The question of Clarifiers

[Belenus]

So here's my "two cents" (because I largely agree with all the previous posts that decry the use of "clarifiers"): What is so wrong with struggling with a card(s) meaning? Who ever said cards must be perfectly clear the moment they are laid? Why is spending time in reflection and meditation upon a reading so horrible (or particular cards in it) - even if it means you have to come back to it hours, or gods forbid, days later? Why has challenge and obscurity become equal to being a "bad" or "inexperienced" reader?

That sounds so right what you say there Belenus. Instant coffee never has the same quality as a slow brewed coffee, the coffee beans of which we have ground ourselves.

And then it's too hot to drink straight away. So we have time to first see its colour, then smell its aroma, warm our hands on the cup. Watch the steam rising. And then only we drink it and savour it slowly. And after remains the lingering taste on our tongue and we feel good.

Diana, your analogy of preparing, relishing and enjoying a cup of coffee to its full is so beautiful! It is a perfect way to explain the tarot process. Can I steal this and use it??

Belenus

[Diana]

Can I steal this and use it??

Belenus

Oh please please do! Steal all you like!! In fact no, I'll give them to you. They're yours as a gift. (And on top of it, I'm copyleft to the very last hair on my head and the very end of my toenails. I don't believe in private property, and neither do I condone intellectual property. I find that very distasteful. Ideas can't be owned. How preposterous. That's how people behave in Babylon. Bob Marley once said that there are never any fruits to be found in Babylon.)

post edited to add my rant.

[Monk]

I've had to do this frequently in the past months getting to know the Tarot. Answers that were quite clear raised more questions, which isn't weird at all. I did find out these extra cards -only- work when they pose a question taking a whole new angle of approach to the topic. Otherwise it only blurs even more.

But then are these strictly speaking clarifiers ? If you're taking a whole new angle, isn't that a different and new reading ?

Reading for myself:

I think this relates to my intended reading style (developing that still). Each card position tends be be a focussed but "closed off" question.The formulating of each 'query-part is' informed by me, the questions of course are directed. I would not pull three cards for one question. Rather I break down an issue/query in a number of aspects and find questions that intuitively go well with those aspects. So it would always be three cards, three questions. It comes very natural to me that along the way an additional aspect reveals itself. Not weird, or bad ..we're trying to see right?

So in theory we could perpetuate this string of thoughts and part-queries by introducing more cards, but only so long for each cards there is the right intention/question. I think that intention and motivation for each extra opened card are paramount when examining a reading thoughtfully. With that in check each extra card might perfectly well help you along. And after all, all our draws are a string of cards and questions. Clustered but a sequence all the same. So are life's questions, they unfold by walking the path.

I think that yes I agree with you Diana, each card would be a new reading. But not because it is an "extra" card.

The question just turned out to need more parts to get the syntax right.

[Diana]

I think this relates to my intended reading style (developing that still). Each card position tends be be a focussed but "closed off" question.The formulating of each 'query-part is' informed by me, the questions of course are directed. I would not pull three cards for one question. Rather I break down an issue/query in a number of aspects and find questions that intuitively go well with those aspects. So it would always be three cards, three questions. It comes very natural to me that along the way an additional aspect reveals itself. Not weird, or bad ..we're trying to see right?

So in theory we could perpetuate this string of thoughts and part-queries by introducing more cards, but only so long for each cards there is the right intention/question. I think that intention and motivation for each extra opened card are paramount when examining a reading thoughtfully. With that in check each extra card might perfectly well help you along. And after all, all our draws are a string of cards and questions. Clustered but a sequence all the same. So are life's questions, they unfold by walking the path.

I find it very interesting how you've made the Tarot "your own" and have found ingenious manners to fit your needs. You're not a sheep. There are too many sheep in the tarotsphere. They eat all the grass and don't plant any new.

[Monk]

I think this relates to my intended reading style (developing that still). Each card position tends be be a focussed but "closed off" question.The formulating of each 'query-part is' informed by me, the questions of course are directed. I would not pull three cards for one question. Rather I break down an issue/query in a number of aspects and find questions that intuitively go well with those aspects. So it would always be three cards, three questions. It comes very natural to me that along the way an additional aspect reveals itself. Not weird, or bad ..we're trying to see right?

So in theory we could perpetuate this string of thoughts and part-queries by introducing more cards, but only so long for each cards there is the right intention/question. I think that intention and motivation for each extra opened card are paramount when examining a reading thoughtfully. With that in check each extra card might perfectly well help you along. And after all, all our draws are a string of cards and questions. Clustered but a sequence all the same. So are life's questions, they unfold by walking the path.

I find it very interesting how you've made the Tarot "your own" and have found ingenious manners to fit your needs. You're not a sheep. There are two many sheep in the tarotsphere. They eat all the grass and don't plant any new.

D, That's kind

I am very far from making it my own. I take a form of ingenious attitude to it yes. Admittedly I do have to acknowledge that at times I feel getting further and further from getting some form of grip on the matter. There's just too darn much interesting stuff out there in the Tarotsphere and waaaay to little time In a small raft on the ocean and so much around me to explore it makes my head spin.

M

[Diana]

Admittedly I do have to acknowledge that at times I feel getting further and further from getting some form of grip on the matter.

Oh, that's only the start ! The more you travel on the road, the more you'll feel like that. It's the old saying that says that the more we know the more we realise how little we know. The Tarot is infinite like the universe itself. It goes on and on and on. And on. And even more on. But we shouldn't worry - we've got a lot of lives ahead of us (an infinite amount I would assume) so there's plenty of time.

[Monk]

It goes on and on and on. And on. And even more on.

Yes I know.. I was hoping for some finite-ness at first. Get the important answers and get back to a deck every once in a while. Noooo such thing tho.. 'additional cards' are needed every day to keep track of my developing thoughts. It seems like I dream Tarot these days, people do Tarot things, situations feel wandsy, pentsy.. I'm NOT obsessed, it has become a necessity tho. Additional cards galore.

And then there's the inevitable 'additional' decks

M

[BlueStar]

I have used 'clarifiers' myself, but very sparingly, with a question around providing more information about a card. I did this the other day, with a deck I'm trying to connect with better (haven't used it much) and the card I pulled had me stumped. I just couldn't get anything from it (intuitively). Funny thing was, the 'clarifier', from a different deck, looked very much like the first one , even though it was a different card, and actually helped me hone intuitively to it. Worked really well. But I don't like doing this often, or feeling reliant on working this way.

I don't like to get into too much criticism of other readers because Tarot (and psychic abilities generally) is so subjective, but I admit it has crossed my mind as to whether they are overused by some readers. I personally would rather try and get an understanding of the card first pulled. It's only if I'm feeling really stuck I'll pull an additional card to try and get some further insight, and try to learn from that overall.

[Diana]

Yes I know.. I was hoping for some finite-ness at first. Get the important answers and get back to a deck every once in a while. Noooo such thing tho.. 'additional cards' are needed every day to keep track of my developing thoughts. It seems like I dream Tarot these days, people do Tarot things, situations feel wandsy, pentsy.. I'm NOT obsessed, it has become a necessity tho. Additional cards galore.

And then there's the inevitable 'additional' decks

M

In a different context, but it sounds ok here too, the great Sufi poet Rumi wrote "Don't look for water, be thirsty".

Yes, the Tarot does become a very important part of our lives once we've starting playing with it seriously. It sort of becomes a part of one's being. You did realise I hope before setting out on this journey that you would morph into a kind of tarot-cyborg! Anyway, it's too late now if you hadn't realised or no-one warned you. You've been modified. A bit like this :

[Monk]

"Don't look for water, be thirsty".

Thats LOA take on things right? Sounds a bit that way and i'm inspired by the concept actually. How do you take that quote?


LOL your signature Nice easter egg

[Diana]

Thats LOA take on things right? Sounds a bit that way and i'm inspired by the concept actually. How do you take that quote?

I don't know what LOA means.

Tarotically, I'd take those lines from his poem "Don't look for water, be thirsty" to say that if one's thirst is quenched, what would be our motivation to seek further ? But also as a warning that when we do drink water, for of course we must not die of thirst and dehydration, that the water should be pure and not polluted. Polluted and dirty water can even carry cholera and typhoid.

Rumi's original lines mean something completely different. But I thought of them when I read your post. Sort of an association of ideas.

[Monk]

The quote made me think of law of attraction. Sorry should have been more clear

[Monk]

Thats LOA take on things right? Sounds a bit that way and i'm inspired by the concept actually. How do you take that quote?

Rumi's original lines mean something completely different. But I thought of them when I read your post. Sort of an association of ideas.

Same, is where my LOA thought came from
If we always stay open we will never stop learning, quench the thirst. We have to allow 'water' to us by being receptive to it. Attract it.

[Tomatosauce]

Oooh, this looks like a fun pool to wade into...

I will only say that occasionally, when I have done a reading about a situation I've been wrestling with, contemplated my spread, meditated on my question, pulled my spread, and looked at it, what I've found is the cards restating my situation back to me. Sometimes it feels sympathetic, like, "Wow, you're dealing with a lot!" Sometimes it feels a bit more bemused, like, "Ooh, yeah, thoughts and prayers, honey! Wow..."

In that situation, asking if my higher self/spirit guides/the Universe would like to add anything else, and pulling one more card, often gives me the one extra piece that causes the whole picture to snap together in sharp relief.

Some people would not call that a "clarifying card" but a follow-up question, and yet clarification is exactly what it does.

[Diana]

I will only say that occasionally, when I have done a reading about a situation I've been wrestling with, contemplated my spread, meditated on my question, pulled my spread, and looked at it, what I've found is the cards restating my situation back to me. Sometimes it feels sympathetic, like, "Wow, you're dealing with a lot!" Sometimes it feels a bit more bemused, like, "Ooh, yeah, thoughts and prayers, honey! Wow..."

When the Tarot just gives us a mirror of our situation, I think it's because we haven't asked the right question. We ourselves are seeking more confirmation than advice and insight. That's been my experience anyways. The formulation of the question is so important.

When the Tarot gives me an obvious answer, I do get a bit annoyed with it. Sort of say "I didn't need YOU to tell me that". But the Tarot just smiles her enigmatic smile and looks at me benevolently awaiting a proper question.

[Tomatosauce]

When the Tarot just gives us a mirror of our situation, I think it's because we haven't asked the right question. We ourselves are seeking more confirmation than advice and insight. That's been my experience anyways. The formulation of the question is so important.

I... don't think that's a reasonable assumption about how other readers approach the Tarot. (Querents who do not themselves study the Tarot may be a different matter.)

Speaking only for myself, I'm fairly confident in my own judgement generally. I just do not seek out advice from *anyone* all that often, so if I'm going to the trouble of developing a spread, formulating a question, carving out some of my extremely limited alone time to conduct a reading... it's because what I'm doing in the situation is clearly not working and I need another way to look at it. The very last thing I want is confirmation. I go to great lengths to avoid seeking it.

So if I want to pull one more card because the cards have just re-stated the situation back to me... I'm going to shuffle and pull. Because our brains are pattern-matching machines, and throwing an extra piece into the mix changes the pattern we recognize.

[emporer]

Clarifiers have become very popular. I noticed that on my return to the Tarot. They're all over the place. It wasn't like that before. -LOL l!! - I sound like one of those caricatures of old people who say "things were different in my days". A bit like now there are 5 McDonalds in my town and 4 Starbucks. They sort of spring up overnight. One day they're not there, and you wake up the next morning and lo and behold... a new Starbucks has appeared overnight.

There were a huge amount of things I was thrilled about that had evolved in the Tarot world. But this one about clarifiers I didn't like from the beginning. Because most of the time, this clarifying business is done in a hugely sloppy way. People pull their cards - don't usually take enough time to think about them - everyone wants things quickly these days - that's why there are 5 McDonalds and 4 Starbucks in my town. We don't take time to think. I was listening to Kris Hadar the other day in a talk he gave (he's still around) on a non-Tarot topic, and he mentioned in passing why he'd given up teaching the Tarot in his school and writing about it. He said people are not interested in learning the Tarot anymore. They just want a quick fix.

Now, it's normal that sometimes we are puzzled about a reading. We're not omniscient. But for heaven's sake, one should treat the clarifiers as if they are almost separate readings. They should have a very clear question - as clear as the one we asked in the beginning. With positions and all. Of course, this second "reading" must pertain to the cards we've pulled. We can't go asking another question. But we should, if we find the need to do a clarifier or two, ask questions such as "what is the connection between card 1) and card 2", or "what deeper layer can be read in card 3". One can't just pull "clarifiers" like they're rabbits out of a hat. We're not that kind of magician. We're Tarot readers. They're nuances we're asking for and nuances have to be treated with care. Because they are nuances so delicate.

I've seen people who have about already 8 or 9 cards with all sorts of reversals on top of it, and they have three clarifiers that serve no purpose whatsoever except to continue to muddle the whole picture and create some sort of anarchy that is not the Good kind of anarchy. The other kind.

The Tarot needs a structure. Not chaos.

I don't use clarifiers. They're actually not allowed in my house. I reckon if I've done my question and my positions properly, I should have all the info I need. And in our day and age, we must beware of fake news.

There. I've had my rant. I'm going back to youtube to listen to a Yale professor explaining what historical criticism is. It's very interesting.

Most of the time when I don’t understand how a card applies I scour the Internet for different interpretations that I may not have considered and that’s sufficient. Sometimes, especially for negative cards, I put a clarifying card because I really do need more context. For example if I asked the question “what do I need to focus on this month ” And I pull the 10 of swords I really need to know what it’s referring to.

[Nemia]

I totally agree that in most cases, clarifiers are not helpful. It's better to spend a bit more time to sharpen the question. I personally work with spreads, i.e. defined spread positions which I write down before I start. If my spread positions (usually no more than three or four) are clearly formulated and specific, there is no need for more cards.

I can very much recommend the permutation technique (Mary K. Greer, Tarot for Your Self).

After you read the cards on the table, if you have more questions, move all the cards around in an orderly fashion (clock wise, anti clock wise, whatever you feel like, you can also move them more often than once). Then, read them again. You'll be surprised how much information you can gain from just the cards on the table.

If you draw the 10 of Swords, your wish to add a clarifier to it might actually stem from the wish to make it more palpable, to soften it somehow? Is it possible you're not seeking context but comfort? Just a question for ourselves when we get tough cards.

Sometimes a 10/Swords is just a 10/Swords and we have to deal with it.

I believe in limiting myself to the cards I planned to draw and continuing to work with them, I get better results than I what I see from people who work with clarifiers.

Just think about the Celtic Cross with clarifiers. What an unwieldy beast that would be!

I'd rather work with four well-put questions and permutate the four cards until I really, really understand what they want to tell me.

I wrote a long time ago about permutations here: http://www.1000spreads.com/2014/01/nemi ... -with.html