All kinds of ways to do Yes/No q&a's. Most use an odd number of cards and I prefer using 3 cards but you can use 5, 7, 9, and so on. You can even use 1 card depending on how you read the card.
Method #1: For Yes/No Questions/Answers
First decide if Odd numbers are Yes - or if Even numbers represent Yes. For me Odd is No, and Even is Yes.
Odd = No
Even = Yes
Court Cards = No answer at this time!
Shuffle and cut your cards as normal. Then deal out 3 cards. Note: The questions below aren't meant to be serious.
Example #1: "Will I get any sex today?"
Cards Drawn:
Death (13) .. 2 of Wands .. 3 of Cups
Two odd numbers (no's) and one even number (yes). So it looks like NO sex for the Donster today.
Example #2: "Will I get any sleep tonight?"
Cards Drawn:
King of Swords .. 9 of Wands .. Ace of Wands (1)
King = No answer, but I have two odd numbered cards so the answer is No.
If on the other hand I had drawn the following;
Cards Drawn:
King of Swords .. 9 of Wands .. 2 of Pentacles
I would have, King = inconclusive answer, one odd numbered card (No) and one even numbered card (Yes). So the tarot wasn't able to answer my question at this time.
Note: You can always try reading the cards to see why you got a Yes or No answer.
Example #3: "Will I get my raise?"
Cards Drawn:
6 of Wands .. The Fool (0) .. 3 of Pentacles
2-Odds and 1-Even makes for a NO answer answer. But if you were to try reading the cards the cards actually might be trying to tell you something else. If you were to read the 3 cards above without knowing elemental dignities you would probably say the No answer was wrong. But the 3 of Pentacles (Earth) is ill-dignified and The Fool (Air) is weak. Even the success indicated by the 6 of Wands won't overcome these two weakened cards. So the answer is ... NO - I won't get my raise (recall the questions's are made up but even so, I know I'm not getting a raise, LOL).
Method #2: For Yes/No Questions/Answers
Use the same method of dealing out three cards, the same method of Odd and Even but this time total the cards. An Odd total = No, and Even total = Yes.
Note: Courts = 0
Example #4: "Will my wife call tonight?" [She's visiting her sister and why I won't get sex tonight, LOL]
Cards Drawn:
8 of Swords .. The Hierophant (5) .. Knight of Pents (0)
Using method #1 above we would have an inconclusive answer (the tarot can't answer the question at this time) because we have 1-Even, 1-Odd, and 1-Court.
But by adding 8+5=13 we end up with an odd number so the answer will lean toward 'No'.
Important => Here you need to decide if you are going to reduce any number over 9 to a number between 1 and 9, or if you are going to go with the larger number. If I had reduced the number 13 I would have ended up with 1+3=4, which is an Even number - giving me a Yes answer - or an answer that leaned toward the affirmative.
Example #5: "Will the sun rise tomorrow?"
Cards Drawn:
4 of Swords .. 5 of Cups .. 6 of Cups
This time reducing, 4+5+6=15 - reducing 1+5=6, an Even number - so the sun will come up tomorrow. I reduced because according to method #1 I had 2-Evens and 1-Odd which would have given me a yes answer. Totaling the cards and using the higher number 15 would have given me an Odd number and a No answer.
So my advise is to use Method #1 and then check your result with Method #2. If you end up with conflicting answers then the tarot probably can't answer your question at this time.
Example #6: "Will I get my new teeth soon?"
Cards Drawn:
Ace of Wands (1) .. Ace of Cups (1) .. 2 of Pents
Using Method #1 we have a No answer (2-Odds, 1-Even). Confirming this with Method #2 we would have 1+1+2=4, giving us a Yes-Even number (4). Using this combined method the tarot can't answer the question because we end up with contridicting Yes and No's.
Advise: Choose one of the methods and stick with it.
If I get time I'll send out a post telling you how to get Yes/No answers using the suits/elements. Don't sweat it - it's easy.
Don S.