How to Ask Tarot Questions
An introduction to asking tarot questions, for anyone learning to read their own cards and for readers whose spreads keep coming back vague. Most of it is wording: one subject, an open "what" or "how" in place of "will" or "should I," and the question written down before the shuffle. The 60 questions run in the order a reading does: starting out, wording, each subject in turn, reading for someone else, what to ask once the cards are down, and afterwards. The same habits make for better questions in any kind of divination, and health and legal worries are marked as ones to take to a professional instead.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Starting out
What makes a good tarot question?
Why ask it
It has one subject, it is about something you can act on, and it can be answered by a description rather than a verdict. A quick test: if you can imagine writing the answer down as a sentence starting "so I will," the question will work.
What do I do when I do not know what to ask?
Why ask it
Start by describing the situation out loud in three sentences and notice which sentence you keep returning to. Pulling cards without a question is not useless, but it produces a reading you can bend to any conclusion, which is how a reading ends up reassuring you rather than informing you.
What is a good first question for someone new to tarot?
Why ask it
Something small, current and your own, such as "what should I keep in mind about this week at work." A low-stakes question lets you learn how the cards talk, and you can check the answer by Friday instead of waiting a year.
Should I write the question down before I shuffle?
Why ask it
Yes, in the words you would say to another person. Questions drift once cards are on the table, and a written version is the only way to tell later whether the reading answered what you asked or something adjacent to it.
How many questions can I ask in one reading?
Why ask it
One main question, and perhaps one follow-up on something the cards raised. Past that, attention thins and each new question is usually a way of avoiding the first answer.
Do I ask the question before I shuffle or while I am shuffling?
Why ask it
Either, as long as the wording is settled before the first card is turned. A common habit is to read the written question once, hold it in mind through the shuffle and cut when your attention starts to wander. Readers differ on the ritual, and none of it rescues a question that is still changing as you deal.
Do I have to say the question out loud?
Why ask it
No, but it has to exist in fixed words somewhere, spoken or written. Said aloud to a reader, it also gives them the chance to tell you it is really two questions before any card is turned.
Does my mood change how I should ask?
Why ask it
It changes how you will read the answer more than which cards you draw. On an upset evening, shrink the question to what would help tonight and keep the big one for a day when a hard card would not flatten you.
Do I need a question for a daily card?
Why ask it
A light one is enough: "what is worth my attention today." Drawing with nothing asked is a fair way to learn a new deck, but a card with no question behind it tends to get pinned to whatever you were already worrying about at breakfast.
How do I ask when someone else is reading the cards for me?
Why ask it
Bring one question, already written, and say it before the deck is cut. Two sentences of background are plenty: the more of your story the reader hears first, the harder it is to tell what came from the cards. If you are paying, find out at the start whether they take a question or only give general readings.
Wording
Why do readers steer away from yes or no questions?
Why ask it
Not because they are forbidden, but because a spread gives you images and a yes or no gives you one bit of information, so almost everything you pulled goes unused. The risk is that the reader supplies the answer from their own hunch and then finds a card to support it.
What is wrong with asking whether something will happen?
Why ask it
"Will" questions cannot be acted on and cannot be checked for a long time, so they tend to be asked again and again. Rewriting "will I get the job" as "what would strengthen my case" changes an unanswerable question into a to-do list.
How specific should the question be?
Why ask it
Specific about the subject, open about the answer. "What do I need to know about the conversation with my sister on Sunday" is well aimed; "what do I need to know" is too loose to interpret, and "will Sunday go well" is too closed to use.
Which words open a question well?
Why ask it
"What" and "how" do most of the work: what do I need to understand about, how can I approach, what am I overlooking in. They ask for a description, and a spread full of pictures is good at descriptions.
Why is "should I" a weak way to begin?
Why ask it
It hands the decision to the deck and leaves you to obey or rebel. "What would taking the flat ask of me" keeps the choice with you and still gets the information you wanted from "should I take the flat."
What about questions that start with "why"?
Why ask it
They work when the subject is you (why do I keep putting this off) and go sour when the subject is somebody else (why did she do that). The second kind is a request to read a mind, and what comes back is mostly blame.
How do I turn a yes or no question into an open one?
Why ask it
Keep the subject and drop the verdict. "Is this the right course for me" becomes "what would this course demand of me," and "will I pass" becomes "which part of my preparation is thinnest." The topic has not moved; only what you can do with the answer has.
What do I do with a question that has "and" in it?
Why ask it
Split it. "What about my job and the move" gives you cards that could belong to either half, and you will assign them to whichever you prefer. Ask about the half that is keeping you awake, and save the other for next week.
How do I keep the answer I am hoping for out of the wording?
Why ask it
Check whether the reading could disagree with you. "Why is this the right move for me" has already decided, so every card becomes a reason. If the wording leaves no room for an unwelcome answer, it is a statement with a question mark on the end.
How long should the question be?
Why ask it
One sentence you can say in a single breath. Backstory belongs in your notes or in what you tell the reader beforehand; a question carrying three clauses of context is usually an argument you are making to the cards.
Can I ever ask a plain yes or no?
Why ask it
You can, if you set the rules before you draw: one card, and what will count as a yes, written down. Treat the result as a lean and not a ruling, then ask an open question about why it leaned that way.
Do the same wording rules work for oracle cards, runes or other divination?
Why ask it
Largely, yes. One subject, open wording and a focus on your own conduct give any method of divination more to work with. The exception is a tool that is usually read as yes or no, such as a pendulum, where the craft is in making each question small and exact.
By subject
How do I ask about someone who has not asked for a reading?
Why ask it
Turn it towards yourself: not what your friend is thinking, but what you are misreading, what you have not said, or what your part in it is. You cannot check an answer about someone else's mind, which is why those readings breed more questions than they settle.
How do I ask about love or a relationship?
Why ask it
Ask about what you bring, want or avoid, and leave the other person's private feelings alone. "What have I not said to him" gives you a conversation to have. "Does he love me" gives you a card to stare at.
How do I ask about a conflict I am in the middle of?
Why ask it
Your own part and the next thing you could say are fair game; who is right is not. A reading that names a winner hardens your position, and you still have to see the person on Monday.
How do I ask about timing?
Why ask it
Swap "when" for "what would move this." A date is the thing a spread is worst placed to give and the hardest to catch being wrong, so timing questions can soak up months of asking. If you must date something, tie it to your own action: what would I need to do before autumn.
How do I ask about a choice between two options?
Why ask it
Give each option its own question, in the same session, with the same number of cards. "Which is better" invites a verdict; "what does this path involve," asked twice, gives you two descriptions you can compare, including the one you were hoping to rule out.
How do I ask about a decision I have already made?
Why ask it
Leave "was it right" alone and ask what will help you carry it through, or what you have not planned for. Putting a settled decision back on the table is usually nerves, and the cards will happily give nerves something to chew on.
How do I ask about work or money?
Why ask it
Keep the question on your own conduct and preparation: what am I avoiding in this negotiation, what am I overestimating. A reading has nothing to say about a market or an interview panel, and treating it as though it does is how people talk themselves out of doing the arithmetic.
How do I ask about a health worry?
Why ask it
This is one to take elsewhere. A reading cannot diagnose anything or tell you whether a symptom is serious, and time spent asking is time not spent at a clinic. If you want to use a reading at all, ask what is making you hesitate about seeing a doctor.
How do I ask about a legal matter?
Why ask it
A reading cannot tell you where you stand legally. Contracts, custody, immigration and tenancy turn on facts and deadlines, and the rules differ from one country or state to the next, so ask a lawyer or a local advice service how it works where you live. The most the cards can do is help you work out what you want from the outcome before that appointment.
Are there questions I should not ask tarot at all?
Why ask it
Nothing stops you asking anything, but three kinds tend to go badly: ones that need a qualified person (a symptom, a contract, money you cannot afford to lose), ones about people who never agreed to be read on, and the one you already asked this week. The first can cost you, the second is not yours to ask, and the third only feeds the worry.
How do I ask about something I am frightened of?
Why ask it
Name the fear in the question rather than circling it: what am I afraid of here, what would help me face it. Vague questions asked in a frightened state get read in the worst available light, so the wording is doing protective work as well as directing the reading.
How do I ask about the past?
Why ask it
Aim at your understanding of it and not at the facts. "What did I miss about that year" has a use, since how you read the past shapes what you do next; "what really happened" invites you to reassign blame with cards as evidence.
How do I ask about the year ahead?
Why ask it
Go for themes and where your effort is best spent, and leave out events with dates on them. One card a month under the same question, with the date beside it, gives you twelve things to check your own reading against by next winter.
How do I ask about myself when nothing is wrong?
Why ask it
Give the reading a direction anyway: what am I good at that I have stopped noticing, what am I ready for. Readings done only in a crisis teach you to expect bad news from the deck, so the quiet weeks are worth a question too.
Someone else
How do I ask a question for a tarot reading for someone else?
Why ask it
Have them say it in their own words, then read it back to them before you shuffle. Your job is to help shape the question, not to supply it: an answer to a question you wrote for them is one they will not recognise as theirs.
Should they tell me the question or keep it to themselves?
Why ask it
Both work. A spoken question lets you help with the wording and aim your reading at it. A private one is fine if they write it down first, so that afterwards they can judge the reading against what they really asked and not against a memory that has shifted.
How much of their situation do I need to hear first?
Why ask it
Enough to understand the question, which is rarely more than two sentences. After a ten-minute briefing you are reading the person's story back to them, and neither of you can tell what the cards added.
What if the person has no question?
Why ask it
Offer two or three starters and let them pick: what deserves my attention this month, what am I not seeing about work. If they would still prefer a general reading, say that the answer will be general as well, so a wide spread does not come as a letdown.
How do I help them reword a yes or no question without taking it over?
Why ask it
Ask what they would do with a yes, and what they would do with a no. The open question is usually sitting inside those two answers, and you can hand it back as "would it be fair to ask it this way?" The final wording stays theirs.
What do I do when their question is about a third person?
Why ask it
Say plainly that you read for the person at the table, then bring it round: what do you want to understand about your side of this? It is an easy swap to accept, because their side is the only one they can do anything about.
Can I ask on behalf of someone who is not in the room?
Why ask it
Only if they asked you to, and with the question in their words; a text message will do. Send them the cards and your notes afterwards. Drawing on a friend who does not know about it is the uninvited kind of reading, however kindly it is meant.
How do I handle two people who want one reading together?
Why ask it
Agree one wording that both of them accept before you shuffle, or read for each in turn with their own question. A shared reading on a question only one of them chose turns into that person's case against the other.
What if they ask about something I should not read on?
Why ask it
Say so before any card is drawn. A diagnosis, a court case, a pregnancy or whether a partner is lying are not yours to answer, and you can offer the question that sits beside it: what would help you through the wait for the results. Deciding your limits in advance is easier than finding them mid-spread.
How do I check I answered their question and not mine?
Why ask it
Read the written question aloud at the end and ask them to tell you, in a sentence, what they heard. If their sentence is about something else, you drifted, and it is better to learn that while the cards are still on the table.
In the spread
How do I write a question for a spread with several positions?
Why ask it
One question, then let the positions do the dividing: what is behind this, what is in front of it, what am I not seeing. Asking a different question of each position produces several small readings that do not add up to anything.
How do I match the question to the number of cards?
Why ask it
Size for size. A today-sized question gets one card, a situation with a before and an after gets three, and only a wide question asked a few times a year earns a big layout. Ten cards on a small question will always produce an answer, which is the trouble.
How do I follow up on a card I cannot make sense of?
Why ask it
Ask a narrower question about that card's position rather than restating the whole thing, and pull one card only. If the second card is just as opaque, stop: an answer forced out of three extra pulls is your interpretation with decoration on it.
What do I ask when the cards seem to be answering something else?
Why ask it
Take the hint once: ask what the reading is about, if not what you asked. Often it is the question underneath the polite one. Write that down as its own question for another day, so today's reading is not stretched to cover both.
Can I change the question once the cards are down?
Why ask it
No. Finish reading the question you shuffled on, however clumsy it now looks, and note the better one for next time. A question edited after the cards are visible will fit them perfectly, and that fit means nothing.
Can I draw again on the same question straight away?
Why ask it
Once, if the wording was genuinely poor and you can say what you changed. Repulling because you did not like the answer is a habit worth naming out loud: it does not produce a better reading, and it slowly teaches you that readings mean nothing.
What do I ask when a card frightens me?
Why ask it
Bring it back to the situation you are already in: what does this describe, and what can I do about it. Cards with grim pictures, Death and the Tower among them, are usually read as an ending or an upheaval and not as a forecast of harm. If the dread stays, close the reading for the day.
How do I ask a closing question?
Why ask it
One card on "what do I do first," and the answer written as a single sentence beginning with a verb. It turns a table of images into something for Tuesday, and it gives the reading an end so you are not tempted to keep pulling.
Afterwards
How do I tell whether the question was the problem?
Why ask it
Look at whether you can state the answer in one sentence and do something with it. If you cannot, the usual causes are a compound question, a question about someone else's mind, or a question about timing. Rewrite it and read again another day rather than the same hour.
What do I do with an answer I did not want?
Why ask it
Write it down as it came, without softening it, and leave it for a day. If it still looks wrong after that, say what specifically is wrong with it. An answer you can argue with in detail has usually told you something, which is more than a comfortable one does.
How long should I wait before asking about the same subject again?
Why ask it
Until something has changed: the conversation has happened, the deadline has passed, you did the thing or decided not to. Counting events works better than counting days, because a week in which nothing moved gives the cards nothing new to describe.
What should I note about the question in a tarot journal?
Why ask it
The exact wording, the date, the cards, the answer in one sentence and, later, what happened. After a few months the wording column is the useful one: you can see which kinds of question led to something you did.
Can I ask the cards about my own reading habits?
Why ask it
Yes, and it is one of the few readings you can check. Ask what you habitually avoid seeing in a spread, or which question you keep asking in different words, then hold the answer up against your journal.
How do I get better at asking over time?
Why ask it
Reread a month of your questions in one go and mark the ones you acted on. You will probably find your dead ends share a shape, a "will" here, somebody else's feelings there, and that personal list teaches more than any general rule about how to ask better questions.
Before, during and after a reading
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you shuffle
Say the situation out loud
Three sentences, unedited. The sentence you keep returning to is usually the question, and it is rarely the one you had planned to ask.
Write the question down
In plain words, one subject, no "and." If you change one habit, make it this one: a written question cannot move to fit the cards.
Decide what a useful answer would look like
If no possible answer would change what you do next, either rewrite the question or accept that you are asking for company rather than guidance.
During the reading
Read the whole spread before deciding
Interpreting card by card lets the first strong image set the conclusion, and the rest gets fitted around it.
Notice what you skip
The card you find hard to talk about is worth more attention than the one that confirms your expectation.
Keep the question in view
Glance back at the written question. If your interpretation has quietly become about something else, that drift is worth noting rather than following.
Afterwards
Record the question, the cards and the date
Notes are what make a practice improvable. Without them you cannot tell which kinds of question have been useful to you.
Write one action
A single sentence about what you will do differently. Readings with no action attached tend to be remembered as moods.
Leave it alone for a while
Coming back to the same subject the next day usually means asking the same question again. Give it long enough that something has actually changed.
When the question is someone else's
Let them own the wording
Ask the person to put the question their own way, then repeat it back before you touch the deck. Suggest an open version if they bring a yes or no, and take theirs if they prefer it.
Say what is off the table first
Tell them at the start what you do not read on: health, legal trouble, and people who are not present. That sentence is far easier to say before the cards are down than after.
Hand the question back at the end
Close by reading their question aloud and asking what they are taking away. Their one-sentence summary shows whether the reading landed on what they asked.
Questions that belong elsewhere
- Symptoms, diagnoses and medication: a doctor or pharmacist, not a spread.
- Contracts, deadlines, custody and immigration: a lawyer or a local advice service.
- Whether a partner is lying or unfaithful: a conversation with them.
- Anything involving your safety: someone you trust, or a support service in your country.
- Readings about people who did not ask for one, including their relationships and health.