Yes/No Spreads. Are they even possible?

[augursWell]

I recently tried asking a Yes/No question using a three card spread that I found on the internet. It basically came up with a totally ambiguous answer, which I guess is how this three card spread was designed, leave it up to the querent to make the final decision. But it left me with the question, can a tarot spread ever really answer a straight yes or a straight no?

Anybody have a favorite yes/no spread that really says yes or no?

 

[cricket]

Survey says: yes! I've actually run across a couple of them, but they're all based on the same thing. The one that works best for me is a simple five card spread. Shuffle the deck as if you were going to use reversals, then lay out the five cards. If there are more uprights than reversals, the answer is yes. If there are more reversed than upright, the answer is no.

 

[mercenary30]

I have seen one too

This one uses nine cards, or ten if you want a significator. Here is the pattern.

5------------9
---4------8-
------1---
---7------3-
6------------2

1 is the answering card reversed is a no.

2/3 - Helpful Influences
4/5 - Mental Reaction
6/7 - Adverse Influences
8/9 - Emotiona Reaction

All the other cards should support the answering card and allow for some reasoning as to why the anser is positive or negative.

 

[augursWell]

Thanks all for the replies.

I'm left with a problem though because I don't use reversals. Maybe that's why yes/no's don't work for me?

All my decks are always upright. I always find it more disconcerting to look at a card upside down so getting a negative concept from a reversed card doesn't seem worth it to me, I'd rather use the card position to determine the meaning.

mercenary30, I like that spread. I'll have to see if I can resolve this reversed card thing though.

 

[punchinella]

Augurswell, I'm with you on this one. A yes/no spread that did not depend on reversals would be great, wouldn't it. I don't like flipping things upside down either--position is good enough thank you very much . . . reversals are annoying & disconcerting. But without them yes/no doesn't quite work, does it. --P.

 

[mercenary30]

Reversals

What if you were to put all the cards out in the normal fashion and then just turn the deck around and around until you no longer know which direction is right. Then pull and drop the y/n card. Then you can look at the deck and put they all away correctly when you are done........

I guess that sounds kind of silly.

 

[zorya]

i have used the standard, yes, other, no spread but sometimes want something a little clearer.

the other method i use, can be done with upright only or reversed cards but probably won't be too much help to anyone, as i don't exactly use positions for simpler readings. i just kind of read the cards.... but maybe someone can use this idea and form their own spread if they like.

when i have a yes or no type question, i pull three cards for the 'what if i do (or 'yes'), and another three for 'what if i don't (or 'no'). the comparison is almost always enough to make my decision from.

 

[punchinella]

2 good ideas from mercenary & zorya--mercenary yours is a bit like flipping a coin! Only, being tarot, a mite richer since you can then read the card in question!

Zorya, thank you, your solution seems sensible. I'll have to try it next time I have that particular kind of yes/no q. --P.

 

[augursWell]

2 good ideas from mercenary & zorya--mercenary yours is a bit like flipping a coin! Only, being tarot, a mite richer since you can then read the card in question!

Zorya, thank you, your solution seems sensible. I'll have to try it next time I have that particular kind of yes/no q. --P.

Likewise.

Actually, mercenary30, that is a very good idea. I will try that out.

I also like the "What if I Do/Don't" solution from Zorya. That would also give a more detailed way of deciding.

By the way, bec, if you're still there, you mention you don't use yes/no questions. I also use them only rarely. Is there a reason you steer away from them?

Thanks.

 

[lawguy51]

Do Not Do

At the class I took this summer, Rachel Pollack introduced us to a spread her assistant had developed, hence it's title: Zoe's Spread. Rachel explains that with all the emphasis on NOT fortune telling, that sometimes we miss the opportunity to just ask the cards directly. So, say you can't decide to pick up the phone and give someone what-for, you draw three cards.

2....1....3

1. The issue
2. Don't Do
3. Do, or as Rachel called it, do do .

I've used this spread a lot and it's quite uncanny in its advice.

Lawguy51