Man, I have to tell you how I even ended up caring about this tarot question stuff. It was a complete disaster, a total mess, just like everything else back then. I picked up the cards during that super weird time when I was laid off and stuck at home, just messing around. I wanted answers, real answers, for why things were so goddamn sideways.
My first attempts? Useless. I’d ask the dumbest things. “Will I get a better job?” “Does she love me?” The cards? They’d just give me back what I put in: vague, wishy-washy BS. I remember one specific reading I did for myself. I was trying to figure out if I should move cities—super critical decision, right? I asked: “What will happen if I move?”
The spread was a total trainwreck. All these major arcana, but they didn’t tell me a damn thing. I flipped out. I had this huge argument with my roommate, Sam, that same night. Sam was asking me about rent money, and I just snapped. I realized the cards weren’t the problem; it was my entire approach. It wasn’t just a simple argument over fifty bucks; it was the entire pile of stress I was carrying. The cards couldn’t help me because I was asking them to solve a general existential dread instead of a specific screw-up.
That feeling—that total punch-to-the-gut realization that I was wasting my time on mystical guessing games instead of actual problem-solving—that’s what kicked me into gear. I threw the deck across the room. Seriously. I told myself: “No more of this fuzzy crap. If this is going to be useful, it needs to be like wiring an old busted engine. Specific steps, specific outcomes.”
The Brutal Question Test
I dumped every single question I’d ever seen online into the digital trash bin. All those “Will I find love?” kind of queries got sent straight to hell. I grabbed a cheap notebook and started over. I forced myself to use a stupid rule: every question had to start with “How,” “What specific action,” or “What do I need to stop?” Nothing about “Will” or “When.” Those words just invite vague prophecies, and I needed strategy, not prophecy.
I drafted this small list, just three categories, and then tested it immediately on the Sam situation. Not “Will Sam and I make up?” (the old crap), but the new stuff:
- What specific action do I need to take to fix the debt issue?
- How can I communicate my stress without snapping?
- What mindset do I need to stop relying on right now?
It was insane. The cards spit out totally different answers. Real advice. Not future telling, but action items. The Tower came up for the third question, but this time, I read it as: “Stop relying on the fantasy that your life isn’t messy right now. Blow up the current arrangement and start fresh.” I had to laugh, it was so much clearer. It directly pointed at my current, fragile situation and my need to stop pretending things were stable.
I refined this simple list over the next two weeks while I was desperately looking for a new job. I realized the best structure is always about moving forward or digging deep into the now, not chasing predictions. People always try to ask questions about other people, like “Why did my boss fire me?” or “What does my ex think?” Total waste of energy, frankly. The cards can only read your situation. The best questions are always about you and your next move.
I drilled it down to these simple focuses. This is the simple list I use now, and it never fails to give me something I can actually do with the information.
- Action-Oriented (The “How-To” Questions): These are for when you know the general goal but not the right path. They force movement.
Examples: How should I restructure my budget to save $X? What is the best way for me to approach this conflict with the landlord? What is the practical next step to find a better job?
- Internal Deep Dive (The “What I’m Missing” Questions): These are for when you feel totally stuck, confused, or repeating the same old mistakes. They force brutal honesty.
Examples: What hidden fear is preventing me from making a decision? What perspective do I need to embrace right now to get past this block? What is the core lesson I missed from the last failure?
- Stop Energy Questions (The “What to Cut” Questions): These are the most direct and often the most helpful. They force you to look at bad habits and dead ends.
Examples: What belief about myself do I need to immediately stop carrying? Which relationship or energy drain should I cut ties with right now? What habitual reaction do I need to ditch to move forward?
I used this exact structure when I finally landed that consulting gig last month. I was terrified of failing, so I pulled a spread using the list. The reading didn’t say, “You will succeed,” because that would be garbage. Instead, it told me exactly what I needed to focus on and, more importantly, what attitude I needed to drop—the old habit of taking on everyone else’s problems. It gave me a strategy, not a prophecy. It told me what to do, not what will happen.
Look, I’m not some guru. I just got tired of wasting my time with vague advice when my life was genuinely messy. The cards aren’t magic eight-balls; they are mirrors. The questions you ask are the angle of the light you shine into that mirror. If you ask garbage, you see garbage. That’s the whole damn thing. Just use this simple list; it cuts the nonsense immediately. Trust me, I learned it the hardest way possible—by being broke, confused, and fighting with my friends over stupid rent money.
