John Ballantrae on "When a Yes-No spread gives an incorrect answer"

Hooray! John Ballantrae is back posting YouTube videos again. And he's starting out with a bang. There's a lot to think about in this one.

"...You (the reader) are not the one with the problem, or the one who wants an answer... Sometimes the questioner... knows what the answer is, or knows... the best route... to follow to move them in the direction of which they want to go. I think some part of the questioner knows that, and... that's the answer you get in a Tarot spread... The reader is the messenger... of what the person already knows...

With a reading, it's the questioner talking to the questioner via the cards... So what's going on isn't always what seems to be going on. So we have to think to the whole question of being 'right' and 'wrong'..."

I personally love the fact that John honours the questioner's desire for a Yes-No answer, and doesn't try to get them to change their question to something more "open ended".

Thirty down, one to go

My responses to the final few questions in Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge...

...with the exception of the very last question, which involves reading a few cards for myself. Live. On camera. For (potentially) other people to see. Gulp!!

It's one thing for me to throw some cards in private, study them at my leisure and then carefully construct a reading out of them to post here. Quite another to pull three cards out of a hat, so to speak, and interpret them on the fly in front of a virtual audience.

Reading live for someone is different, because that person is invested in the reading, it's for and about them, so they're busy concentrating on what you're telling them (one hopes). Unaffected strangers just watching a reading, especially those with a background in Tarot, tend to be more critical. Yep, nervous.

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Dusty White - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSwhQIfLHm3vd6Ihj2q1vQ
John Ballantrae - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2fId7s7OdtTrnPeZe1JcBw

But what does this card mean?

The cards don't mean anything.
Because it depends on the question.

John Ballantrae did a live stream video session the other day on reading Tarot. What John has to say about reading Tarot is always worth listening to.

"Tarot is 'in the moment'. And it's for that particular moment, for that particular question, for that particular questioner at that time." John then goes on to ably demonstrate this idea.

No Do-Overs

A messenger hands over a package, but if the recipient doesn’t like the contents of the box, then that’s nothing to do with the messenger. You don’t drive back to the depot and look for something that will be more pleasing.

John Ballantrae - How to Tell the Time with Tarot

LINK: John Ballantrae - 4 steps to an excellent Tarot reading

A very good introductory overview: 4 steps to an excellent Tarot reading by John Ballantrae.

This is just one of the articles on John's free Learning the Tarot site, along with videos and responses to questions from readers. John's videos can also be accessed on YouTube - John Ballantrae.

And if you love a Scottish accent, as I do - bonus!