Yes/No Questions and Answers

Many people think it's a misuse of the tarot to ask it simple Yes/No questions.  I'm not one of them!   If the tarot has any validity at all as a divination tool then it should be able to answer yes/no questions in my opinion.   So if your own opinion differs from mine then don't read the following methods for obtaining yes/no answers.

NOTE
All the following methods for asking yes/no questions use 3 cards but you could just as easily use any 'uneven' number (1,3, 5,7, etc.).

Reversed YES and NO Method #1

Here is Mary K. Greer's YES and NO method from her book 'Tarot For Your Self'. At least that's where I saw it originally.

Make sure that you are using reversals and turn half the cards around each time you shuffle, so you always have plenty of reversed cards.

Lay three cards out. Upright cards are YES. Reversed cards are NO. The middle card counts twice (has twice the value of cards #1 and #3).

1 .. 2 .. 3

For example, if card #1 is reversed and cards #2 and #3 are upright, you have one "no" and three "yes" so the answer is yes. If cards #1 and #2 are reversed and card #3 is upright, you have 3 "no" and 1 "yes", so the answer is no.

If card #2 is reversed but card #1 and card #3 are upright, you have 2 "no" and 2 "yes" so the answer is "maybe" or the cards "cannot answer the question at this time".

And then you can read the cards to find out more information, like why it's a yes or no.

The Simple 3 Card Method

To make things simpler you could just use 3 cards and reversals and if 2 or more upright cards come up you have a YES answer. If 2 or more reversed cards come up you have a NO answer.

The 4 Card Method

Making Greer's method to where you don't have to give the middle card a value of 2 simply use 4 cards (with reversals).

1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4

If you get more uprights than reversals you have a YES answer. If more reversals than uprights a NO answer. If you get 2 uprights and 2 reversed then it's a 'maybe or the question can't be answered at this time'.

The Aces and 9 of Cups Method (No Reversals Used)

Another method also deals with 3 cards/stacks but does NOT use reversed cards.

Stack #1 .. Stack #2 .. Stack #3 ..

First shuffle and cut your cards as normal. Start dealing cards 'face up' onto stack #1.

If an Ace or the 9 of Cups comes up stop dealing cards onto stack #1 and go to stack #2.

If after dealing out 13 cards (an no Ace or the 9 of Cups turns up) stop dealing cards onto stack #1 and go to stack #2.

Do the same thing for stacks #2 and #3.

So each stack will have either;
13 cards (and NO Ace or 9 of Cups)
X number of cards (13 or less) with an Ace at the top
X number of cards (13 or less) with the 9 of Cups on top

When you get done if two or more of the stacks contain Aces or the 9 of Cups then the answer is YES. If only one (1) or NONE of the stacks contain an Ace or the 9 of Cups then the answer is NO.

This method results in more NO answers than the reversal methods but I have found it more true to life and accurate than the reversal method. If you want you can 'add' other YES type cards to the mix - The Fool, 6 of Wands, and 2 of Cups are other cards commonly used to represent a YES response. Just don't over-do it. Personally I just stick with the Aces and the 9 of Cups.

In either case (Yes or No) you can read the cards to see what they are trying to tell you - especially with a NO answer. If ALL three (3) stacks come up with an Ace or the 9 then you have a definite YES response!

Don S.