tarot for writers

[seaofclouds]

Hello friends,

National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st, and I was wondering if a.) anyone here was writing b.) if anyone was using tarot in their plot and c.) is there a forum or e-list specific to using tarot in writing.

I've searched the archives and found some great spreads to use. A friend loaned me an old RWS deck that I'm using for plotting.

I have a Marseilles deck, but I haven't cut my teeth with that, and I'm not sure how it would work with plotting a story.

Any suggestions for a good writers deck? I was thinking I should just make one myself!

xoxo,
Melissa

[Cerulean]

He has a free deck to download and samples from his book to help people use tarot for creative writing as well:

http://www.tarottools.com/archives.htm

The links work from this area. Hope it helps.

Regards,

Cerulean

[Imagemaker]

Yes, I'm doing Nano. Did it last year, finished the 50K+ (though not the plot) and am looking forward to starting tomorrow.

We have quite a group here doing it--there was a kickoff meeting today that I couldn't attend, but they were expecting about 15 people, with about 10 more who are in the NH forum.

I am going to put tarot in my novel some way, as my plot involves the Roma (gypsies). I've been doing research and have been finding some quite interesting facts--many of which seem related to why people fear and hate tarot cards. Gypsies used them, plus many gypsy groups were despised and forced out of many nations, states, and communities for multiple reasons.

I begin to wonder if, in the US, fear of tarot is more related to fear of gypsies than the actual cards--or whether the cards became synonymous with the people.

In the l970s, I read, the Romani were forced out of NH merely because they were Romani (not for any particular transgressions).

Anyway, I'm ready for nano!!

[Fulgour]

hello seaofclouds:
Is this for a story you're writing now, because it doesn't jibe. :) Edited to add:
My experience of writing goes back as far as I can remember.
Where the urge came from is hard to say, but very early the
reality that storytelling was an art, and created by real people,
electrified my imagination. And then the struggle with books
began, and continues really. I would read until I ached inside.

Writing isn't nearly so hard for me, because it comes from the
first impulses of my youth ~ living in an unfolding story gives
life to every nuance of what the imagination has to offer you...
May your explorations be exciting, fruitful, and full of fun too!

[Imagemaker]

Not a witch, a Romani tarot reader. Many gypsies are Eastern Orthodox Catholics, my research says.

Don't know where you got your quoted phrase.

[Fulgour]

Originally posted by Imagemaker
Don't know where you got your quoted phrase. Sorry for any confusion :) my post was very unclear.
I was referring to seaofclouds profile notes...

[seaofclouds]

Fulgour, I say that tongue-in-cheek. :) Mostly because I live in an area where not many people take very kindly to those who dabble in anything but the King James Bible...

My mother's family has a strong gypsy tradition, but we can only trace it so far back-- apparently there was a lot of at-whim name changing going on at one point, and the family tree gets a bit fuzzy! In fact, my grandmother's last name changed again when she moved to the US because her parents had a difficult time finding work with such ethnic names.

I do find that I yield a broom quite often. Though, usually at work, and usually after I spill a tray of dishes and food... ;)

~Sea

[Imagemaker]

apparently there was a lot of at-whim name changing going on at one point,

This is very common among the Romani--they have many non-Roma names and use them as needed to confuse and distract local authorities.

But among Romani, they have a name that doesn't change in their own language.

[RedMaple]

Imagemaker,

I met a reader in a bookshop who is EnglishRom, who told me some stories of reading cards with her grandmother - they used regular decks of cards, because then they could say they were just playing cards if there was a bust -- yes, it was illegal to read cards. This must've been the 70's.

Her grandmother found her very resourceful when she started doing parties, dressed as a "gypsy", where it was considered a harmless game, and no one suspected she really was Rom.

Great story. Thought you might find it interesting.

Good luck with your novel.

RedMaple

[Imagemaker]

Thanks! This is indeed useful to know. Will use it!

A friend and I were in London 2 years ago, reading cards at a sidewalk table and the non-Brit (strong accented) waiter said, "who's winning?"

I said, "what?"

He indicated the spread between us and said, "the card game."

I grinned and said, "we both are" and didn't bother explaining. But it was a funny reversal of assumption.

[ArwenNightstar]

Hello friends,

National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st, and I was wondering if a.) anyone here was writing b.) if anyone was using tarot in their plot and c.) is there a forum or e-list specific to using tarot in writing.

I am actually in the second week of teaching an online workshop for Tarot for Writers. I have a book in the works as well. I use Tarot all the time! :-)

[Imagemaker]

Hi, Arwen. Welcome! What do you write, and what's in the works?

Seaofclouds, how's your nano coming? I've passed 30K and it's turned into something different than when I started, but I'm having fun riding the tiger!

[jema]

I don't write, but I do the Art by the Inch challenge instead and aim at 5000 inches in November.
http://www.artbytheinch.com/info/

I do use tarot in my work though, both as in actual tarot references in the artwork, but also as a guide just how to work, what to focus on for today so I have been taking a daily card and let that message guide me through the day and inspire me.

Sorry if I ramble, I am aware that I am sort of out of topic here.

[ArwenNightstar]

Hi, Arwen. Welcome! What do you write, and what's in the works?

Seaofclouds, how's your nano coming? I've passed 30K and it's turned into something different than when I started, but I'm having fun riding the tiger!


I write straight and gay romantic fiction. ;-) My writing partner and I have a ms with an agent right now under consideration. Hoping to hear back from her soon!

[Imagemaker]

Art by the Inch?! I've never heard of it, but wow, that looks fascinating! I will pass the word to artists I know.

I could doodle thousands of inches, but don't know that it would be any more than wallpaper :)

Arwen, good luck with your sale. Hope your agent finds a place for the piece!

[gypsy_morrigan]

Hey, I'm doing Nano too, though I'm woefully behind. We'll see if I can catch up some this weekend and over Thanksgiving break!

I've been using tarot for character and plot development. Also, I was puzzling over what profession to make one of the main characters, and finally realized that tarot reader fit her perfectly! So, she is going to school (alternate fantasy universe) to be a reader, and having all sorts of adventures trying to keep her family together as well.

Good luck to you others out there! I'm sure you're doing a lot better than me :).

[MarkMcElroy]

Stop! Put your credit cards away! There's no such thing as the NaNoWriMo Tarot ... at least, not that I know of.

I participated in National Novel Writing Month two years ago, and completed my first novel in less than 30 days ... online! It was a real thrill to cross the finish line ... and to have so many people stopping by my weblog to read the daily entries. I learned a great deal in the process -- including many things about novel writing that I never learned in an MFA program.

All the talk of NaNoWriMo reminded me of a project I played with earlier this year: the One Hour Tarot. It works like this:

1) Pick a card, any card

2) Give yourself thirty minutes to gather source images or make practice sketches

3) Edit, draw, or collage the images together in the following thirty minutes.

You could easily have your own Tarot deck 78 hours from now. ;)

Meanwhile: if you get stuck during NaNoWriMo, just draw a card. Let the random imput push you off in new directions! (My old MFA professor used to write with the television on, but the sound turned down. When he ran out of ideas, he'd glance at the screen and challenge himself to write in whatever he saw going on there. With Tarot, you don't need a television!)

You might also enjoy working with the character generation template I give away at TarotTools.com. In minutes, you can create a character ... a scene ... or even an entire story! Here's the direct link:

http://www.tarottools.com/char-template.htm

Enjoy! And good luck with your NaNoWriMo challenges!

[Imagemaker]

Thanks Mark! I'm 38K words into my novel and see the finish line, so will bookmark the tools page to use in my next fiction piece. I've used card draws to bring in new ideas but not to create from the beginning.

The TV idea is interesting--though I would find writing with it on highly distracting when my mind is living with my characters (a non-TV world). But thinking about which channel would provide the most diversity is interesting. Not CNN, not HG-TV, maybe the home shopping channel? Hmmm . . .

[Waterdancer]

I am working on a screenplay right now and one of my characters is learning to read the tarot. I haven't figured out how to use tarot to help me be a better writer. I will try some of the suggestions I read here.

[annik]

this year, I am trying NaNoWriMo. I had used and still use tarot in my story. My two main characters had read it and even talked about it. But usually, I find it easier to write poetry while looking at the cards.

[hennafairy]

rather than starting a new thread i'll bump this!

i'm doing nano this year (and plan to win for the first time!!!) and i'm basing my story on tarot! not just using them to help plot -- tarot IS the plot.

i decided i'm too obsessed with learning tarot to write on some other subject ;o) and i want a more personal connection with each card. yes, minors too. so - i am doing a chapter for each card - the main character (MC) will pick up a card or open a door for each chapter, and it could be anywhere/anytime in reality or fantasy, and i'm just going to let my imagination for each card run wild.

i'm still thinking about several choices that i have. i would love any input!

1- deck. gilded (RW) or thoth. i've been using the gilded up to now. the thoth is newer, and i'm still working through book of thoth. it would be more challenging i believe!

2- order. right now i'm leaning towards fool-minors (W-C-S-P?)-majors. the other option is laying out a 78 card spread, but i do want to begin with the fool and end with the universe. it's important to me to do all the cards however - although i may spend more time on the majors.

um i think that's it for now... although i was told on nano forums sometimes the order of minors is W-P-S-C (because of the elements) - this may work for me better plot wise if i go in order, because i'd like to add a romance/secondary character for the majors... but this is all speculation right now.

so anyone else crazy enough to do this? ;o)