Hello, friend! Welcome to another post in The Creator’s Roulette. I have always been fascinated by Tarot and even tried it when I was young. If you have ever dived into Tarot yourself, or been wanting to, you would love this post – I loved it when I first read it and also as I was setting this up! I have author Angela Kaufman with me today and she is sharing a wealth of knowledge on how you can use Tarot in the writing process. This is a great post to learn the about the main cards in deck. Let’s meet Angela before we get started:
Angela Kaufman is a Certified Intuitive Consultant, Psychic Medium, author, content writer, activist and LCSW. Angela’s mission is inspired by a lifelong interest in spirituality and social justice. She is author of Queen Up! Reclaim Your Crown When Life Knocks You Down- Unleash the Power of Your Inner Tarot Queen (Conari, 2018). Her first novel, Quiet Man, a crime drama that explores the devastating toll of predatory capitalism and the meat industry has on both people, animals, and the environment and was a finalist for the 2019 Siskiyou Prize in Environmental Literature and was published through Trash Panda Press. Other works of fiction include, Sold Out (2021), Golden Apple (2021), and latest work of political fiction, Murder in the Gilded City, also from Trash Panda Press.
Divining Your Muse: How Tarot Can Help Your Writing Process
A guest post by Angela Kaufman
Introduction
No matter where you are on your journey as a writer, even if you are someone who has always wanted to write but haven’t started yet, you may find a powerful Muse in the most surprising form- Tarot Cards! You don’t even need Tarot reading experience to use the cards to help your story come to life.
If you struggle with writer’s block or just want to get the creative juices flowing, a deck of Tarot Cards can help. Traditionally, Tarot has been used as one of many tools for divination- aligning with higher energies and Spirits to help evaluate possible future paths. But these cards have also been used for a variety of other purposes.
Jungian psychologists embraced the use of Tarot in the psychotherapy process. People seeking healing in and out of therapy use the cards for deep self-reflection and greater insight into their own personal experiences.
Those who believe Tarot Cards are helping them attune with higher wisdom may use the cards for guidance and decision making, as well as for insight, personal growth, and even in rituals or ceremonies. Those who believe the cards are a source of personal inspiration but who aren’t interested in going quite so deep into the spiritual side of working with Tarot have found interesting uses for the cards in modern times.
This includes businesses and professionals who consult Tarot as a matter of brainstorming and being open to what they aren’t currently considering when evaluating their options. Some companies bring in Tarot Readers to consult with or to do team building among staff.
And then there’s the fun, light, inspirational aspects of Tarot reading as a source of entertainment at parties. Having a Tarot Reading or reading the cards yourself can lead to surprising epiphanies that may convince even the biggest skeptic that there’s something to this collection of archetypes.
Before you tell yourself this won’t work for you because you’re not a “Tarot Reader” keep in mind that one of the best ways this process can work for you is if you have no preconceived ideas. If you’re an experienced Tarot Reader, you can still draw on this process as well, shifting your focus from divination of the future of your path or a client’s journey, to the future of your unfolding plot or the fate of your characters.
Getting to Know Tarot
Let’s first look at Tarot as a tool so you can better acquaint yourself with what the cards are and what makes them different from other oracles and from playing cards. There’s controversy surrounding the origins of the cards. The conventional theory to date is that they were derived from a parlor game popular in Italy in the 15th Century.
Some believe they evolved from a card game outlining a series of images that represented the virtues and vices according to Catholicism.
At some point in the early development of Tarot, the cards were used for divination or fortune-telling. Their popularity spread world-wide and now there are numerous decks with various themes and images from the serious to the comical.
A few things unite Tarot Cards as a unique system. A deck consists of 78 cards. Some modern decks stray from this while still using the name Tarot as well, but generally there are 78 cards, and they bear similar structure.
Twenty-two are called the Major Arcana and are the broad archetypes of the Fool’s Journey (more on this in a bit). Usually the first, the Fool, is numbered zero, and the last, The World, is numbered twenty-one.
The second part of a Tarot deck are the Minor Arcana, which bear a closer resemblance to playing cards as they are divided into four suits with an Ace, Page, Knight, Queen and King of each suit, then cards numbered two through ten.
Modern variations seeking greater inclusivity and representing a more evolved view of the Tarot have also expanded on the names of some of the cards, including the court cards. For example, there are decks that recast the courts as the “Mother” or “Father” of certain elements to disconnect from the patriarchal and imperial connotations of “Queen” and “King.”
Old lore dictates that one should wait for cards to come to you as a gift, but this is not advice you need to follow in the 21st century. If the cards call to you on any level, purchase a deck that interests you.
The Major Cards and the Hero’s Journey
As mentioned earlier, the Major cards in Tarot represent the Fool’s Journey. But as writers, we know this as the Hero’s Journey. Spoiler alert: The Fool in the Tarot is actually the Hero. Use this brief overview of each card to help understand the meanings of the Major Arcana and how it can relate to elements of storytelling.
0 The Fool– This is your Hero before they know they are the Hero. They’re average, they may even be very flawed. In most depictions, the Fool roams the countryside, oblivious to the cliff they’re about to walk over, a small dog by their side and satchel with their few belongings. Their worries and responsibilities are few.
But this is not a status they can maintain. We know that as writers. It’s our job to see the Fool as an opportunity. We see their naivete, their wonder, curiosity and potential, and we set them on a journey.
Or we see them skipping merrily toward the edge of a cliff and seize the opportunity to create an adventure around the path they are already on. For writers, the Fool is not only the protagonist in the “before” stages of the plot, but this card also represents our Muse.
The Fool is our blank page or blank screen. The story that exists before we channel it into plot points and sentences, calling it into being physically.
I The Magician– Next is the Magician. The energy of needed change. In this way, we as writers are also the Magician. We see the Fool’s potential and begin to manipulate the Fool’s life through our plot ideas, our words, our keyboards, we magically create a universe in which the Fool will fail, and stumble, and grow, and succeed, and love, and lose, and suffer, and rejoice.
The Magician knows they are not God, but they can play with creative forces, much as we do when we write.
In the process of writing, the Magician can be the inciting incident. The stranger who comes to town. The person who sparks the Fool’s interest in going on an adventure in the first place. And there are magic elements to every story. The special power, hidden talent, deep secret, that the protagonist has. The thing that may doom them- or save them- depending on how they use it.
II The High Priestess– The High Priestess is the subtle guiding force, the intuition and the synchronicity at play behind the scenes, which beckons the Fool to move in one direction or another.
She is the Fool’s higher wisdom; she is also the guiding force that comes through when needed. In story, she is Athena, Mentor guiding Odysseus. She is the Fairy Godmother. The gatekeeper of higher understanding. She may also be the intuition of the story, of your writing process, and even your intuition as a writer.
When you get to the sixth chapter of your work in progress and suddenly parts of your story come together in ways you didn’t plan? That’s the High Priestess at work.
III The Empress– This is a card of growth, abundance, harvest, the nurturing energy that provides sustenance for the Fool on their journey. This could be a nurturing parent in the protagonist’s life, for example.
The Empress can also represent the forces that nurture you as a writer and the process of feeding your imagination. The Empress helps you to structure your writing habits and harvests your experiences and emotions to help cultivate the story you’re working on.
IV The Emperor– This archetype is that of the protective figure who ensures the boundaries are intact. This is the archetype of the character the Fool may appeal to for physical help in some way. The Emperor can be viewed as power-hungry, or as generous but with firm limits and expectations.
From the Emperor, the Fool begins to learn that there are limits, costs and consequences to what they do. In writing, the Emperor is the archetype guiding us to set our own limits. Our deadlines and the frameworks in which we have to stay are also embodiments of this energy. The Emperor helps us protect our process and not squander our creative energy.
V The Hierophant- This is the system, institution or society in which the Fool must try to navigate while not losing their own autonomy and creativity. In writing, this archetype speaks to the “person vs. the state” genre.
As writers, we also encounter this archetype when we submit to publishing institutions. The Hierophant then brings the lessons of being true to our message and vision while also working within the rules and structures of the platform that will help us reach the most people.
In your story, this archetype may represent a struggle the Hero goes through to break free from traditions or restrictions, to assert their individuality or to change institutions from the inside.
VI The Lovers- Though this archetype has romantic connotations, the Lovers Card is more broadly about finding helpers and partners that compensate for one’s limitations. The Fool learns to expand beyond their own ambitions when they connect with the Lovers. They also learn they don’t have to do everything alone.
The Lovers in your story can refer to romance, but also to the closest connection your protagonist has, even if this is to a platonic friend, a wizard, a dog, a family member and so forth.
In our process as writers, the Lovers refers to the key people who help us complete our story. The perspective we need in order to see what we were first missing. This could be an editor or a core supporter of our work who inspires and also helps us along the way.
VII The Chariot- This archetype represents a turning point. Jean Brody, in Save the Cat Writes a Novel talks about the plot beats that are essential to stories. Before the actual turning point, the protagonist experiences a catalyst. This changes their perception in some way and gives them a choice to consider. She writes about a section of the plot in which the character questions which path to take, to pursue the calling or reject it.
This is the Chariot. It’s before the actual turning point of the plot, but after some catalyst has occurred. Your Hero isn’t yet convinced to give up the comfort of what is familiar, but they can’t ignore new information that is unsettling to them.
The Chariot for us as writers can also represent the process of getting stuck in our plotting and writing. Viewing “writer’s block” as the Chariot is helpful because there is a way out of the crossroads. The Fool encounters the Chariot and must make a decision. Before making the decision, the Fool needs to face their fears and insecurities, to be honest about themselves about what path to take.
The Fool decides to take a risk when they work through the obstacles of the Chariot. We, too as writers, discover what risks to take when we work through stagnation in our process.
VIII Strength- This card speaks to the Fool’s need to discover inner strength that helps them navigate their first major challenge. The lesson is to seek wisdom within rather than trying to dominate others or a situation. Do they learn this lesson? Probably not if you want to write a good, thorough story about the Fool’s journey.
This is the advice they should take but probably ignore. They just aren’t ready yet. This is the point in the story where the Fool isn’t ready to be humble and tries to enter a new world playing by old rules. It isn’t supposed to work at first.
For Writers, this card can also represent the part of the process in which we fight with ourselves, disregard the writing advice we’ve been given, or try to forge ahead doing something that may not be working so well.
IX The Hermit– The Fool now has chosen to take a risk to overcome an obstacle. They’re on an adventure in a new world, feeling like a stranger out of their element, and they’ve ignored some kind of good advice. They’ve chosen to go their own way.
They encounter the Hermit, the person who lives on the edge and is disregarded by society but has great wisdom to share. Who is this character in your story? What advice do they give that really changes the heart and mind of your Hero? The Hermit represents the solitary aspect of your Hero’s transformation. The thing your Hero must do alone even though they have the support and love of others.
As writers, the Hermit is the solitary time we need in order to hear ourselves think. It’s the force that leads us to reject conventions, to want to try to do things our own way, which we will ultimately continue to do or reject doing, to come back to the process.
X The Wheel of Fortune- Your Hero now has a Deus Ex Machina moment. Some great synchronistic event transpires, and they find they’ve strayed from the beaten path only to end up in the right place at the right time. This may also be your story’s turning point.
In your process, this can be the epiphany that helps you get clear about where your story is really going.
XI Justice- This archetype speaks to how your Hero starts to achieve real balance and justice within the story. This may not specifically mean they get what they want. This is where they may learn that what they really need to fulfill their journey is not what they thought they wanted in the first place.
For writers, Justice may relate to the fulfillment, balance and satisfaction that comes from finding the right flow and starting to see the plot and characters really come together.
XII The Hanged Man- Once again, the Hero/Fool is stuck. They encounter a limitation. They may be trapped in the villain’s lair, perhaps their romance fell apart and it looks like they’ve lost everything, or they may become injured, sick or apparently unable to fulfill the quest. Maybe they lost the special talisman that was supposed to help them defeat the evil creature? Maybe they’ve discovered they’re going to miss a special event that their happiness was depending on?
The Hanged Man forces the Fool to accept stillness and loss. Through this archetype, the Fool learns that the external thing they thought was so important is not necessary to their happiness or their power. And it’s a good thing they learn this lesson now, because things are about to get more complicated….
In the writing process, this card can represent the excess that needs to be trimmed so that the story can come through.
XIII- Death– The Fool encounters some kind of symbolic death and rebirth transformation. They are now acutely aware they can’t go home again. Life is not going to be the same, they must accept a dramatic change and begin to see their new purpose post turning point.
This can be an exciting and powerful point in your plot. The Hero’s epiphanies come into play, they thought they accepted their mission before but not is when they truly accept it.
As a writer, this may be the card representing your true understanding of what your story is trying to tell you.
XIV Temperance- The Fool wants to integrate this new wisdom and hit the ground running, but Temperance says, “not so fast!” This is a process of healing and integration that forces your protagonist to really internalize the transformation they have undergone. This is the part of your story where the Hero is trying out their new skills, beliefs, perceptions, or finding their footing in their new reality (or at least trying to).
XV The Devil- But not all is as easy as it may seem. The Fool/Hero now realizes they’ve formed an unhealthy attachment to someone or something that keeps them stuck in the past. This is the sacrifice they have to make or the distraction they need to overcome.
You as the writer may also see the Devil as the habit you need to break or expectation you need to let go of so that the story can become stronger.
XVI- The Tower- The Fool thought they’d gone through some tough times before, but the Tower is another turning point- the climax of the story- that really throws them off. They are now forced to make the changes they thought about or tried to make before. This is the dark night of the soul archetype.
For us as writers, this may be the experience of losing our attachment to the purpose we wanted to story to serve and recognizing the story has a much higher purpose that we need to adapt to.
XVII- The Star– All hope seems like it is lost, but the Star reminds the Fool this is not true. There’s something still left to fight/struggle/work for. This energy heals and motivates the Fool to keep going.
This may be a reminder for writers to also reconnect to our higher mission and ideals when the process seems to be a loss.
XVIII- The Moon- Out of the shadows come a new image of what may be possible. The Fool hears whispers of possibilities, gets a glimpse of their potential, and feels their intuition calling to them about what to do next.
The Moon, for writers, can signal the need to be more receptive to letting the story speak to us.
XIX- The Sun– The Fool finds their way through the tunnel of doubt, fears, and losses and is now able to see the light of day again! They’ve succeeded in overcoming a major wound or challenge and their strength is restored. Their vision is clear now and they’re ready to finish their mission.
XX Judgment- one last stop in the process for the Hero to release insecurities, doubts, judgments and fears. This is the strategy session before the last battle, the last effort the Hero makes to heal or release aspects of their pre-transformation self. It may also be the part of your story where they are tempted to return to their old life one final time.
For us as writers, this card represents final edits, polishing a story that is almost ready to go.
XXI The World- Finally, the Fool completes their journey. They reach the summit, and fully transform into their new identity, solidly planted in their new world. Your Hero may now have completion, integration and full awareness as well. Even if they didn’t “win” in the conventional sense, there is an understanding that they completed a journey and have fully integrated its lessons.
For us as writers, this is the final manuscript ready to submit, publish or share.
The Minor Cards and Plot Twists
The Minor Cards are less about universal archetypes and more about specific scenes, dilemmas and processes your Hero encounters. Rather than giving an explanation for each card, it can be helpful for you to start experimenting with making up your own stories about what each card is depicting.
For example, if you look at the Five of Pentacles in a Rider-Waite deck, you’ll see an image of two figures, appearing to be injured and trying to lean on each other for support, walking through the snow outside of a church. Using this card as a writing prompt, perhaps you begin to create a story about how a couple seeks sanctuary from a harsh turn of events in their life and where they do- and don’t- find the protection and help they need.
Perhaps this becomes a scene in which the Hero’s need for shelter or care is rejected by a loved one, family member, or institution.
Ask yourself what each card is telling you. Use the images as if it was a storyboard, helping you to map out your Hero’s journey in the specific scenes that occur between each of the Major Arcana points described above.
The Court Cards and Building Character
Pull the Court Cards aside as these can help you develop your characters. In conventional decks, there are four suits, usually Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. Each is associated with an element and set of personality traits. You can also use the conventional power differential or status associated with Page, Knight, Queen and King, or innovate as follows.
Page- a young character or a character who needs to make many changes. Hint: these characters are your best protagonists because they have the highest stakes.
Knight- a fairly well-grounded character who is still growing in wisdom but is not careless- this may be a friend or mentor for the protagonist.
Queen- a character who inspires your protagonist by supporting them, but who doesn’t tell your protagonist what to do.
King- a character who, because they are authoritative or confrontational, forces your protagonist’s path in some way.
Here are the traditional suit associations. Use this to help you create the personality traits your characters may embody.
Wands- Prominent traits of the Wands personality are impetuousness, bravery, impulsivity and willingness to act in daring ways to protect others. Wands people are creative, talkative, energetic and inspiring.
Swords- As you can imagine, Swords characters have a tough exterior. They may be defensive because these characters have unresolved wounds. They may also try to compensate for these wounds by always being the hero in every situation. They can be honest but also blunt and to the point.
Cups- Your Cups characters are generous with their emotions and affection. They are loving, benevolent, nurturing and want everyone to be happy. They are likely to be empathic and attuned to others’ feelings and emotional needs. They also easily express their own feelings.
Pentacles- Pentacles characters are industrious. They are more practical than emotional. They stick to solid plans and are reluctant to take risks. They may seek comfort and stability and often are traditionalists, clinging to the past.
Letting the Cards Help You Tell Your Story
Now that you have a basic understanding of how the Tarot relates to storytelling, here are some exercises you can use to further develop your inspired idea into a full story or manuscript.
- Start by laying out the Major Arcana cards, in order, as the structure of your plot. These cards represent the lessons and hurdles your protagonist must go through.
Next, shuffle the minor cards and choose a few at random to place under each of the major cards. This will help you further explore what specific scenes may look like throughout the plot.
Remember, you don’t have to automatically know the meaning of any of the cards. There is no need to memorize meanings or stress over using the interpretations in the guidebook that came with your Tarot cards.
As you look at your arrangement of cards, try to view this as a map of your plot. Take notes and explore what each card is trying to “tell” you.
This is your creative process; you can rearrange the cards to explore what plot changes could “look” like. Use the cards to help you envision various scenes.
- A Close Up of Scenes and Characters
If you’re having difficulty envisioning specific scenes and character interactions, you can use the Tarot to help put you into the scene. Immerse yourself in a specific part of your story by meditating a small number of cards.
Ideally, this involves one to three Tarot cards, not a larger spread. Remember, the goal of this exercise is a deep dive.
Use various cards to go into depth exploring how your characters are feeling, reacting, expressing themselves. See yourself in the scene with them and take note of the descriptions and dialog that comes to mind.
- Use the Tarot to give your characters a back story.
One of the easy things to forget is that as writers, we center our focus on a story that began before our actual story begins. Put another way, your protagonist, villain, helpers, and heroes exist before the start of your story. They bring baggage, traumas, strengths and preferences into the story.
It’s easy to overlook this, but this mistake can flatten characters. Your characters may end up looking like pawns, your plot, a hidden agenda. This can be avoided by use of Tarot cards.
This is an exercise that will influence your story, but the “action” and details that come to the surface through this exercise aren’t necessarily going to end up featuring in the story.
For example, let’s say your protagonist and a group of characters are going to be summoned to a party where they are then taken hostage, and it is revealed that the party was a rouse to get the characters into one place. You, as the writer, know why you’re setting them up. You already have that in mind in your plot.
But what can give your characters more dimension? Why would your protagonist, for example, feel compelled to go to the party when they were invited by a stranger?
This is where the back story becomes important. Let’s say you pull three cards at random to describe your protagonist’s personality. The cards that you pull are the King of Swords, The Devil, and the Lovers.
Well, now we can create more of a back story. Perhaps your protagonist tries to be sensible and cautious and wouldn’t usually accept this bizarre invitation, but they’ve been burned recently by a business deal or rejected by a partner and now, with something to prove and a shattered ego, they’re out to look for validation.
You can also use the cards, drawn randomly, throughout your writing process to help point to what may be missing or what may need to change. For example, if you select the Chariot when you are trying to write your major turning point, you may be guided to revisit earlier parts of your plot. Your Hero may not be as close to fully experiencing the turning point as you thought. More attention may be needed to further develop the stakes and ambivalence your Hero has to work through prior to the turning-point.
What did you think of this post? If you are you a user of Tarot, have you used it for writing inspiration? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Connect with Angela on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can also check out her website and learn more about her work.
Photo by Soulful Stock on Unsplash
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