Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner

An excellent book has been written for writers who want to use Tarot cards to spur on their creativity. Several authors like Stephen a King and Italo Calvino have used a deck of Tarot cards to inspire them in their writing. The most common Tarot deck is the Rider Waite deck developed back in the earlier part of this century. Use of other Tarot cards goes back to the Early 14oo’s

There are several spreads that one can use to help their writing. The first one is a two card reading . This is used to determine the good parts and the bad parts of a characters. The three card spread can be used to determine the past present and future of your story. You can also use the Celtic cross spread or a more elaborate spread that involves ten cards or more. One of the more extensive ones involves using he paradigm of the heroes journey. The Horse shoe spread is shaped like an upright horse shoe. Card number one begins on your left side and goes up. This is helpful for the plots 1) Past, 2)present 3) Future, 4) Self which pertains to the subjects attitudes thought and feelings about the situation, 5) Friens and family which tells how others see and affect the situation, 6) tells the obstacles that must be over come and 7) is the likely out come of the situation. Last is the Celtic spread which is rather complicated. 1) The person 2) The situation 3) current influences 4)) Foundation of situation 5) Recent past 6) Highest ideal of current situation 7) Near future or what happens in the next six months 8) Self image how the situation looks from the main characters point of view 9) Public image or how others see it 10) Hopes and fears related to the situation and 11) is the most likely outcome,

The above paragraph just covered some of the spread available. Included in the book or also numerous writing exercises on how to promote the writing of ideas. What are even more useful are the descriptions of each of the Tarot Cards. The Tarot Cards are divided into two major categories. The Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana which means major secrets and minor secrets. The minor Arcana is divided into swords, clubs, cups and pentacles. Swords indicate and air sign which pertains to the realm of wit and intelligence, next is the cup which pertains to the element of water which deals with emotions. Next is the clubs which are ignitable this deals with spirituality and pentacle which pertain to the Earth deal with wealth and materiality.

The last part of the book has a glossary and tells what each of the cards symbolize with in depth explanation. I may find a used copy of this book and buy it despite the fact that I loaned it from the library.