Imagine you have been granted one wish.  You can have anything you want without restriction but there are no do-overs, no second chances, no exchanging your wish for a better one.  So what do you want?  A million dollars?  A great job?  Perfect health?  

All great things to have certainly but all ultimately finite and subject to loss.  You can ask for a million dollars and lose it to bad investments.  You can become the president of a big company the day before it goes belly up.  And while wishing for good health sounds safe enough, even a person in excellent health is subject to bad luck or accidents.  You might be better off post wish, then again, you might not.

Keeping all of these possibilities in mind, you might ask not ask for a particular object or state of being but rather for a quality or strategy which would make it possible for you to get what you want independently.  That wish might sound something like, "I would like to know how to make a million dollars," or I would like to know how to create optimal health.  

Not only are these wishes something that can't be taken away, they are abilities and strategies that can be applied over and over in any situation or circumstance.  And this is how I look at Tarot. Or try to.

Let me clarify by saying that I do believe in energy and momentum and agree that interpreting the direction of the energy at work in our lives is an important part of most Tarot readings.  We all pull cards looking for information and it is perfectly reasonable to ask if conditions appear favorable for a certain enterprise or relationship.  What if conditions aren't particularly favorable, however, and you are determined to achieve a specific goal anyway?  

This can be unwise but it can also be admirable.  You may win against all odds and realize your dream.  You may fail and learn valuable life lessons in the process or develop a skill set that will guarantee success in a future endeavor.  You may even need to succeed at something that is not necessarily in accordance with your life path in order to truly understand that path or simply remember it.  This is not to say that people should be falsely encouraged.  Only that they should not be unduly restricted.

As I evolve as a reader, I see my role as one of pointing out possibilities, potential problems and providing strategies for myself and for others. I find myself relying more and more on higher energy, establishing a connection not only with my own guides but with those of the person I'm reading for.  I ask, what does this person most need to know and how might they realize it?  And that is what I try to tell them even if it isn't always the question.  

In my own personal readings, I ask questions similar to the following:

Am I ever predictive?  Sometimes I am.  But as I evolve as a reader and, even more importantly, as a person, I find my emphasis shifting.  My ultimate goal with reading tarot on a personal level is one of empowerment and this is what I most hope to communicate to others through my readings.