Using Tarot for Writing Stories, Part 1

But First, a Quick Primer on Tarot Basics for the Uninitiated

I’ve decided to write about how I use tarot with creating stories. While I have personally been using the cards for way too long, I am going to start with the basics - just enough to get someone started assuming they have not used them before. I pulled together a few things, and Part 2 will delve into one of the the actual tarot spreads I developed for my creative work and show a full example with pictures.

• Court cards (Page/Princess, Prince/Knight, Mother/Queen, Father/King) generally represent a person/character, or an archetype a person/character could embody.

• Major arcana (The Fool through The World) are the strongest cards in the deck and should be considered major energies and archetypes. The cards, in sequence, tell the story of The Fool’s lifespan, and the stages one goes through as we live our daily lives. The ups, downs, victories, and obstacles we experience are all here.

• The minor arcana (Aces though 10’s) are based partly on numerology.

  • The scale of 1-10 indicates a complete cycle.

  • Lower numbers are incomplete cycles and climb incrementally towards 10 where a cycle is done.

• Ace’s generally give a “yes” answer with a focus on the corresponding suit’s theme.

Biddy Tarot, a great resource for tarot readers of all levels, describes the minor arcana perfectly:

• The Suit of Cups represents your feelings, emotions, intuition and creativity. The Cups cards often appear in Tarot readings about relationships and your emotional connection with yourself and others.

• The Suit of Pentacles represents your finances, work and material possessions. The Pentacles cards often appear in Tarot readings about career and financial wealth.

• The Suit of Swords represents your thoughts, words and actions. The Swords cards often appear in Tarot readings about communicating your ideas, making decisions, and asserting your power.

• The Suit of Wands represents your energy, motivation and passion. The Wands cards often appear in Tarot readings about life purpose, spirituality and new ideas.

There is so much potential here for the elements of great storytelling – emotions, power, spirituality, money, thoughts/words, the material world, intuition, action . . . and that’s just the beginning. The images on each card add a rich dimension of depth, usually incorporating an archetype or theme from the suit. Say goodbye to writer’s block! You don’t have be a “mystic” to read these cards, or even spiritual. They can be a dynamic tool for creative work.

Before beginning this work, shuffle well, and do it multiple times. The floor/table swirl with your hands also works well if you have a new deck to ensure it completely mixed. After shuffling, cut the deck into several (I use 3) stacks, and take either the bottom or middle of the stack on the top, place all the other cuts under those. You should pull each card off the top of the stack and flip to the side (left/right), not from the bottom-up. When you flip the cards from the bottom-up, you are reversing the natural orientation of the cards, and it will drastically change the reading if you are incorporating reversals.

The decision to incorporate reversed (upside down) tarot cards is a personal one. I tend to hold the opinion that if you are a beginner at reading tarot cards, ignore the orientation of the card and read it straight. However, if you want an added element of complexity or are already comfortable reading reversals, try to read them as they are laid out. Just because the card come out of the deck upside down does not indicate an opposite meaning. It depends on the card, and it is not exclusively positive or negative if it is reversed. Sometimes it is the same meaning to a lesser degree, or extremes are present (such as behavior or emotions). It is not so cut and dry . . . its complex.

The meaning of the cards varies wildly (depending on where you look), and information on the cards can be found from way too many sources. I generally do not use the book that comes with the deck, as it tends to be just a list of general keywords or alternative meanings with little detail. If you have anything beyond a basic deck, the book can be useful. I use google sometimes for specific things from time to time but be careful of where you get the information (such as social media, probably not a good place to research). I’m old school, and I love books as a point of reference. Over the years, I have accumulated a collection of tarot books on all sorts of topics.

Don’t hang on too tight to traditional meanings for the cards. If you are looking at a group of cards and feel stuck, or it seems they don’t tell a coherent message - step away from the book and look at each cards’ imagery.

• Are there hands/wands/swords pointing to a nearby card? Are there people looking at one another across cards?

• Are there a dominant number of cards in either the major or minor arcanas?

• What colors are common?

• It is bright and sunny, or dark and foreboding?

• Are there children, families, or mostly adults?

• What is in the background, sky, and bottom of the card?

• Is there nature? Are there animals present?

• Does it look peaceful or stressful?

Decode the story from any of these elements in a way that makes sense for you and your story. You can also incorporate these small details into your story - the weather, the people, the colors, etc.

These are my best practices, and I fully recognize that experienced readers will have their own ways. No one way is right or wrong. After handling the tarot for the last 25 years, I have found what work for me. You will find your own.