10 Summum Bonum Tarot Questions for the Highest Good

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the years is that the quality of a Tarot reading depends as much on the question as it does on the cards themselves.

When people come to the Tarot, it’s usually because something has gone wrong. They’re worried about a relationship, their career, their health or their future. They want reassurance that everything is going to be OK. I understand that because I’ve been there too.

The Tarot really can help us navigate life’s challenges. But over the years, my understanding of its purpose has changed. I no longer see it primarily as a way of finding answers about the future. Instead, I see it as a way of asking better questions.

That’s the heart of Summum Bonum Tarot.

Rather than asking questions that hand responsibility over to the cards, we begin asking questions that help us cooperate more consciously with Divine Wisdom and seek the Highest Good.

Sometimes changing a single question is enough to transform an entire reading.

Will they come back?

Perhaps they will. Perhaps they won’t. Either way, that’s only part of the story.

A better question is:

How can I approach this relationship with wisdom, honesty and self-respect?

The Tarot can’t make someone choose us. What it can do is help us understand ourselves more deeply and respond with greater compassion, courage and integrity.

What will my love life bring me?

Love isn’t simply something that happens while we wait for fate to knock on the door.

A better question is:

How can I prepare myself for a loving, reciprocal relationship?

The Tarot is wonderfully honest about the patterns we repeat, the wounds we carry and the qualities we’re being invited to develop before the right relationship comes along.

Are they ‘The One’?

This is one of the questions Tarot readers hear most often.

Rather than trying to decide whether someone is your forever person, try asking:

What is this relationship here to teach me?

Every meaningful relationship changes us. Some stay for a lifetime. Others stay just long enough to teach us something we couldn’t have learned any other way.

When will I meet someone?

Instead of focusing on timing, ask:

How can I become more open to the kind of relationship that serves the Highest Good?

This shifts the focus from waiting for life to happen towards becoming an active participant in your own journey.

When will I get married?

Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it’s only one milestone on a much longer journey.

A better question is:

How can I cultivate the qualities that sustain a lifelong partnership?

Our souls are less interested in the wedding day than in the people we are becoming along the way.

Will I ever be happy?

This question touches my heart every time I hear it.

A better question is:

What would help me cultivate a deeper sense of peace, meaning and fulfilment?

Lasting happiness isn’t something the Tarot predicts. It grows through the choices we make, the people we become and the way we learn to meet life, even when it doesn’t go according to plan.

Will my health improve?

The Tarot should never replace appropriate medical advice or treatment.

It can, however, help us ask:

How can I best support my wellbeing at this time?

Sometimes the cards encourage rest. Other times they highlight emotional stress or neglected self-care. And sometimes they simply remind us to listen more carefully to our bodies.

What is my life purpose?

Few questions carry as much longing as this one.

Rather than expecting the Tarot to hand you a complete life plan, ask:

Where is Divine Wisdom inviting me to grow next?

Our vocation usually unfolds one faithful step at a time. More often than not, the Tarot reveals the next step rather than the entire staircase.

Will my finances improve?

Finances are practical matters.

A better question is:

What practical and inner changes would help me become a wiser steward of my resources?

The Tarot can illuminate habits, beliefs and opportunities, but it doesn’t replace common sense, careful planning or taking responsibility for our finances.

When will my luck change?

When people ask this, what they’re often saying is, “I don’t know how to move forward.”

A better question is:

Where do I have more agency than I currently realise?

Even in difficult seasons, there’s usually one small step we can take. The Tarot has a remarkable way of helping us see that step more clearly.

Every Reading Begins with a Better Question

Asking better questions doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes easy. It simply changes the way we meet whatever life places before us.

Better questions help us move away from trying to predict the future and towards becoming the kind of people who can meet the future with greater wisdom, courage and discernment.

The cards haven’t changed. The questions have.

And when the questions change, the reading changes too.

Before you go, you may find it helpful to read Summum Bonum Tarot: Reading the Tarot for the Highest Good, where I explain the philosophy behind this way of working with the cards.

This article was first published in 2017 and has since been completely rewritten to reflect the Summum Bonum Tarot philosophy that now underpins every Angelic Tarot post on Angelorum.

Lisa Eddy — Tamar Iris LeFay