Start Writing With Story Tarot
Using tarot and oracle cards as prompts, to get unstuck, and to inspire storytelling.
Before we jump in, I need you to know that it was tough to write today. I felt stuck and the usual spot on my couch was only serving nap energy, so I grabbed my laptop and tarot / oracle deck and marched down to The Center for Fiction. It took some coffee and community, but I finally got some words down for a new novel. I’m at that weird beginning stage where I’m just writing scenes to get to know my protagonist. Half of this exploratory writing won’t make it past the next wave of edits, but like a runner’s high, I hit my stride when I stumble into a scene that really works.
Note the word stumble.
Stumbling into the unknown feels like an adventure. It’s a little mysterious, maybe even dangerous (hopefully only for your protagonist), but we are navigating the depths. The dark corridors and musty attics. The night runs and midnight swims of our psyche.
Today I used oracle cards to get to my deep dark and I’m sharing the 4 card spread I pulled using the Kim Krans Archetypes deck. If you’re not familiar, this deck is not a traditional oracle deck. It’s filled with original artwork and wisdom that speaks to creativity, spirituality, and psychology. These 78 cards are literally designed to tell stories.
What I love about these cards is how rich with color and symbolism they are. I use them like a Rorschach. Sure, the cards have words, but each card plays to a theme and tells its own story.
For instance, the first image above shows a hand wound by a snake holding a jewel. A yellow moon sits at the center of a red background. Below, a white flower holds a secret in its center. If you pull back from the image and let your mind blend it all together, it looks a bit like an eye.
And there it is, I’ve inspired myself. Time to write. I love this simple technique for the way it can crack open thoughts and feelings.
I hope you explore this image a little more and write about what you see. Shape it into a scene. Blow it up into a story. This exercise can be done with any tarot deck, so feel free to pull cards from your own deck and see what stories you stumble upon.