There are a few really great tarot groups on social media where folks share readings they perform and ask other group members to share thoughts and interpretations to offer a clearer understanding of the reading.

Very often the readings consist only of three cards with no positional meanings and a poorly worded question. This sometimes leads to confusion and misunderstanding, rather than the clarity we hope to glean from a tarot reading.

Tarot is like any other tool, your success with it will be determined by your own skill and technique.

One sort of question that really does not lend itself to the three-card non-positioned spread is a question that begins with the word “should”.

Should I buy this car? Should I leave my job? Should I give Joe another chance?

Many smart tarot people shake their heads at the should questions because, by definition, a should question is a “yes-or-no” question. Many people feel that tarot is not well-suited to answer yes-or-no questions. The thing is, many of our questions for tarot do involve decisions. I think we can get good information to help with our decisions if we use the right phrasing and technique.

If you ask, “Should I buy this car?” and lay out three cards with no positional meaning, it will very likely be hard to understand what the cards are actually saying to you.

Try this instead.

You can do this technique as a tarot spread, or simply ask questions and pull cards – the result will be the same.

Ask “What will be the result if I buy this car?” and pull a card. Ask “What will be the result if I don’t buy this car?” and pull a card. Perhaps you would like to ask, “What will be the result if I look for a different car?” or, “What if I don’t buy a car at all?”

By breaking your question into multiple questions that anticipate all possible options, and by replacing the phrasing of “should I” with “what would be the result if I” you will drastically increase your chances for a clear, helpful, insightful tarot reading.