Tarot and Creativity

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 🙂