I am not a believer. But I sometimes read tarot cards for fun, and I’m a little creeped out by how accurate they can be. Sure, I interpret based on what I know of people. And yes, where someone is heading is usually obvious to everyone but them. And of course, I forget about all the times a fortune is completely wrong.

But the cards can be freaky.

Why does the loveless friend never draw a cup? Why does the friend with the backstabbing colleague get the tower and a line of swords? Why does the friend with the domineering parter always get the devil when she asks how her couples retreat will go? Seriously. I don’t deal from the bottom of the deck. What is going on here?

Uncanny things unnerve me. (I was raised Catholic. I may not believe in the supernatural, but I’m afraid it wants my soul. ) So I rarely take my tarot cards out of the wooden box where I keep them wrapped in a purple scarf. (I read somewhere that’s tradition? Don’t make the cards angry!)

But recently, a fellow writer suggested using tarot cards as free-writing prompts for some write-in-silence sessions. He said he’d bring a book of interpretations. To which I said, “My dude, no book necessary.”

A while back, I compiled my notes on tarot divination — from decades of reading in all senses — into a binder with descriptive narratives to review every now and then as a memory aid. They’re great stories in themselves. And, since I write, and teach creative writing, why not add some writing prompts to each card description?

So here, every few weeks, I’ll post my tarot notes, one card at a time, with writing prompts. (And divination suggestions — why leave that out?)

It’s never a bad thing to contemplate your life’s journey. Whether you want to learn about tarot, read a fortune, write a story, or just think about the odd things people get up to trying to keep their blogs current, I hope you enjoy these posts.

Feel free to join in with tarot-prompted writing sessions in your own time on your own terms. I hope the cards inspire some great stories for you!

We’ll start where we always start (and end), with The Fool.

The Fool above and all images in the banner are from Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi.