BTP11: How to Ask Powerful Questions

blog-btp011-how-to-ask-powerful-questions

BTP11: How to Ask Powerful Questions

BTP11: How to Ask Powerful Questions

Apple Podcasts Spotify Stitcher Download

They say that the way to get powerful answers is to ask powerful questions and that's certainly true of the Tarot.

You see, asking the right questions in your Tarot readings is absolutely critical to discovering the right answers –answers that help you shape your future and manifest your goals and dreams.

When we ask meaningful questions, we get meaningful answers. And similarly, when we ask trashy questions, we get trashy answers.

So how do we ask good questions?

That's what I'm going to cover in this episode of the Biddy Tarot Podcast.

I'll discuss:

Why yes/no questions limit the potential of the Tarot cards
Why you need to get to the heart of the question for the best insights
How to turn any question (even the most cringe-worthy ones!) into a powerful question for the Tarot

Let's get into it…

[Tweet “Learn how to ask the#Tarot powerful questions with @biddytarot #tarotpodcast”]

Additional Resources

Learn everything you need to read the Tarot in depth and with clarity Read Tarot with Confidence
Did you love this podcast? Then leave a 5 Star Review on iTunes! (Here's how)
Click here to subscribe to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, so you'll never miss an episode!

Podcast Transcript

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 11: How to Ask Powerful Questions.

Voice-over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit: Hello and welcome!

You know, they say that the way to get a powerful answer is to ask a powerful question – and that's certainly true of the Tarot.

Just think about it: If you asked the Tarot, “Will I ever find love?” and you drew the Hermit, you might feel a bit disappointed – you know the Hermit being about being solo or isolated or on your own. And so obviously in response to the question, “Will I ever find love?” it might lead to a lot of disappointment.

On the other hand, if you asked the Tarot, “What can I do to create the love life I truly desire?” and again you drew the Hermit, well this time you might actually feel a little bit better about that reading, because if you wanted to find “the one” in the next 12 months then you know that with the Hermit you need to first spend some time on your own, reflecting on the type of relationship that you really want. And by being on your own, you come into a deeper realisation about your inner resources that will support you in finding true and authentic love.

So this time instead of feeling disappointed, you end the reading feeling very empowered and optimistic, knowing exactly what it is that you need to do in order to find the kind of love you’ve been dreaming for.

So, of those two Tarot readings, which would you prefer?

I certainly know which one I would choose.

You see, asking the right questions in your Tarot readings is absolutely critical to getting the right answers; and these are the answers that help you to shape a path forward and manifest your goals and dreams.

So when we ask good questions, we get good answers. And similarly, when we ask crappy questions, we get crappy answers.

So, how do we ask good questions?Well that's exactly what I'm going to cover in today's podcast.

So let’s get started.

Three Tips For Asking Powerful Questions

Tip Number 1: Ask Open-Ended Questions

Questions that can typically be answered yes or no are close-ended questions – they’re fine if you want a fast answer, but the trouble is that they don’t allow for deep reflection or exploration of a situation. They simply state what is going on, or what’s not going on.

But by asking the Tarot open-ended questions, on the other hand, you get far more interesting insights.

So, for example, instead of asking, “Will I find a new job?” – that’s a close-ended question because you are going to get either a yes or a no answer – you might ask instead, “What’s been blocking me in finding a new job?”

Or, “How can I release these blockages?”

You might ask, “What actions can I take to find a new job?” – and so on.

These kinds of more open-ended questions are what allow you the space to really dive deep into what’s available to you.

So instead of just getting a straight up yes or now, which feels awfully disempowering to me, you can instead find out what actions you need to take; what energies are surrounding that situation; how can you actually go about manifesting what you truly want.

This all comes back to Free Will and this belief system around Free Will.

I feel that when you’re answering questions with a simple yes or no, it is as if there is no Free Will – as if you have no power to control the outcomes in your life. It’s either a yes it is going to happen, or a no it is not going to happen. There is no in-the-middle space.

Yet, what I believe, is that some situations are “a more likely to occur,” and some things are “less likely to occur.”

But even if something is more likely to occur, it doesn’t mean that it definitely will occur.

So an example that I often give is: If you asked the Tarot, “Will I buy a new house?” and the Tarot goes, “Yes.”

And you go, “Awesome. I don’t need to do anything now.”

Well, we know that if you weren’t to take any action whatsoever it’s very unlikely that that Tarot reading would come true. You probably wouldn’t end up buying a house.

I really do believe that we have to take some action, and we have Free Will at our disposal, so that we can create the outcomes that we want. Therefore, these more close-ended questions like don’t really ring true for me.

Now, again, I always respect that everybody reads Tarot in different ways. If you are sitting there thinking, ‘Yeah but Brigit, I read Tarot by saying yes or no,’ that’s fine. If that resonates with you, please keep doing it. I’m presenting what I feel might be helpful, and so you might want to try having more open-ended questions and just see how that impacts your Tarot readings and your Tarot practice.

So if you’re keen to try open-ended questions avoid starting a question with:

Will…
When…
Should…

And instead, you can start using words such as:

What…
How….
Why….

Okay, so that’s Tip Number 1 is to ask open-ended questions in order to get some really powerful answers.

Tip Number 2: Get to the Heart of the Question

Let’s say a client starts the session with the question, “What’s my soul mate like?”

Sure, you could launch right into that reading by drawing a few cards and seeing what comes up. You might even end up with an idea of a potential soul mate, but will it really be insightful and helpful for the client?

Alternatively, you could ask the client a few questions before you start the reading, to really understand what’s on your client’s mind and how you can help. It’s kind of like peeling back the layers of an onion and finding what’s happening right on the inside, and what are we really asking here?

So perhaps you find out that your client is single right now and has been having trouble finding the right partner for her, so she actually wants to know what her soul mate is like so she can recognise him when he appears. Knowing that, you then might change the way that you read the Tarot cards in that you might ask some further questions to say, for example: How do you know when your soul mate is nearby? What qualities might you be looking for in a soul mate? What’s the healthiest version of the relationship for you? And so on.

So now that you have this extra information to work with, you can start to create a reading that’s going to be a lot more helpful.

So, instead of asking the Tarot, “What’s my soul make like?” you now ask, “What signs might I see when I’ve met the right partner?” or “What can I do to attract the right partner for me?”

Instead of taking a question on face value, explore it, unpack it, and get to the heart of what’s really being asked. You’ll find that you can then address the deeper questions that exist, and deliver more meaningful insight.

I think what also makes this really special and magic is it’s showing a duty of care to the person that you’re working with. It’s helping to really understand what’s going on for them.

I’ve found, even with working with clients, that just this process of getting to the heart of the question – you know, aside from the Tarot reading itself –has incredible value in it because it’s helping the client unpack: What is it that I really want here? What’s really going on? And what’s actually really important to me?

You know, I thought it was just about, “When will I get married?” but, really, as I unpack it, it’s more aboutfinding happiness in relationships, and perhaps even finding happiness in myself.

So that’s Tip Number 2: Get to the heart of the question.

Tip Number 3: Ask Follow-Up Questions

So every question can be broken down into ‘follow-up’ questions that serve to explore the different elements of the original question. A question like, “How can I live in alignment with my Soul’s Purpose?” can actually be broken down into the following questions:

What is coming into my conscious awareness about my Soul’s Purpose?
How can I discover my Soul’s Purpose?
What is my Soul’s Purpose?
How am I presently living in alignment with my Soul’s Purpose?
What inner work do I need to do to be in alignment with my Soul’s Purpose?
What resources are available to me?
What will bring me closer to my Soul’s Purpose?
What may stand in the way of me fulfilling my Soul’s Purpose?

…and so on.

This is similar to the idea of getting to the heart of the question, but then it’s taking the next step and breaking it down into a series of mini questions. What we’re doing here is, we’re not just asking the one overall question of the Tarot, we’re now starting to look at lots of smaller questions that will start to layer up the picture. This will give us even more rich information in order to help ourselves or our clients that we’re working with.

You can do this for creating your own Tarot spreads. There will be a podcast episode in the very near future on how you can create your own Tarot spreads. But for now what I want you to know is, in order to ask those powerful questions, be ready to ask more and more questions. You’ve got the main question, but then also ask the smaller questions around it, because that’s going to give you a more holistic picture.

You could literally draw one card for each of those mini questions that you’re asking, and that starts to formulate your spread. This is how we get a lot more in depth when we’re working with the Tarot.

So, there you have it. Those are my top three tips for helping you to get to asking more powerful questions:

Ask open-ended questions
Get to the heart of the question
Ask follow-up questions

Sample Questions to Get You Started

Now I bet you’re wondering: Okay that sounds all very well and good, but how do we actually use this stuff? What does it look like when we’ve got various questions being asked of us or the Tarot cards?

I wanted to share with you a couple of example questions.It might even be you wanting to ask these questions – or it could be you hearing them from the people that you’re doing Tarot readings for.

So here’s an example: What is going to happen in my life in next 6 months?

So it’s not a close-ended question, that’s for sure. It’s not a yes or no, but for some Tarot readers it might be a little bit uncomfortable because it’s so predictive, and so much about “what’s going to happen?”

Remember I talked earlier about that concept of Free Will, and knowing that things don’t happen exactly as they happen. They happen because you make things happen, right?

So here are some ideas of how you might be able to turn this type of question – like, what’s going to happen in my life? – into something a little bit more powerful, enriching, and meaningful.

So you might ask: What might I experience in my life?

Notice the wording with that – What might I experience in my life?

Not so much, “What’s going to happen to me?” which is very fatalistic, and almost passive. But instead, “What might I experience in my life?”

And knowing that also gives you the opportunity to change the way that you experience that. So let’s say you drew the Five of Cups for “what might I experience?” – well that’s loss and regret.

Well, can I change the way that I experience that?

Yes – and perhaps you draw another card to find out: How could I experience this differently?

Another way of looking at “what’s going to happen in my life?” is to ask: What’s emerging in my life?

What I really like about this is it suggests we can have themes coming up through our life, and we can choose how to interact with those themes.

It’s not so much that it’s happening to us, but it’s kind of like there are energies around us and we have the choice of how we work with that. It’s just like Moon Cycles; or in Astrology there are certain energies that are common and around us, but it doesn’t mean it has to dictate how things go for us.

So: What’s emerging in my life, and therefore how can I make the most of that?

The third alternative question that you could have, which is: How can I make the most out of the next six months?

What I really love about this kind of approach – how can I make the most out of the next six months? – is that it’s very empowering, and it really speaks to the ability to manifest the kinds of outcomes that you want in your life.

So there are a couple of different options for answering that question of: What’s going to happen in my life in the next six months?

I’m going to share with you another sample question, and it is: Am I going to daydream about my career forever or will I make real changes?

Now you might be listening to that question and going: Well, dear, that’s up to you. You can make that choice. It’s not the Tarot making the choice, right?

But often times people ask: Will I leave this crappy relationship, or will I stay stuck in it forever?

Will I continue working a job I don’t like, or will I be courageous enough to make a change?

Those are kinds of questions that, again, are really up to the seeker to make.

So how else could we ask these questions?

Well one option is: What do I need to do to make my dreams a reality?

Because I think sometimes when we can use the Tarot or our intuitive guidance to map out: What exactly needs to be done here? If you want to manifest your dreams and goals, what do you need to do?

Sometimes seeing that map laid out in front of you makes things so much easier, and attainable. So when you’re asking, “Am I going to daydream about it forever?” well, not now because now you’ve got a map that you can actually use.

The second alternative question might be: What needs to change in order for me to manifest my dream career?

Because there’s some kind of stuckness – when you’re hearing a question like, “Am I going to daydream forever?” for me that sounds like there’s stuckness. And “daydreaming” makes it sound as if this is just fantasy, and it’s so far removed from where I am right now. So then the question becomes: What needs to change in order for me to manifest my dream career?

Okay, here’s the last question I want to share with you to show you how we could ask more powerful questions of the Tarot. This is one of those questions you might get quite a lot when you start reading for other people. And that is: Will my ex and I work things out, or is it really over?

Similar to our second question, this one is very much about: Well, what do you choose? Because ultimately it is your choice – it is not the Tarot to make that decision for you.

So here are a couple of alternative ways that you could look at this question. One is: What do I need to work on in this relationship?

When we’re asking that kind of question we are making an assumption that there is still room and space to potentially save the relationship. Now it’s not so much that if you worked on this one thing that the Tarot showed you that everything would be fine, and the relationship would be getting back together. It’s not about that. It’s more about: If there’s anything left, what could you work on?

Sometimes in the process or the act of working on that thing, you may come to that realisation: You know what? This is not the right relationship for me anyway. And I feel like a better person because I’ve worked on this one thing, and now I have a lot more clarity about what I need to do.So it’s not necessarily coming at it to say, “If you do this one thing, everything will be fine and you will be back together.”

Another great question to ask when looking at when you think, ‘Oh, it’s just not quite fitting yet’- and that’s to ask: What is the healthiest version of this relationship?

Similarly, say in career, it could be: What is the healthiest version of your career?

What’s the healthiest version of your lifestyle?

….and so on.

So this will give us some clues about: Is the healthiest version of this relationship one where you are going your separate ways?Or is it one where you are remaining friends….and so on?

Of course, it’s important with these kinds of questions – like, “Will my ex and I work things out, or is it really over?” – it’s good to know: What is your real desired outcome here?

Is it that you really do want things to work out?

Or is it that you really want some confidence in knowing that it’s time to break up?

Knowing that information will also give you some better questions to ask of the Tarot as well.

So there you have it. Those are three sample questions just to show you how you can dive a little bit deeper into asking questions of the Tarot.

Wrap Up

I hope that has been helpful. I can’t wait to hear how you go the next time you do a Tarot reading, and you make that real conscious effort to dive deep into the questions you’re asking the Tarot.

If you find these techniques really helpful for your Tarot readings, I would love to hear how they go. You can jump on over to the blog and leave your comment at biddyTarot.com/11 – where you will be able to share your comments and reflections of how you’ve been able to use these more powerful questions in your Tarot readings.

And if you're ready to take your Tarot readings to the next level and to tap into the divine guidance that is available to you, then I invite you to check out my signature program, Read Tarot with Confidence.

My online Tarot course, Read Tarot With Confidence is specifically designed for aspiring Tarot readers who want to reach their fullest potential as a Tarot reader, and be the reader everybody raves about. Using simple yet powerful techniques, I’ll show you how to read Tarot in a way that creates change and transformation in your life and others’.

I’ll walk you through, step-by-step, how to do a Tarot reading, including asking the right questions, choosing the perfect spread, weaving the story into the cards, and connecting deeply with your clients (or yourself) through Tarot.

I’ll teach you not only how to read Tarot for yourself with clarity, but how to read for others in a way that has a lasting impact, and inspires deep transformation.

And of course, I’m going to let you in on a few of my “insider secrets” from my 15 or more years of experience as a professional Tarot reader.

If you want to find out more, then head on over to biddyTarot.com/rtwc

And, after you enroll in the program, you'll get instant access so that you can start learning straight away.

I hope I’ll see you in the program, and for now I want to say a big thank-you for being a part of the Biddy Tarot podcast. And I am so honoured and thrilled to be a part of your journey with the Tarot.

Thank-you and good-bye.