Asking a Good Question

The question you bring shapes the reading. Here's how to phrase one that opens the cards up instead of shutting them down.

More readings are spoiled by the question than by the cards. A closed, yes-or-no question — "Will he call me?" — asks the cards to flip a coin, and wastes everything they're good at. An open question — "What's really going on between us?" — asks them to describe, and description is where the insight lives.

The best questions put you at the centre, because you're the only part of the situation you can actually move. "What do I need to understand about this job?" reads far better than "Will I get the job?" The first invites guidance you can act on; the second asks for a fortune you can only wait on.

A quick test before you draw: could the answer be a single word? If so, widen it. Swap "Will," "Should," and "When" for "What," "How," and "Why." And if you truly have no question, don't force one — an open reading is a perfectly good question in itself.

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