I did it! Using tarot cards, I actually wrote a novel. Well, very nearly. I wrote the required 50K by November 30 and before this week is up,  I’ll have finished the story.

The process was very interesting. I used Corrine Kenner’s Tarot for Writers to get started. I created characters using the spreads in the book. I  also used a three-card, a six-card, and a Celtic Cross spread for plot development. For me, the character creation was the most interesting and the most fun. In the end, I think they, more than the plot spreads, drove the action.

The protagonist’s foil, Alice, has been my favorite character. In this steampunk version of late 1890s St. Paul, MN, Alice is a priestess in a temple dedicated to the three faces of the goddess. She is an oracle and her medium is photography. Using solutions and chemicals infused with magical herbs for developing, the image becomes not the picture of the seeker that Alice shot but a message from the goddess.

The novel turned out to be more an exploration of the nature of divination and destiny and one’s role in creating the future than anything else.

So tarot created the story on many levels. Below is Alice’s spread. What kind of character would you create using that spread? How have you used tarot creatively? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Let me know in the comments

Recently Melanie Marquis, author and assistant editor of the American Tarot Association’s Quarterly Journal, interviewed me for their fine publication. She asked me which cards in the tarot I thought were the darkest. I responded:

“For me personally, I’ll risk committing tarot sacrilege and say that I have issues with the High Priestess and The Moon. The way the High Priestess sits there with that “I know but I’m not telling” attitude and the whole “oh you know what you need to know” thing. Makes me want to scream! If I knew, I wouldn’t be doing a reading now, would I? Yep, I clearly have issues. The Moon drives me nuts, too. All that shadowy concealing/revealing/distorting light. And don’t forget the deepest, darkest fears rising from the waters. They should stay down there where I’ve repressed, er, stored them. Because they raise these intense, uncomfortable emotional reactions in me, I think that qualifies them as dark.”

In my readings for NaNoWriMo, my protagonist’s foil character card is the High Priestess. One of my reasons for participating in NaNoWriMo is to explore the cards on a different level, and it looks like my beloved Priestess is one of those cards. Part of my task this month is to imagine how this silent, calm woman speaks and acts. So, today I want to share three different images of the High Priestess and ask you what your thoughts are on them. Next week, we’ll further the discussion.

Here are the High Priestess cards from the Lo Scarabeo Tarot, the Tarot of the Elves, and the Tarot of the New Vision:

Scrying Debacle

As you may know, I’m not very adept at scrying with other media besides tarot and have been thinking of trying again. Funny how the universe works, because no sooner do I say that than an opportunity presents itself. I complained to my partner that the plot for my NaNoWriMo wasn’t clear. She suggested that I should scry for the plot, that the plot was bigger, broader, that it required something different.

I got it in my head that nothing but a black mirror or scrying mirror would do. I googled directions to make one, and started applying some black acrylic paint that I had on hand to a piece of glass from an unused picture frame. Yes, you read that correctly. Acrylic paint. After applying five coats, letting them dry carefully between each, I finally was ready to reassemble and scry. It was Sunday, a clear night with a huge, bright, beautiful full moon in Taurus. I was ready to receive divine inspiration. I picked up my mirror and noticed a kind of bubble in the paint and touched it gently. The paint kind of stuck to my finger and when I lifted it, the paint came off the mirror in one solid sheet.

Last night I used spray enamel to coat the glass and perhaps tonight I can give it another go. As you know, you’ll be able to read the results of my efforts here.

A Daring Approach to the Court Cards

The talented tarotist Catherine Chapman of Tarot Elements invited me to be a guest on her blog. I was honored and delighted, of course, as I’ve been a fan of her work for a while now. Do check it out; I particularly like her work with Elemental Dignities and her Signature Spread. Tomorrow, Friday, November 6, she’ll be running my post. I spent a lot of time this summer working on a new edition of Tarot for Beginners. Part of that work included figuring out the best way to teach court cards to absolute beginners. I share my conclusions with Catherine, and I’d love to know what you think. My approach may not be all that daring, but it does make for an intriguing headline, don’t you think?

I’m sure most of you have heard of Lisa Hunt, a very talented artist and tarot expert. Her knowledge of fairy tales, myths, psychology, art, and tarot is impressive not only because of the sheer breadth but also because of the magical way Lisa weaves all these disciplines together to create extraordinary tarot deck. Her works include The Shapeshifter Tarot, the Celtic Dragon Tarot, the Fantastical Creatures Tarot, and the award winning Animals Divine Tarot. Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with her about her most recent deck, the Fairy Tale Tarot.

Barbara: Fairy tales and myths are different genres. However, they do have similarities as well as differences, which is probably why they both work so well with tarot. What are some of their most important shared traits? What are their main differences? In what ways did you particularly like working with fairy tales?

Lisa: That is a loaded question and one that stirs up all kinds of interesting conversation. Though I am not a fairy tale scholar or a mythographer, having spent much of my professional life working with both, I would say myths and fairy tales share the need to explain those things related to the human condition. They provide basic maps for survival and help us to make sense out of the inexplicable (or those things that are seemingly out of our hands). Both began as oral traditions and fairy tales are arguably extensions of myths, having evolved due to changing environments and circumstances. But many of the basic themes and motifs share commonalties. For example, some scholars have suggested that the Greek myth Cupid and Psyche is an ancient version of Beauty and the Beast. And stories about the persecuted heroine or the diminutive hero can be found in myth and fairy tale collections alike.

I think generally speaking, the main difference is myths tend to address bigger questions about the cosmos (collective questions), our origins, and often include sacred pantheons that reflect cultural beliefs. Fairy tales are more about immediate struggles (more personal ones) pertaining to the here and now and often employ magical or supernatural devices (rather than gods) to provide entertaining delivery while instilling a sense of hope in the face of adversity. With that said, I have included a few mythic stories in The Fairy Tale Tarot such as Kahukura and the Fairy Fisherman and How Raven Brought Light to the World; tales that in my opinion are demonstrative of this melding of genres.

Barbara: What is one lesser-known fairy tale that you wish more people knew and why?

Lisa: Surprisingly to me, many people are unfamiliar with The Fisherman and his Wife (Grimm). It’s a powerful tale about the ills of greed and how insatiable lust for material wealth can lead to disaster. This basic moral dilemma certainly played into our lives as we watched the housing and Wallstreet meltdowns unfold before our eyes. But the changes also brought simplicity and frugality back into fashion, much like the conclusion of the aforementioned story. The fisherman and his wife end up where they started, perhaps smarter and wiser as a result.

Another less known tale is The Moss-Green Princess. The Moss-Green Princess is a beautiful story about a princess condemned to wearing the skin of a Nya-nya Bulembu fairy beast. The message is clear: External beauty is lost under the shroud of moss, but internal beauty will shine through regardless. This story comes from a collection of South African tales published in 1908. It’s one of my most treasured fairy tale volumes in my possession.

Barbara: Which card was the most challenging and why?

Lisa: Bluebeard as Temptation—to depict the tensions of this card through visual narration was a challenge. I wanted to imply the terror about to unfold without giving too much away. I am happy with the outcome. We look at the image and sense the inescapable shadows that are about to dominate the scene and infilitrate the protagonist’s conscious being.

On a more humourous note, in the image of The Emperor’s New Clothes as the Tower card, the strategic placement of cape over the emperor’s family jewels had to be carefully planned. I know my editor Becky got a chuckle out of it. It’s so trite that it’s funny. haha.

Diamonds and Toads as Eight of Swords was another one simply because the regurgitation of snakes and toads is not a pleasant subject for an artist to tackle. I think the image bothers people, but it is supposed to be repulsive. The Snow Queen as Five of Wands was challenging as well because of the sheer length of Andersen’s The Snow Queen story. But I was able to choose an applicable scene and make it work. It ended up being one of my favorite paintings in the deck!

Barbara: Which card was the most surprising and why?

Lisa: Two of Swords because I didn’t like it. I think it’s a harsh piece with such strong contrasts, though it serves its symbolic function. Well, it turns out to be a favorite with fans. Who would have thought? It’s funny because I noticed my favorite works are not necessarily ones others would choose.

Barbara: Which card is your favorite and why?

Lisa: I have several favorites. The Lake Maiden as The Sorceress because I just love her mysterious presence, Puss in Boots as The Mentor because he is a portrait of my charming feline Timmy aka “Studio Buddy”. And as you know, it’s the painting that helped sell the project to Llewellyn. I also like The Snow Queen as Five of Wands from a visual standpoint—that piece went so quickly and with such artistic fluidity. The Little Matchgirl as Three of Swords and Urashima as Five of Cups were emotionally charged stories that penetrated my core, spilling over in an inexhaustive display of soulful intent. They were perhaps my favorite stories to write. It’s so hard to choose because I have such an affinity for fairy tales. Each one having it’s own special place in my heart.

Sweet Twilight Winner

Congratulations to Oliver Danni, who commented: “I often use reversals, and let my intuition guide me as to their significance. The two most common things I’ll find with them are (a) the “blocked energy” interpretation — that the card means basically the same thing as it would mean upright, but that there is something blocking it from fully manifesting or (b) that there’s a particular perspective on the image in the card that I need to be viewing it upside-down in order to see properly — sometimes something different in the card will catch my attention than what I would have focused on if the card were upright, or sometimes something on the card will appear to be something entirely different than if I had viewed it upright. I used to read reversals as “the opposite of what the card would mean if upright”, but that wasn’t turning out as accurately as when I started using a more intuitive approach to discerning why the card had come up reversed, and I found that those two possibilities I just described were the most common.”   Oliver, please email moon@llewellyn.com with subject line Sweet Twilight to claim your prize; I hope you enjoy it!

There were so many interesting comments. If you have a moment, go back and see.

NaNoWriMo Update

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m using tarot to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month. Here is my first attempt at plot, using the Lo Scarabeo Tarot and a simple three card spread of Beginning-Middle-End. I welcome you comments (Clearly, I need all the help I can get).

Beginning: A wealthy man/woman (I think it is the antagonist…but more about him/her on Tuesday!) orders the restoration and refitting of a building from the protagonist’s teacher/mentor, so naturally the protagonist (who may be named either Tarin or Juliana) will be working on that building. The antagonist’s agenda (which goes far deeper than simply making a building) sets the novel’s plot in motion (at least I hope, although I have no idea yet what the antagonist’s evil agenda is!).

Middle: The entire world (or so it seems) comes to Juliana’s/Tarin’s city for some reason (a fair, a sporting event, a political gathering, a religious ritual???) and during which the antagonist hopes to launch his/her evil plan. OR Juliana/Tarin takes control of the antagonist’s evil plan (consciously or unconsciously?). She brings the abstract to life. She completes it but in a way different than originally planned (playing with the idea of her own worse fear becoming the world’s salvation).

End: Juliana/Tarin meets an itinerant wise person and she is beguiled and cannot stay away from him/her. His path is one of solitary travels, not the rooted, “normal” family she always wanted. In the end, she follow him away from her sunny home to a place of cold and snow. OR Despite Juliana’s/Tarin’s confusion about what to do (her idea of what is right conflicts with that of her sister, who is after all, a priestess and sibyl and who J/T wishes to please). In the end, she must do what she thinks is best. I recently read a list of questions for novel writing help and one question was “what is the last line of your novel?” I came up with a last line (and no, I’m not telling you yet!) and it involves J/T setting a fire. Just a small one, like in the Hermit’s lamp. I think that is better than her becoming a Hermit groupie, don’t you?