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This is a thread discussing how to word a question. Feel free to add your own quotes/opinions, sample questions, or discuss how you word your questions when asking your cards.

" The question you ask of the Tarot reader is paramount in determining the response the Tarot cards give you. In mathematical terms, the accuracy of the answer is a function of the accuracy of the question. The most precise your question, the more precise of an answer you will be given. If your question is vague and general the answer will be likewise; if there are many details in the question, expect a very detailed response...

...You must also be willing to at least consider the advice given to you by the reader, and not dismiss it as the ravings of a deluded fool. The Tarot only works for those who are willing to listen. An interpreter will interpret only if there is someone for whom to interpret; otherwise they stay silent. If you do not want to be helped then there is no way the Tarot can help you."

- James Rioux

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"Exactly what kind of question you ask, and how you phrase it, affects how accurate an answer is, as does your view of oracles. If you believe in fixed fate, that is what you will see. If you believe the future is flexible, you will see possibilities...

...The type of question you ask will to a large extent how helpful the reply will be. Open questions create a space for something new to emerge, for the unseen to become visible. Open questions bring out potentials, illuminate choices, and highlight hidden aspects. Open questions allow and facilitate. Closed questions demand rigid yes-or-no answers, but few oracles give yes-or-no replies. Guidance is difficult to obtain from closed questions.

If you make your question too simple, it may defeat itself. If it is too complex, you may have to stretch the answer to fit it. It is better to take questions in manageable chunks and do a reading in several parts. Questions such as "Why did he do that" or "Will she marry me" put the focus on the other person. Such questions not only block insights into your own self, but tend to receive answers that can easily be misinterpreted. Readings that rely on someone else doing what the reading says they will do invariably disappoint."



Except the first quote, the rest of this is pulled from the Illustrated Guide to Divination.