Question, or no Question?
I think I’ve had most kind of clients now.
From the long list of numbered questions, to “love”.
From a detailed lengthy paragraph that is reflective & emotional – to asking for precise details of cost to the pound and timing to exact date.
Clients who hardly stop talking, to clients who sit with their arms folding not nodding or speaking a single word.
To the lean back in the chair “I used to read Tarot you know- if you’re any good you’ll know my question & my answer” client (I’ll come back to him at the end)
I’ve read a lot of debate about whether a client “should” ask a question or not, and here’s my thoughts.
Sometimes the question dominating a client’s mind is not what they want me to read for. Like the lady who had just found out she was pregnant- but wanted clear answers about her work. Her mind (as the tarot reflected) was dominated by thoughts of family, babies, love. But her question was how to juggle self-employment when her baby was born.
Allowing her to ask questions was essential- otherwise my reading would have just focused on reflecting her joy of being pregnant.
Often a client is worried about different areas of their life, and this is reflected in the opening spread as confusion, lack of direction, anxiety, exhaustion.
I ask the client what is their number one worry. Because it is all tangled in their head it usually comes out in a stream of words “I’m worried my boss doesn’t like me at work, and I need the money- so I’m working really long hours, but my boyfriends fed up with never seeing me” In this case it is my job to take that ball of anxiety and create a coherent question that breaks it down into simple questions I can read for (in this case work, money, relationship, self esteem).
I think one of the most important parts of my job is to listen carefully to my client so I can understand what they really want to know- even if they don’t consciously know themselves!
I get clients that don’t want to give a single thing away, sitting in total silence.
I am up for a challenge, probably more than most. The client I mentioned before “If you’re any good you’ll know the question and the answer” was actually very open, and I could easily find the information he was looking for.
Often these clients fall in to one of two categories
#1 “I don’t believe in any of this but my mate told me to come”. These can be fun. Sometimes they just look at me as if I am slightly mad “how did you know that” other times they decide it’s trickery “did you goggle me?"
#2 They are so confused, or overwhelmed they are honestly hoping that the reading can help and want to leave it as open as possible. The reflection of their life in the tarot cards can be an amazing help in finding some structure to what is going on. The question usually evolves through the cards, it becomes a gentle exploration of possibilities “what if I do this” which is so empowering.
I do think some kind of clear focus for the reading is essential, even if it is simply reflecting what is going on right now. I had one young girl come to me. She was desperate for guidance about her gap year, college & boyfriend. She’d been to a tarot reader who told her “You’ll have 3 children and be happily married” As the client said- “may be true, may not. But absolutely no help to me at all right now.”
And I do think readings need to be helpful. So whether you find the questions in the cards, through email, through chatting to the client, or whispered form your spirit guide doesn’t really matter. But some form of structure, or question is needed to allow the reading to be relevant to the clients life.
