Possibilities: What happens next? (Tarot Spread for the Writer)

test drive

Okay, Arwen Nightstar, just for a lark I drew some cards:

Significators
- She : Ace of Cups
- He : Knight of Wands

Situation
- Four of Cups

Her responses:
- outer: Nine of Cups
- inner: Four of pentacles

His responses:
- outer : two of pentacles
- inner : three of cups

Cross reactions:
- hers : page of cups
- his : King of Pentacles

Where does this move the plot?
- Lovers

New Situation
- Ace of Swords

This was really fun, Arwen. What amazed me, is that the female cards were really female, and the male cards were really male. To me these cards suggest the story of a very loving, perhaps unchallenging woman, married to man who is creative, powerful and fiery. They are in a bit of a rut. She doesn't really notice it, she is relatively happy, although down deep she feels a bit hemmed in, while he feels his feelings for her start to vacilate, and eventually meets another women. (... and then there were three!).

She responds with grace and compassion to his dilemna. He responds rather dully and stoicly to her un-challenging always goodness.

The lovers card is perfect, now he is faced with a choice between two women, and the new situation is the destabilization of their relationship.

Re: test drive

firemaiden said:

This was really fun, Arwen. What amazed me, is that the female cards were really female, and the male cards were really male. To me these cards suggest the story of a very loving, perhaps unchallenging woman, married to man who is creative, powerful and fiery. They are in a bit of a rut. She doesn't really notice it, she is relatively happy, although down deep she feels a bit hemmed in, while he feels his feelings for her start to vacilate, and eventually meets another women. (... and then there were three!).

Click to expand...

Thanks so very much, firemaiden! Still trying to find time to come play in the Storyteller's thread!~

Some parts of my story(play) were already established, so when cards came up that did not seem to fit exactly, I either dismissed them or re-examined the meanings.

Surprisingly, though...most of the cards seemed to fit quite well into the plot.

What worked especially well, was the idea of using a card to represent the situation, and then using other cards to see what the response might be.

The situation card? Death...(and all the things that change with it.)

First character's reaction was the Hermit (turn inward to grieve and to hide from the world)

Second character's reaction to the first character's reaction was 8 of Cups (also to turn inward, not so much in grief, but as a new journey of discovery about oneself)

Of course, in a play, these reactions are so private, that they would not neccessarily be very clear, but the reading gave me some insight into the character's psyche...and certainly gave them motivation for what they would do, how they would respond, and most importantly...sparked some great lines of dialogue!

Arwen, I think I'm in love w/ you and your spread. Please continue your work.

Major Thanks,
Artemis

Artemis Sans said:

Arwen, I think I'm in love w/ you and your spread. Please continue your work.

Major Thanks,
Artemis

Click to expand...

LOL! Silly thing! I love your screen name. I am a MAJOR Wild Wild West fan. Artemis Gordon is still someone I want to be!

Let me know if you try this spread out, won't you?

hehe. Thanks. I tried it the second I found it.

Protagonist: Ace/Disks (Reversed)
Antagonist: Lust (Strength)

Situation: Moon (Reversed)

Protagonist's Outer Response: 7/Swords
Inner: Hermit
Other Character's Action Effect: Chariot

Antagonist's Outer Response: 8/Swords
Inner: 6/Cups (Reversed)
Effect: 9/Wands

Situation Move the Plot: 4/Disks (Reversed)
Situation: Art/Temperance

It fit the character's beautifully, although I still don't understand the Moon quite yet. But what I found really shocking: The Chariot and Art came up, and the over-all theme is "you can't achieve enlightenment without first indulging in your humanity." (Sythesizing/control of opposing forces to make something better.) hehe. And Lust and The Chariot came up in an earlier reading I did. Keep making spreads, for the love of art!!!

Artemis

Artemis Sans said:

hehe. Thanks. I tried it the second I found it.

Protagonist: Ace/Disks (Reversed)
Antagonist: Lust (Strength)

Situation: Moon (Reversed)

Click to expand...

Grin, if I tell you I am writing a book on Tarot for Writers, will you be happy?

Moon reversed? Makes me think that one of your characters has secret knowledge about the situation that they can't or won't tell the other.

What is the genre? I am currently writing an action romance for the Silhouette Bombshell line.

There is another spread for writers on this board that I put up.

I am leaving on vacation in a few hours. If you want to discuss this offlist, feel free to email me! stephanie@anisoptera.com

ArwenNightstar said:

Grin, if I tell you I am writing a book on Tarot for Writers, will you be happy?

Click to expand...

Oh! I just found this thread.

I, for one, would be thrilled to find a book on Tarot for writers, ArwenNightstar. I've used Tarot from time to time to help me solve writing problems, and problems with creativity in general. I think you may have hit on something quite fantastic here. Good luck with the book!

Nevada said:

Oh! I just found this thread.

I, for one, would be thrilled to find a book on Tarot for writers, ArwenNightstar. I've used Tarot from time to time to help me solve writing problems, and problems with creativity in general. I think you may have hit on something quite fantastic here. Good luck with the book!

Click to expand...

Thank you. I am teaching a workshop on Tarot for Writers. I will see if I can post that information here. Don't know if it will be ok or not.

ArwenNightstar said:

I am teaching a workshop on Tarot for Writers.

Click to expand...

That's great. In case you aren't already aware, that's also an important detail to mention in any query or proposal you send a publisher. For non-fiction, they love writers who already have an audience, who are out there speaking on their subject, creating a market for a book.

Nevada