My Journey with Yes/No Tarot Readings
So, I started seeing folks talk about using Tarot cards for simple yes or no questions. Seemed kinda weird at first, you know? Tarot always felt like this big, complex thing with deep meanings. How could you boil it down to just yes or no?
But I was curious. Sometimes you just want a quick pointer, not a whole life story spread. So, I decided to give it a shot myself. I already had a Rider-Waite deck lying around – the classic one everyone seems to start with.
First few times? Honestly, it was a mess. I’d pull a card like the Ten of Swords. Is that a yes or a no? Felt like a definite NO, right? Pain, endings, rock bottom. Okay, easy enough. But then I’d pull something like The Lovers. Is that yes? Maybe? It felt more complicated than a simple yes.
I looked online, saw different guides. Some said upright is usually yes, reversed is usually no. Others had specific lists for each card. It got confusing fast, and none of it felt quite right for me. It felt like trying to fit square pegs in round holes.
So I thought, screw the complicated rules someone else made up. This is my practice. I decided to keep it super simple and go with my gut feeling when I pulled the card for a yes/no question.
Here’s kinda how I started breaking it down, my personal take:
- Generally “Yes” cards for me: The Sun, The Star, The World, Ace of Cups, Ace of Wands, Six of Wands, Nine of Cups, Ten of Pentacles. These just feel positive, like things are flowing, opening up. Green lights.
- Generally “No” cards for me: The Tower, Devil, Ten of Swords, Five of Cups, Five of Pentacles, Three of Swords, Nine of Swords. These feel like blockages, warnings, difficulties. Red lights.
- The “Maybe” or “Rephrase” cards: The High Priestess (tells me I need more info or it’s hidden), The Hanged Man (suggests waiting or a different perspective), Two of Swords (indecision, stalemate), Temperance (needs balance, maybe not right now). These cards usually make me rethink the question or realize the answer isn’t a simple yes/no.
I stopped worrying too much about reversals for simple yes/no. If I pull a card upright that feels like a “no” (like the Ten of Swords), it’s a no. If I pull a card reversed that feels like a “yes” (like The Sun reversed), maybe it’s a “yes, but…” or a delayed yes. Again, gut feeling became key.
I also started pulling a clarifier sometimes. If I got a “maybe” card or something unclear, I’d pull one more card just asking “what else do I need to know about this?” That usually helped clear things up without doing a full spread.
It took practice. Lots of it. Just sitting with my deck, asking simple questions I already knew the answer to, just to see what came up and how it felt. Like, “Is the sky blue today?” Pull a card. See how it resonates. Sounds silly, but it helped me build my own vocabulary with the cards for these quick questions.
Now, it’s just a tool I use sometimes. It doesn’t replace deeper readings, but for those moments when I just need a quick gut check or a pointer, it works for me. It’s less about some “official” meaning and more about the conversation I’ve built with my own deck. It’s practical, it’s personal, and it didn’t require buying a whole new system. Just used what I had and followed my intuition. Works for me, anyway.
