Happy Halloween!
In honor of Halloween, I’m sharing the exercise portion from “Tarot for Writers” by James Wanless, PhD aka ‘Captain Pick-a-Card – an excerpt from Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.
Background
I met James at his monthly Voyager Tarot workshops at the Mystic Journey bookstore (when it was in Venice, California.) I got so much from these workshops, I attended faithfully for the entire year that he offered them.
In his wise and playfully engaging style, James taught us many approaches for using his deck. Not only did I gain a deep understanding of the tarot, both past and present, his practices led to many personal breakthroughs for myself and the other participants.
I also saw how much value the tarot could have for writers, especially the Voyager deck with its modern, personal development approach, and potent collage imagery designed to spark intuition.
So I knew I wanted James to contribute to Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror, He was kind enough to agree, and to allow me to publish the exercise portion here – see below, and have fun!
R/Evolutionary Entertainment for Events and Parties
By the way, I developed my own layout for quick yet impactful readings at parties and events. If you’re planning a holiday party in SoCal and would like to offer guests a very special experience, here’s the link to more info & how to book.
– Laurie Lamson
Voyager Tarot For Writers
by James Wanless PhD
Voyager Tarot Writing Exercises
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Have fun exploring the deeper meaning of a card, both its positive and negative aspects, by seeking out as many associations as you can find about a particular symbol or archetype in the cards, such as the Fool, the Emperor, the Priestess, the Moon, etc.
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Start a new story, or do a card reading for a story you already have in progress: separate out the major arcana cards and randomly pull five of these cards. Could they become the major characters, themes or plot points in a story?
For example, you pull Magician, Lovers, Strength, Death and Sun. Explore what these cards represent, both their positive and negative attributes, and how they could be combined or interact to form a story, such as a conflict between a Magician and a pair of Lovers. Or is the magician one of the lovers? Is he (or she) seeking to harvest some form of Strength from the Sun to cheat Death?
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Character reading: perform a reading for a character to gain deeper insight. From the whole deck pull three cards: the first represents their Past, the second represents their Present the third represents their Future. What insight or ideas does this reading give you about where your character is coming from and where they’re headed?
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Character conflict reading: in my deck, among the minor arcana there are 12 ‘watch out’ cards. These are Anger, Disappointment, Sorrow, Fear, Stagnation, Negativity, Confusion, Dullness, Narrowness, Delusion, Oppression and Setback. Rather than a doomed fate, I see these as what to watch out for in yourself or life, yet they each have a positive side too. The Delusion card (10 of Crystals, a quality of mind) could be about innovative thinking, the ability to see what others can’t. But ‘delusions of grandeur’ could get you into a lot of trouble.
Pull one of these ‘watch out’ cards to discover a character’s ‘fatal flaw’. Or your hero could represent the positive side of the card, while your monster or villain who menaces your hero could be the extreme embodiment of the negative quality of the card.
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In the traditional minor arcana are the royalty cards – Prince, Princess, King, Queen. I’m not into monarchy stuff, so I created an alternative: Child, Man, Woman, Sage. Each has their own characteristics, and remember, each suit represents an aspect of being.
So you could use these cards to create characters and put them in conflict with each other. How does a Crystal card (mental) man interact with his Wand card (spiritual) daughter, materialistic (Worlds card) wife or Grandfather who’s really more of an emotional (Cup card) child?
I could go on, but now I will leave it to you to explore the Tarot for yourself and discover what a wonderful tool it can be for both personal development and creative writing.
James Wanless PhD is a futurist and pioneer of new thinking. He is the creator of the Voyager Tarot, the author of Way of the Great Oracle, Strategic Intuition for the 21st Century, New Age Tarot, Wheel of Tarot, Intuition@Work. A natural Green Man, he is also the author of Little Stone: Your Friend for Life, Sustainable Life: The New Success and Sustain Yourself cards.
You can order your own deck on Amazon – .