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Making Questions and Templates
Your entry into the World of Change begins with presenting your problem as a question. Making a question is a two step procedure. You should take time with this. The clearer the question and the deeper your perception of the issues at stake, the more precise and profound Change’s answer can be.
Establishing the Field
The first step is to consider the problem. Search out the feelings, images and experiences involved. Articulate what you feel and think about things, what you know and what you do not know. Look for relevant memories and experiences, hopes and fears, dreams and desires. Simply try to see what is there, no matter how contradictory. This will establish a field of associations that can focus the symbols and relate them to your personal concerns.
Formulating the Question
The second step is to formulate the actual question as clearly as possible. Base it on what you want to do. Find the border, the place where your desire melts into uncertainty and search out the level of specificity you really need. It does not really matter what you are asking about as long as it is personally important and your motives in asking are sincere. There is, however, an effective form for the question.
Yes and no questions are not usually effective. An effective formulation of a specific question might be: “What about doing X?” or “What should my attitude towards X be?” If you are confused about the whole situation, you can ask the most basic question to Change: “What time is it for me? Please give me an image of my overall situation.” You can also ask for a strategy or guide: “What is the most effective stance to take towards Y?” “How can I best achieve X?” or “How can I best help A?” If you are truly on the horns of a dilemma, you can ask for an image of each alternative, formulating two questions: “What about doing X?” “What about doing Y?”
In asking these sorts of questions, or asking about another person, you should be sure your motives are clear, straight and compassionate. Tradition says that the book will respond clearly to a real need but will not allow itself to be used for greedy or manipulative ends.
Position of the Inquirer
Another thing to consider in posing a question is the position of the Inquirer. How is the person asking the question related to the matter at hand? In what way are they involved in the situation and what power do they have over the situation? Define who the Inquirer is asking on behalf of: him or herself, as head of a family, as a therapeute or healer, as a manager or spokesperson for a group. The answers Change offers will be directly related to this position.
Active Dialogue
The question you ask can also be the starting point in a continuing dialogue with Change, what the depth psychologist C. G. Jung called active imagination. It can lead to further questions as you explore the matter you are considering in depth. Give the oracle’s first response careful consideration. If further questions arise, do not hesitate to ask them. Change invites this sort of dialogue. Here is an example:
You ask a Basic Question about a problem or your overall situation. After consideration, you find you need help to focus and make better sense of the response. You can then ask for a Guide. As you contemplate this and its relation to the basic answer, you find you need a way to connect to the actual situation, what you can do now. You can then ask a From Now question. I have found this dialogue form very effective in taking Change and the basic re-formulation of thought it suggests into action.
Relationship Readings and Group Readings
If two or more people are involved in the reading, you can set up a template that reflects the situation. Relationships are a good example. Ask each person to draw the tokens to establish their individual positions in the relationship, then ask them to alternate in drawing the tokens or forming the lines to produce a third figure, representing the voice of relationship itself speaking to both of them. This creates a very fertile field for insight and understanding.
This can be extended to a group, either by asking the group to designate a spokesperson or by defining who is involved in the decision making process and asking them to alternate in drawing the tokens. Here, pay attention to the particular place of the Transforming Lines and the people who produced them and the positions in the Extended Matrix.
Dream Readings