, you get the drift. LOL You can, if you choose, purposely taylor your question so that your answer gives you only the kind of info you want and avoids the kind you don't want.

Babs

Dragon-Capricorn said:

Everyone has given me much to think about.

I think, after my brief experiences with the Tarot, that it really isn't for me.

I think (in some ways) that it limits my intuition and the direction I feel I am being pulled towards.

I'm not able to predict the future or anything, but I do feel a high level of what is "right" and "wrong" as far as direction in my life. I think everyone has that, but whether or not they choose to tune in is a different story ...

I have found that instead of enhancing my intuition lately, the Tarot has blocked it. I've been too concerned with what the cards say!

But I have enjoyed reading and corresponding with people on here, and I will continue to read. Tarot is a very interesting subject, and I do believe that many people have a wonderful gift in regards to reading cards.

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Oh well, we're all different after all. I am just the opposite! I have no intuition at all without the cards. I am only able to be intuitive with them.

Anyway, I wish you all the best on whatever path is calling to you and feels right to you,

Babs

Oh gosh, Dragon-Capricorn, I hope my input hasn't helped put you off Tarot. It's your choice of course, but I suspect that if you stayed with it, and as you got more comfortable, you'd find it isn't limiting at all. But we each have to find our own ways of getting answers in life, with Tarot or without it, and do what's best for us.

Tarot is structured, and I think it seems even more so when first learning it, and maybe that's adding to your feeling that it's too limiting. But really there isn't any right or wrong way to do it. Everything we say here is just opinion -- and we have lots of those!

Maybe you'd be more comfortable with some other type of oracle that doesn't feel so systematic to you. (Of course it's possible that none at all is best for you, and you know best.)

You might be interested in Umbrae's post (#15) on this thread --

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=103068

-- regarding Soul Cards. I find what he says about them interesting from a non-structured, intuitive reading standpoint. I don't have any Soul Cards -- yet -- but I'm tempted recently to try them out.

I hope we continue to see you around the forums, and best wishes with whatever you decide about continuing your Tarot adventures.

Nevada

Nevada said:

Oh gosh, Dragon-Capricorn, I hope my input hasn't helped put you off Tarot.

I hope we continue to see you around the forums, and best wishes with whatever you decide about continuing your Tarot adventures.

Nevada

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No, don't worry - it's nothing you said/wrote! LOL Just more of a feeling I get when using Tarot that I am worrying/thinking too much about what the cards say, and not trusting my own instincts/intuition.

I'll definitely be around the forums, even if I'm just stalking ;-) Tarot is still a mystery I would like to study!

D-C,

The choice is yours, of course, but I hope you don't give up tarot. Did you take a foreign language in school? When you're first learning a new language, you're too busy worrying about the conjugation of that verb, what order the words go in and how to pronounce the words to actually speak the language with any ease. But the more you study and practice, the easier it becomes for you to speak that language.

Learning tarot is the same way. Yes, it's awkward at first, but the more you use it and practice it, the easier it becomes.

We were all there at one point in our lives. And we're all here to help you get past this point if you want our help.

Rodney