Cards from Tarot Illuminati by Eric C. Dunne published by Lo Scarabeo

A lot of people come to a reading wanting a straight answer. Yes or no. Will he come back? Should I take the job? Is this the right move?

And a lot of tarot readers won't touch that question. They'll tell you the cards don't work that way, or that yes/no readings miss the deeper picture.

I understand why they say that. But I don't fully agree.

The way I see it, there are forces already in motion in any situation that have been set in play by what's come before. But how you meet those forces, and what you do next, is rarely fixed. A reading can show you both what’s already set and what’s still open. The yes or no is one coordinate on a larger map.

Do I give yes or no readings? Yes, I do. In fact, I did one this morning. The answer was yes and it turned out to be correct.

But there's a lot more to it than blurting out an answer. Here's how I actually think about this; when yes or no works, when it doesn't, and what's underneath all of it.

When It Works Cleanly

I recently did a yes/no reading for a client who had been waiting on important business paperwork. A tax form that was taking longer than she'd been told it would.

She'd started the process with plenty of time before any deadlines, but the accountant handling it would give her friendly but vague answers whenever she followed up. She was starting to get nervous.

She came to me with a straightforward question: was this going to get resolved?

The answer came through clearly as yes. She felt her anxiety levels go lower although she still needed the actual outcome to completely clear it.

A couple of days later she contacted me to say she'd received word it was being worked on and was very much relieved.

That's a case where the cards lined up clearly around a simple question and gave a direct answer. Not every reading works this cleanly. But when the question is genuine and the energy around it is readable, yes or no is absolutely possible.

When The Cards Are Right But Not Literal

Here's where it gets interesting.

I recently did a reading for a long time client who wanted to know about their financial prospects, their job, and a new relationship. A lot of layers.

Between layouts the subject of their job came up. They were in a probationary period and a situation had arisen at work that was creating some uncertainty.

When we looked at the job situation in the cards, the 5 of Pentacles showed up as a main thrust, indicating temporary financial hardship ahead. When we looked at their entrepreneurial alternatives, the 2 of Pentacles came through, showing change and juggling, but managing it successfully.

The client contacted me later to say they had been let go.

The cards hadn't shown that specific event. But they had shown exactly what followed from it; a temporary financial setback, and a clearer path in a more entrepreneurial direction.

This is what I mean when I say the Tarot is specific, but not always in the way people expect. It shows you the energies already in motion. Not every literal detail of what's about to happen, but the real shape of what's unfolding.

When The Cards Can't Answer Yes or No

Sometimes a yes or no simply isn't available. And pushing for one wouldn't serve the person.

I had a client who had been through a couple of intense connections that didn't work out. The other person just wasn't ready to commit each time.

She recently found a new potential love interest. They'd only texted but it looked promising with daily contact and positive exchanges. She came to me wanting to know the potential of this connection.

I could empathize. She wanted some security after what she'd been through.

The reading wasn't able to offer a clear yes. And honestly, even if it had, that wouldn't have been enough to calm her real concern.

What came through instead was that she needed to actually take the risk of going to meet him. Texting is promising. But you won't really know what you feel until you're in the same room.

Some people would say that's just common sense. And it is. But common sense isn't always easy to access when it's your own heart on the line. When it's someone else's situation you have no skin in the game. When it's yours, it's a different story entirely.

This is a case where the cards were doing something more valuable than answering yes or no. They were pointing toward what actually needed to happen next.

How My Yes/No Readings Actually Work

When I used to do a lot of livestreams, people would want quick slot machine style answers. Is he going to call? Will I get the job? Am I going to sell my house?

Nothing wrong with that. But in a live environment there was only time to pull one card per person. Sometimes yes or no came through clearly. More often with a single card it didn't, because most situations have some nuance to them. That's just how life works.

So I developed something more useful. I call it the Yes/No/But layout.

It uses either 7 or 9 cards depending on what the situation calls for. The cards show me the weight of the answer. Not mechanically, because I tried counting specific card types years ago and found it too rigid. What I'm reading is the overall picture.

The result might land as 70% yes, 30% no. Which means the answer is yes, but there's a factor working against it that you need to know about. Sometimes the yes or no comes through with very little doubt. Other times the weight is close enough that the more important message is what's underneath the answer rather than the answer itself.

That's actually the most valuable part of this layout. Beyond the yes or no, I can read the underlying energies moving through the situation; what's already in motion, where you have real choices, what's worth paying attention to. You leave with an answer and a much clearer picture of the ground you're standing on.

I also have a separate layout for when you're weighing two options like path A versus path B. Rather than a yes or no, it shows how each direction is likely to unfold so you can make the choice with a clearer sense of what you're actually choosing between.

There Is Destiny. But It Isn't Carved In Stone

This is the part that sits underneath all of it. And it's where I think most yes/no conversations in tarot miss the real point.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

That's the Serenity Prayer, used by many 12 Step groups. I'm drawing on it here because it maps almost exactly onto how I understand the Tarot's relationship to destiny.

Some things are already in motion. Whether from something you did last week, last year, or further back than that, those forces are already flowing in a direction. External factors are also at work. Institutions, collective movements, larger forces you didn't choose and can't fully control.

That's the part you accept.

But there are also patterns you can change. Right now. The reading shows you both. What's already in motion and where your choices genuinely matter. How you relate to what's unfolding is often the most important thing a reading can show you. Not just what's coming, but where you have real agency.

This is what I mean when I call Tarot a living map. Not a fixed script. Not a fortune being handed down. A map of forces already in motion; some of which you can work with, redirect, or step out of entirely.

The "yes" or "no" is never the whole story. It's one coordinate on a larger map.

And sometimes the most valuable thing the cards can do is show you where you're actually standing so that your next move comes from seeing clearly rather than from fear or wishful thinking.

That's what a yes or no reading with me is really for. The answer is important but needs the ground underneath it.

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