Cynthia Ray

Many writers find that prompts help to get the creative juices flowing.  Prompts tickle the imagination, acting like the proverbial grain of sand in the oyster that results in a pearl.  Some writers have created their own system of prompts, and others use personality tools like the Enneagram or the Meyers Briggs to give depth to characters, or perhaps utilize an online prompt generator to get an idea for a story.

As a Tarot reader, I turn to the cards for inspiration and guidance.  A Tarot deck consists of 78 pictorial cards, 24 “major” arcana, and 54 “minor” arcana.  Arcana means secrets, but these secrets are hidden in plain sight.  The pictures are a symbolic language, representing archetypes, life lessons and energies.  You don’t need to know anything about Tarot to use the pictures as writing prompts.  All you need is a Tarot deck that appeals to you.  Most tarot decks come with a book that gives meanings, but Tarot card meanings are easy to find on line if you want to go into more depth. Using the Tarot as a tool to generate writing prompts is an effective and fun process.

Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

The simplest way to create a story using Tarot cards, is to shuffle your deck and randomly select three cards.  Let’s say the first card represents the past, the second card represents the current situation, and the third will indicate the next step, future or ending.  For example, I randomly selected these three cards as a story prompt: Three of Cups, Knight of Swords, and Two of Swords.

In the first image, called the three of cups, three women celebrate together, dancing in a fertile field.  For my story, I decided these ladies were green witches, celebrating Mabon, the fall equinox. (I love the little pumpkin in the corner of that card).  These witches are powerful, beautiful, and an integral part of the environment in which they live and practice nature magic. Without them and their practice, the world would fade in beauty, eventually becoming barren.

Next comes the Knight of Swords, an action-oriented fellow on a white horse. Is he a friend or foe?  I designated this eager knight, dispatched by the king, as a big problem. He has a mission to search out and destroy all magical creatures in the kingdom. He righteously believes he is serving the highest good, ridding the world of evil. 

His appearance on the scene causes quite a disruption. His actions endanger the very fabric of life itself in the kingdom. However, as the knight interacts with the witches, he comes to understand and appreciate them, and the importance of their work, and cracks in his self-important armor appear.

The Two of Swords shows what might happen next.  The Two of Swords typically represents choices and hard decisions.  Our knight must decide whether to accept that he may be wrong, and act on new information, risking his life, or choose to remain true to his allegiance to the king, and old ways of being.   Either way, he will have to give up something of value. Both choices require sacrifice.

The  witches also have to decide how to deal with the crisis, and the knight.  Should he live or should he die?  Should they flee, or stay and fight?  Can he be trusted, or is his new found conversion a sham?

In order to find out more about what happens next, I drew one more card from the deck. Luckily for all involved, it was the Sun.  The Sun is one of the warmest and happiest of the Tarot cards, indicating a happy ending for all.  I can draw as many cards as I need to help me write the story, if I get stuck.   Perhaps you saw a different story in these cards;  that is the magic of Tarot.

To inform a more complex story or novel, the following method is recommended. Different decks may have different names for the cards, and different pictures, but the general idea remains the same.

Divide the cards into three piles:

The 21 Major Arcana (Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Heirophant, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Start, Moon, Sun, Judgement, World)The Court Cards.  These consist of the Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages (Some decks may have different names for these characters, e.g. Princess and Price instead of Page)The Numbered or “pip” cards.  These are the Ace through Ten of Wands, Pentacles, Cups, and Swords.

When you select cards, you can pull them randomly, sight unseen, or you may choose to spread the images out in front of you, and pick images that speak to you.

Choose cards from the Major Arcana for the Theme of the Story.  For example, the Fool could represent a journey, or a new beginning, or  the Tower is a theme of major disruption, things falling apart. You can select one or as many as needed to inform the story.

Use the Court Cards to develop characters for your story. There are 16 court cards, and some writers have linked these to the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types. The numbered cards and the court cards are associated with different elements; wands represent fire, cups stand for water, pentacles represent earth and swords are air. These elements add color and meaning.

Pull from the stack of numbered pip cards to get prompts for the plot line. These cards depict life situations and problems to be solved, or energies at work in the lives of the characters.

Would love to hear if you try this, and your experience, or what other systems of prompts work for you.