Forging a Path with Tarot

My theme for this year, as I mentioned last time, is to be fearless in my writing and art projects.  Whoa, just saying the word fearless makes my knees knock.  But, I’m tired of the roller coaster ride that takes me up and down, round and round and never ends.

 

Do you know what I mean?  Einstein’s thought on the subject. “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  I’m tired of doing that.  How about you?  Do you have a way of taking a different route?

Well, I have an idea to forge a new path with Tarot cards.  No, I’m not into fortune telling, but I am into stirring up my muse with a game.

I want to find a way to ignite the written word with art and vice versa using the Tarot.  Nothing new by any means, writers have been using Tarot cards to stimulate their muse out of her slumber for a long time.

I’ve used the cards when inspiration or a brainstorming partner are not available.  For example, if I’m wondering something about how my character would respond to an event or what in the world happens next in my story, I would do the following.  Thinking of my quandary with my wip, I would then pick a random card from the deck.  And this is where the fun and the possibilities begins.

 

It’s like having your muse or brainstorming partner at your desk and saying how about this idea.  I suppose it’s a visual equivalent of the ‘What if?’ question.  The question starts with words and ends in words.  The Tarot cards starts with an image with the integration of words through the symbols within the card.  Then from the  card and the question you’ve placed in your mind about your wip you create more images and story ideas.  You could play with the cards until you have your whole story and characters mapped out. I think it’s a way to go deeper into your story in the most surprising way.

 Of course, you still have to plan or play this around a sound structure for it to work.  Otherwise, you’ll be faced with many holes in your story. 

I believe our stories are unique because let’s face it there’s no one like us. Whew!  When I was looking at the different tarot cards and the images portrayed, I found them lacking a connection to my story.  So, I decided to create my own Tarot cards that align with my wip.  It will be like funneling ideas straight from my muse without even trying.

I will be documenting my process, choices for images, symbols, colors and whatever else comes up.  I’m hoping you’ll join me in making your own cards and add your thoughts and suggestions about mine.

Next time, I’ll be doing a book review.  So, it will on the 20^th of February that I will show you my progress. 

To get you started here are some links about Tarot.

 More of the Tarot card images above by Pamela Coleman Smith 1909: http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/index.htm

Source for Tarot decks: http://www.llewellyn.com/browse_category.php?product_category_id=199

Symbolism in the cards: http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/sot/index.htm

More links on the sacred-texts site: http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/index.htm

Till next time,

Elizabeth