Why I don’t like asking the tarot yes/no questions

The short answer to why I don’t like yes/no tarot questions is that I find them disempowering. The slightly longer answer is that in asking the cards whether I should or shouldn’t do something, or whether something will or won’t happen the way I want it to, gives the cards an extreme amount of power over me. I love tarot cards but I don’t use them to tell me what to do. To do so is a dangerous practice. I don’t believe the cards should rule my life. Nor do I believe that’s their purpose. I believe they can be used to guide us, enlighten us, encourage us, inspire us, motivate us, but not to tell us what to do.

It is however a very easy trap to fall into. When I sat down at my desk this morning, I pulled out my cards and I began to ask whether my husband and I would get through our current financial squeeze. Soon the very nature of the question made me realise the answer to that wasn’t going to do anything for me. Depending on the cards I drew it might make me feel better, or it could make me feel worse. But ultimately, what would it have actually achieved? If the answer was to suggest no, what then? Maybe another spread. Most probably. Then hopefully I would have asked a more appropriate question.

Asking the question, “What can I do to handle the current financial squeeze I’m experiencing?” is a much more positive approach. It suggests I have options, and more importantly, it makes me accountable. In case your interested, I’ve placed the spread result below.

The basic outline for the spread is that the top line suggests “where I’m at now.” The second line suggests “what action I can/need to take” and the final line is for “any additional messages I need to hear.” Even though initially I follow these guidelines in reality I read this as a very fluid spread.

I also look at:

• the overall energy as expressed by the suits and the numbers;
• whether there are any repeated cards, colours, symbols etc and what that means to me;
• what the diagonals and vertical lines suggest;
• the centre card;
• what card stands out to me the most;
• whatever my intuition tells me to take notice of.

This is what I consider a fixed/fluid spread. For a while now this is how I have read spreads. I want to write a pros and cons post about this approach because now I’m curious to explore the benefits and limitations of reading this way. Why write? because writing gives me focus and I find I uncover more when I take the time to put things down on paper. This applies to my tarot readings as well. When I “write up” a reading rather than just read the cards I find I gain much more clarity and I uncover more connections. But that may be just me so, all that aside, until I explore the pros and cons for myself, for now, that it is how I read.

Besides, it’s time to get back to why I don’t like yes/no questions. Whilst we may think a yes/no answer will give us clarity, I don’t think that’s the case. If something is that black and white shouldn’t the answer already be obvious to us? And, even if it is not, tarot should never be placed in charge. It is a tool. It is 78 pieces of artwork that can offer us guidance. It should not decide our fate.

Put another way, picture this hopefully exaggerated scenario. Someone sits down and asks the cards, “Should I leave my job?” They then draw three cards and they react. “Oh wow the tarot says yes. Quick, where’s my laptop? I need to write a resignation letter!” Laptop found, they sit down and frantically type away, hopefully at least in a well-considered way, and email it off to their boss. Who would do that you may wonder. I hope no-one. It seems a crazy and scary way to live and thus I’m hoping this is a wildly exaggerated example. Although I do remember reading something on LinkedIn about a soldier in the Russian/Ukraine war who was allowed to go home but his Mum told him to stay because that’s what her tarot cards told her. I’m hoping that was a gross exaggeration also.

Does that mean tarot can’t help. No, not at all. It all comes down to the questions asked. For example, questions such as “What should I consider before leaving my job?” “Why do I want to leave my current job?” or “What are my reservations in taking the new position I have been offered?” are more likely to help you unravel the cause of your confusion and doubt. You may even answer your question without the need to draw a card simply because sitting down to do so helped you clarify the cause of your indecision. After all, we are always the source of our own answers and solutions.

Please bear in mind that this is my approach to tarot. This is tarot my way. I am sharing my thoughts and ideas. If you disagree I’d always love to hear your take on things and I want to assert that

the best approach to tarot is the one that is right for you.

The deck featured is the Wizards Tarot by Barbara Moore and Mieke Janssens, third printing, first edition, published by Llewellyn in 2020