Ready, Steady, Tarot!
An interesting question was posed on the Tarot Professionals Facebook group:
What do readers do when their client sits down for a reading with no questions to ask? Wanting only whatever you ‘can see’ for them?
For the shorter readings that I offer in my tarot practice I always tell clients that it is best to get to the point as soon as possible, seeing as we only have 15 minutes. When they don’t have specific questions (and they often don’t) it is difficult to tell them something about their lives that gives them clarity and answers in such a short space of time. Particularly as I am one of those readers that do NOT want a single client to leave my reading table feeling that my reading was as general or generic as anything their hairdresser or best friend might have told them. If I can’t give answers and clarity in those 15 minutes they have wasted their time and money; well, that’s my philosophy.
For that I need specific questions. This is a problem if the client has no questions at all!
I start my readings by telling them something like this:
I have been reading tarot for 15 years. Over this time I have discovered that the best approach is to get to the heart of the matter as soon as possible, particularly in these short readings. The way that I approach this is through a questions & answers session. I know that most people do not have a list of questions in their head, and even if they did, when I put them on the spot their questions often elude them. That’s okay. Over the years I have also discovered that most questions fall into relatively predictable categories. I’ll go over these with you and I guarantee that by the time I have, you’ll have at least 3 questions. This is not an exhaustive list, it is however a list from which most questions arise during short readings.
The most popular categories from which questions flow are:
Love, the romantic kind:Â Whether you’re stuck in a past relationship, enquiring about a current relationship or whether you’d like to know if you might attract a future relationship.
Family:Â Anyone from your dead grandparents to your unborn grandchildren, and everyone in-between.
General relationships: Platonic friendships, neighbours, colleagues.
Career: This includes ‘study’ for students and ‘business’ for business owners.
Finance: Not the same as career. This would cover investments, large purchases and sales such as property, also inheritance etc
Health: I am not a health professional and do not offer medical advice. I can however tell you about current health issues, future health issues and how to possibly avoid them.
Travel: Give me a choice of two or more places that you need to decide between and I can tell you which one will most likely offer you the best experience.
I also tell my clients upfront that they can ask me anything as long as it is not to ‘eavesdrop’ on somebody else’s life, the lotto numbers or exact timing. Anything else is doable.
I have yet to come across a client who cannot find at least 3 questions.
The key (as I tell my clients) is to ask very specific questions to which I can provide very specific answers through tarot. If the question is vague the answer is general. I help them to ‘tweak’ their questions so that they are as specific as possible.
I hope my approach helps those of you who have wondered how to read for someone without questions. This way you’ll always have happy clients who leave there with more clarity than they had walking in.
Happy reading!
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About The Author
Rootweaver
Tarot reader, Lenormand reader, deck creator, artist, poet, published author, mother & wife. Rootweaver is the creatrix of the (self-published) Vintage Lenormand, LeNewbie Lenormand, BYO Lenormand and Zingdoodle Lenormand decks.
Hiya, i enjoyed reading your article. Ive studied the tarot 5yrs and only over the past year have i started reading for people and getting a few quid to do so. My approach is different in that i dont know the questions. I ask my questioners to keep the question they have to themselves and shuffle the deck while concentrating what they want to ask. A lot of the time i dont even know their name. It seems to work for me. x
Thank you for your insights Katrina. This is the approach that I use for the short (15 minute) readings. For longer readings (1 hour) I go into full ‘channel mode’ with no questions needed. These usually take-up most of the hour but if there is time left after the channeling I do end with a Q&A on issues not covered in the ‘general’ reading.
Dear JBR,
I have two responses, one short, the other longer, to this interesting article about clients without questions.
The short suggestion is to just ask them “What inspired you to get a Tarot reading today?” Something triggered a desire to get a reading, even if it is curiosity about the cards.
My longer response to your query goes to the heart of Tarot reading styles with their various advantages and disadvantages. As you listed, romance, family, relationships, career, finances, health, and travel are popular human preoccupations that color the approach many readers and clients take to working with Tarot. Yet, I find that limiting readings to a Q & A exchange sets the parameters on what can emerge. One would certainly be stumped with no question if one is only focused on providing answers.
When a client comes to me with no “question,†something I reframe as an “exploration†of the Tarot, we simply ask for guidance and trust what emerges. Since my Tarot Counseling style is not directed at providing answers, it allows the space and time to go more deeply into whatever issue emerges, trusting the cards to inspire our focus. With this in mind, my minimum reading is 30 minutes with most appointments set for an hour to allow a more complete experience.
Here is the advantage to the client when taking a more guidance-based approach to Tarot reading. The client tends to resolve their issue that inspired the reading and usually do not return with the same question, unless it is a long-term issue in their life from which they are peeling off layers.
When working with oracles, such as the Lenormand cards, it is certainly designed as a Q & A medium, which is an art in itself. Some folks may feel challenged or overwhelmed by the symbolism and versatility of Tarot cards and the multitude of styles for reading. But, I believe I would be doing a disservice to Tarot if I did not speak for the diversity of approaches to this powerful deck of cards.
Thank you for posing this important question.
Blessings,
Katrina