Foundations · 12 min
Asking good questions
Turn yes/no, timing, fate and other-person questions into open questions about your own choices, and match the question to what a reading can do.
In this lesson you will
- Rewrite yes/no, timing, fate and other-person questions as open questions.
- Center a question on your own choices and actions.
- Recognize a question that belongs with a professional rather than a reading.
You have an interview on Friday, and the question that comes first is Will I get the job? It is a natural question. It is also one that no card can answer well, because the answer depends on things neither you nor the cards can see.
Open questions
A good reading question is open and centered on you: it asks about what you can understand, choose or do. Three patterns cover most situations:
- What can I understand about…? (to see a situation more clearly)
- What helps me…? (to find support or a next step)
- What can I do about…? (to turn a worry into an action)
So Will I get the job? becomes What can I do to give my application its best chance? The second question can be answered by any card in the deck, because every card has something to say about how you act.
Warm up
A quick look back before the new material. Recalling helps you remember.
Warm-up
You ask “What do I need today?” and draw the Four of Swords, which feels flat to you. Which next step keeps to one question, one draw?
Warm-up
Your question is “What can help me recover after a hard month?” and you draw The Star. Which detail of the picture speaks most directly to it?
Look first
Look at this card before reading on. What can the figure see, and what is she doing with her hands?
Remember
- Good questions are open and centered on you: What can I understand, what helps me, what can I do?
- Yes/no, timing, fate and other-person questions hand the decision to the cards; rewrite them.
- Health, legal and money decisions belong with a professional; a reading can help you reflect, not decide.
Sources: original VeilSoul text · VeilSoul card pages · the 1909 Waite–Smith imagery (public domain)