Reading for fictitious or historical characters?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

firemaiden	22 Aug 2003
Dear Friends, Have you ever done or thought of doing a reading for an imaginary person? I am studying the opera Salome, and thought it would be fun to do a reading for Salome to find out what makes her tick. Perhaps the actors among you have done readings to give extra insight into the motivations of the character you are playing?

paulo32	22 Aug 2003
Hello Fictitious around tarot subjects are verry interesting firemaiden,thatīs what iīm looking with my post "books,books and more books". If you read the book of Italo Calvino you will understand what i mean and the interesting way how he made the book. Just a simple question: i donīt understand why the post was moved,but i hope that i didnīt somme thing wrong. bye paulo

truthsayer	22 Aug 2003
firemaiden, i'd say go for it. the castle of crossed destinies by calvino is about this. makes an interesting book. i haven't ever done this but it might help me add some character depth to a short story i am writing.

Kiama	22 Aug 2003
Llewellyn are releasing a book called 'Tarot Tells the Tale' in Autumn, which focuses on exploring three card spreads through readings for fictional and historical characters. Here's the blurd from their recent catalogue: Quote: The book is by James Ricklef and is being released in November of this year. I know of many people who learned Tarot through doing readings for fictional/historical characters. They didn't know if it was valid at all, but the point was that they gained an understanding of the cards and how to interpret them. Personally, I am keen on trying these types of readings with mythological characters, as I feel they could help me explore the myths these characters are in. I am particularly looking at Arthur and his kind at the moment, and the Celtic deities. I think it would be a great way to explore the concepts of these characters and what they mean in relation to both the myths they are in, and in relation to our lives. Kiama

firemaiden	22 Aug 2003
Ah! That is very interesting Kiama! Thank you. Well, I just posted my reading for Salome: Reading for the world's most perverse teenager. It was one helluva lot of fun!!

Kaz	22 Aug 2003
i havent done it for historical persons, what a great idea ! what i sometimes do when i am in the mood, or when i just want to read cards, i do a reading about something in the local paper, as i dont do much reading for myself. so no world news, but local stuff only.

Kiama	23 Aug 2003
Oh I've just remembered... A few weeks ago I did a reading for Harry Potter for the 6th book. If you look in the Chat forum for the Harry Potter: Don't Read Until Finished Book thread, you'll find my reading in there. Kiama

Maan	23 Aug 2003
In the book " a girls guide to the tarot" there are even spread given to do readings for historical figures or caracters out of literature. I will look them up and post them here.

Cerulean	23 Aug 2003
and there's yet another new movie that I saw being made where King Arthur is being depicted as a Roman-like warrior and Christianized conquerer? The heroine seems to be from smaller, localized setting that seemed from either Scottish or Gaelic clans...I believe it will be out in Xmas 2004. I'll take an Arthurian deck from the Matthews and ask what is the best telling of this tale... Mari H.

Morganna	24 Aug 2003
One of the best readings I ever did was right after John Kennedy Jr.'s plane disappeared and they were searching for him. The reading told the tale like reading a book...the final outcome card (I did a classic Celtic Cross spread) was Death, so I figured they wouldn't be finding him alive, which they didn't. :( I never thought of doing a reading for a fictional character though! My husband did a reading about some of his relatives who had crossed over - he just wondered how/what they were doing on the Other Side - and the reading came out very garbled, in his opinion. Some of the cards seemed to make sense to me (although I wasn't the one doing the reading, so I kept my mouth shut - a heroic effort for me, LOL). I wonder if anyone else has ever done a reading regarding deceased friends or relatives...I've never tried it yet.

Logiatrix	24 Aug 2003
WOW! What an excellent approach...I love it! Thank you, firemaiden, for bringing this up... :)

Maan	25 Aug 2003
This is what the girls guide to the tarot suggest " The tarot will uncover those bits of information that and ideas about the story that are hiding just below the surface. Why can't Hamlet get his act together? Why does it take so long for King Lear to see the truth? Pick the character of your choice-male or female- from any story you'd like and ask the Tarot to reveal them to you. Remember that al answers relate to the character, not you." -----------1---------------- 6---------------------------2 5---------------------------3 ------------4-------------- 1 What is the characters motivation? 2 What is her downfall (tragic or otherwise) 3 What is her greatest asset? 4 What is her greatest challange? 5 What is she looking for? 6 What should she do next? Its a very funn spread. I like to do it for the characters in the fantasy books i read...after one chapter and look the spread up after i finnished the book.Its good practise Love Maan

firemaiden	25 Aug 2003
Oh, I love that spread, I can't wait to try it out!! Thanks Maan!

Maan	25 Aug 2003
My pleasure! Do tell your experiences please! I'm very curious what you come up with! Love Maan

firemaiden	26 Aug 2003
Okay, Maan, I've done a reading with your spread. Please have a look at the my reading, for Salome -- the new reading is on the third page. :)

The Reading for fictitious or historical characters? thread was originally posted on 22 Aug 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.