reading request I got...

[Lillie]

i'm speechless.

"Will my relationship now flourish to the next level."

obviously the person feels they are not in control of their destiny, right? how do I answer? Only one card reading.

That question?
One card?

Just slap it down, if it's a good one the answer is yes, if it's a bad one the answer is no.

That is clearly a yes or no question, anything over and above that is a bonus for them.

And its a stupid question anyway.
What?
It's going to flourish to the next level of what???
Maybe it's going to stagger to the next level, or take the escalator.
Maybe it will clamber to the next level using ropes and crampons and then flourish when it gets there.

And anyhow, what kind of levels are there in a relationship?
Is it like when you are a kid at school and you are hoping to get to 'Number two over'? Or even better, 'number two under!'

What if the next level is like a really crap one? Like when you are playing a game and the last level was Ok but the next level is really dire and you can't get past the guard and you keep dying and even when you do get past the guard you find you should have got something before you got past the guard and now you got past without getting it you have to die and go back so you can get it and do it all over again...

These are questions that really ought to be addressed, but in the end it's phrased as a yes or no question and that's all the answer it needs.
Then whatever the questioner meant by their bizarre and badly phrased question is irrelevant. They will know (hopefully) and will be able to apply the yes or the know to their pre-existing but unshared wisdom.

 

[214red]

i agree with most of the comments here!

i would ask the person what she actually wants to know, because the question doesnt really make sense. it sounds like she wants to change the relationship and wants to know what the effects of that will be....

i bounce questions like that straight back
its a bit like saying "if i sleep with him will he still want me"

 

[olivia1]

i'm speechless.

"Will my relationship now flourish to the next level."

obviously the person feels they are not in control of their destiny, right?

None of us have full control of our destiny. No one is so all knowing that they can control every significant thing that happens in their lives. By the way the question was phrased, it sounds like they want to know if the relationship will flourish if things continue as they are. It's a legit question.

how do I answer? Only one card reading.

answer truthfully. If you don't like the question, tell her to rephrase or tell her that you wont do it.

 

[Umbrae]

I apologize in advance​

i'm speechless.

Why? It's a standard Tarot question. Get used to it.

"Will my relationship now flourish to the next level."

obviously the person feels they are not in control of their destiny, right?

S'cuze me? What makes you say that? Suppose what they intended on typing was “Given my current actions, will my relationship now flourish to the next level?” Your response is judgmental in nature (even if you didn't mean it to be).

how do I answer? Only one card reading.

You offered a one-card reading, you respond with a one card reading. But do whatever you gotta do to get your own opinions out of the way, which will be difficult now, since you not only thought it – but expressed it as well.

As a reader, it is incumbant upon us to listen carefully to the sitter. Not what they have asked, but what they may have meant to ask.

Some readers go through all sorts of linguistic contortions to get the question 'just right' (like that Dan guy sez, “an ambigouous question will provide an ambigouous answer”). Yeah well that's good and all, but sometimes we just need to boil away the sitters verbaige.

They are unable to see their situation in an other light.

They may be unable to express themselves as we would hope.

There is no need to re-phrase the question...

Listen.​

The question is 'bout love, and moving to the next level.
That's all they are asking.
Anything else is not part of the question – and we have no business inferring what they may have meant.

Flip the card – read the card.