All spreads

Yes or No

A closed question, a clear answer. Ask your question in your mind.

✦ Draw this spread

VIII

Justice

ARKARMA.COM

The yes or no spread is the most direct reading in tarot: one closed question, one card, one answer. Each major arcana carries a polarity: some cards say yes plainly, others refuse, others still answer yes but and invite you to add nuance.

Frame your question so it calls for a yes or a no: should I accept this offer, rather than what should I think of this offer. The clearer the question, the clearer the answer.

✦ The position of this spread ✦

The answer

✦ How the cards are shuffled ✦

No lazy random draw: Arkarma shuffles a real deck of 22 arcana the way hands would. Seven riffle shuffles broken up by cuts, some of which turn part of the pack over: that is how reversed cards are born, in clusters, as on a real table. Your question and your day enter the shuffle: ask the same question on the same day and the deck will be shuffled exactly the same way. Only your hand, by choosing other cards, can change the answer.

The deck then spreads before you and it is your hand that chooses: the intention, the moment and the gesture. The reading that follows takes up your question word for word and answers you as a reader would, card after card.

✦ Frequently asked questions ✦

How does the tarot answer yes or no?

Each major arcana carries a canonical answer: The Sun says yes, The Moon invites caution, the same card reversed can flip its answer. Arkarma applies this reference to the card you draw.

Can I ask the same question twice?

On the same day, the deck shuffles the same way: the cards remember your question. Let the first answer settle rather than testing the tarot again. If nothing has moved in your situation, ask again in a few days.

What does a yes but answer mean?

That the way is open under a condition: the card tells you what must be settled or accepted for the yes to hold. Read its advice, it holds the key.

✦ Draw this spread

Before you draw, you can explore the meaning of the 22 major arcana: every card of your reading has its full page there, upright as well as reversed. And for another view, the 10 spreads of Arkarma await you.