Whenever you are reading tarot cards either for yourself or someone else, one of the basic questions is - how many cards to pick in a single reading?
One card is always effective because you can carry it’s message with you more easily than if you are trying to remember a few cards but sometimes one card isn’t sufficient to answer your question or give you clarity on a situation that you find yourself in.
For instance whenever somebody picks a challenging card - which is one that they don’t like and in the Osho Zen Tarot is usually from the 'cloud' set - I always advise, after understanding the card, for another one to be picked. And I may encourage someone to keep on drawing cards until he or she eventually picks a card that brings a smile, hope or relief.
It’s not cheating, but rather, using the cards as a tool to get to a place of lightness.
So if, for example, you pick a difficult card in the Osho Zen Tarot deck like Fighting and you understand where the fighting is happening in your life, you may follow this with another card which, as a positive, will help you to take off your armour or to face the foe who’s looking to engage you in conflict.
After the rain comes the rainbow, so the idea is that you keep on drawing cards until the big picture shows you how to move from difficulty to release.
It’s also important not to be afraid of 'ugly' cards. Take a look at this one here and at first sight you may be dismayed by the distorted face and the smoking chimneys coming out of the head.
"Is this me?" you may ask yourself. And that would be a great starting question. Are you too much in the mind? Are you thinking and talking your life and your problems most of the time?
Even when we are silent or alone our minds can still be chattering – going over memories, making future plans, working out what to do…
As with most cards in the Osho Zen Deck, there is no darkness without light. So where is the hope in the card Mind? If you look carefully you will see that as busy as the head is, the body of the figure is all boarded up.
The hope is in 'unboarding' the body. Go for a run, dance, make yoga or simply take a walk in nature and you can really help silence your babble, by being in the body.
(Osho once advised that if you really want to be silent, make a conscious effort to put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and I find this a real help.)
Of course every card will be interpreted according to your question and, as I mentioned before, according to the big picture - that is seeing each card separately but also as pieces that fit together like in a jigsaw.
So if, for instance, you pick a card which is all flowers and rainbows, after picking Mind, you may see that there is no need to be in the stress of your headspace. After all, the sun never goes away - sometimes it’s just momentarily obscured by clouds. And if you should pick just one cloudy card after another - don’t be dismayed - I always say, life only gives you the challenges that you are ready for!
But what to do when you ask question like 'Am I going to get married?' or 'Does the person I love, love me?' and you pick a card like Sorrow, which simply shows a monk crying and makes you feel like the answer to such questions is 'no' ? Do you, as I suggested before, keep on picking until you get to a card that shows happy coupledom? Now that would be cheating.
What you need to do actually is understand what a silly question you have asked! If you want to experience good loving in this life, you will. The tarot doesn’t conflict with the idea that we create our own reality and if love is really your goal, there’s no reason why you can’t score.
In actuality the best questions to ask the tarot begin with the word 'how.'
How can I bring a lover into my life? How can I accept that at present I am not married? The Osho Zen tarot, like some sort of therapeutic tool, is not about predicting the future, but rather dealing with the present and getting the most out of what is real, here and now.
So if you were to ask how can I bring a good partner into my life and you were to pick the Sorrow card maybe you need to understand that there’s a time for happy togetherness and a time for much needed self facing alloneness, tears and all.
Like another cloud card - IceOlation -there is this theme in the Osho Zen cards that sometimes we need to be alone and to shed tears in order to heal the wounds of the past and cleanse ourselves of all impure and negative thoughts. And then when this work is in process, can we make room for new love to enter and fill our beings.
There are those who say that in every question, there is an answer, simply take away the question mark.
So if you ask "Will I be successful in life?" The answer is "I will be successful in life." But if you ask how can I be successful in life? then the tarot can be one way of helping you to find direction.
And how do you know whn the tarot's answer is correct? Because the message will feel right. Something inside you will feel – yes that is what I need to be or do. And whether the answer comes in one card or five cards – what matters is that you have a message that touches you deeply and that your wisest self knows can help you.