Can Tarot Really Answer Yes-or-No Questions?
Four ways to get straightforward answers from your Tarot deck
It’s a common impulse: you want a clear answer, quickly. Should I take the job? Will they text me back? Is this the right move? In moments like these, Tarot can seem like it should function as a simple oracle -- yes or no, green light or red.
But Tarot doesn’t operate like a Magic 8 Ball (all due respect to the Magic 8 Ball, of course). At its best, Tarot is a reflective system, a symbolic language that helps you explore meaning, motivation, and possibility. It’s less about issuing verdicts and more about revealing unseen parts of your personal story.
Tarot can certainly offer clarity, but the way you ask -- and the way you listen -- matters.
And if you’re really really sure you need a simple “yes” or “no” … there are ways to arrange that. We’ll get to how in a minute.
Why Tarot Works Best with Open-Ended Questions
Tarot tends to deliver its most powerful insights when questions are framed expansively rather than narrowly. Fundamentally, it’s a tool for insight rather than prediction.
Questions that begin with “What,” “How,” or “Why” invite context:
- What energy surrounds this decision?
- How can I approach this relationship more wisely?
- Why does this situation keep repeating?
- What’s my part in this conflict?
- How can I achieve my goals this year?
These kinds of prompts give the cards room to speak in nuance and layers. They encourage self-reflection, pattern recognition, and agency.
By contrast, binary questions, like ones you can answer with “yes” or “no,” compress all that complexity into a single outcome. They can unintentionally shut down the very information that would help you make a confident choice.
In other words, our best advice is to think of Tarot less like a vending machine dispensing answers and more like a free-ranging conversation.
When You Need a Clear Answer
That said, there are moments when clarity matters more than nuance. You may be facing a time-sensitive decision, testing your own intuition, or simply wanting to cut through mental noise.
In those cases, Tarot can be adapted to provide more decisive guidance, so long as you understand the limitations and structure the reading intentionally.
Here are some of our favorite approaches for drawing a yes-or-no style answer from Tarot.
Ways to Get a Yes-or-No Answer from Tarot
1. Pre-Assign Meanings to Cards
Before drawing, decide what counts as “yes” and what counts as “no.” For example, upright cards might mean “yes” while reversed cards mean “no.” Maybe you decide that one suit (Swords, perhaps?) means “no” and another (Wands?) means “yes.” Once you shuffle the deck thoroughly, select cards at random until a relevant one shows up.
If you’re trying to decide between two options, you could choose one card to represent each one, shuffle and cut the deck, then go through it, one card at a time. The first of your pre-selected cards to appear gives you your answer.
Why it works: You eliminate ambiguity by setting the rules in advance.
2. Counting Cards
As with the last technique, this one starts with your own determination. This time, though, choose just one card. It could be a classic favorite like The Fool or The World, your personal favorite, or one that symbolizes your dilemma in some way.
Once you know your card, put it back into the deck, shuffle it well, then cut in the place that feels right for you. Turn over one card at a time, keeping count of each card, until you get back to the one you chose.
How many cards did you count? If it’s an even number, take that as a “yes.” If it’s odd, take it as a “no.”
Why it works: Your choice of card and shuffling pattern subtly determines the outcome. Your will is reflected in the final result.
3. Use Built-In Yes/No Meanings for the Cards
At Tarot.com, we have an in-depth page for each Tarot card. You can visit any card’s page to see its essential meaning (both upright and reversed), along with its meaning in Advice readings, Love readings, and Career readings.
At the bottom of each page, you’ll find information about how to interpret that particular card as either a “yes” or a “no.” Simply go to the page for the card you select and see what it tells you.
For example, the Justice card has this to say: “Justice is a card of clarity and honor. If you're looking for simple Yes or No guidance and receive Justice, the answer is NO. Wait until all the facts are known before taking action.”
The Four of Wands, on the other hand, “... is a card of celebration. If you're looking for simple Yes or No guidance and receive the Four of Wands, the answer is YES. See and savor the joy in the situation.”
Why it works: Easy as can be! Pick a card, any card, and look up the answer that goes along with it.
4. Get Our Signature Yes or No Tarot Reading
For situations such as these, we actually offer a specialized Yes or No Tarot Reading. Leave it to us and get your answer in a hurry.
Why it works: We do all the work for you, leaving you with time to process and act.
Finding Your Answers
If you find yourself repeatedly asking Tarot for definitive, binary answers, it may be worth pausing to ask a different question altogether -- not of the cards, but of yourself.
What am I really seeking right now: permission, reassurance, or clarity?
Tarot shines when it helps you step into the author role in your own story. Whether you ask for nuance or for clarity, the most meaningful answers are the ones that leave you better equipped to choose for yourself.
