Reading Tarot for Writing [Benebell Wen]

Pictured: Alligo and the Cestaro brothers’ Tarot of the New Vision (Lo Scarabeo)

California poet Kay Ryan, sixteenth United States Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, used tarot cards as writing prompts when she started in poetry. She’d draw a card at random and write a poem about it. Alice Notley talks about how “poets tend always to write in a trance.” A ritualized writing process helps tap into the unconscious within ourselves to generate creativity. That is the kinship of poetry and tarot mentioned earlier in the week. Tarot is an indispensable tool for writers, and poets especially, because it ritualizes the writing process and can facilitate the trance that Notley mentions. That trance is the bridge between the conscious to the unconscious.

I’d like to conclude my week guest blogging here at Best American Poetry with a method for using tarot to read about writing. A deck of tarot cards will be needed, any deck, though for illustration purposes the Rider-Waite-Smith will be used here.

SIG. is the signifier card. If the goal is to gain insights into a writer’s project overall, then select a signifier card that corresponds with the writer’s identity. If one has encountered writer’s block and is looking to move past that blockage, select a signifier card that corresponds with the project itself, such as a tarot card that resonates with a poem’s theme or subject matter, or perhaps the tentative title of a book. If the intent is to tailor a character’s back story or to better understand how to craft that character, select a signifier that corresponds with the identity of that character.

Next, shuffle the tarot deck thoroughly, concentrating on the matter at hand. Set down the entire deck in the spot illustrated in the above diagram as Pile 1. Do what you can to eyeball a quarter and cut the deck again into Pile 2. Continue with Pile 3 and Pile 4, so that each has about a quarter of the deck, though precision is wholly unnecessary. Like the YHVH piles in David’s tarot reading yesterday, these four piles correspond with the spiritual-theoretical four corners of the universe, the collective unconscious.

Start with Pile 1. Draw a card from the pile and place it to the side of the pile. Write about patterns and correlations between the card drawn, community or institutional influences, and the matter at hand as related to the signifier. A free write in a stream of consciousness style is best. If the writer feels so compelled and is inspired by that particular Pile, draw yet another card and continue. When sufficient free-writing has occurred for Pile 1, move on to Pile 2, correlating with perception, observation, and the sensory realm, then Pile 3 and Pile 4. The exercise should have generated a brainstorm to work with for the project.

You do not need to know how to read tarot to use this technique. Pull the cards up one by one and study each card’s imagery. Concentrate on the imagery. What do they symbolize to you? What is the tone of the card? Focus on the whole card, the foreground, the background, or just one small symbol on the card. Let the imagery dim the conscious part of the mind and open the unconscious. Let it pull you into a trance-like state and from there enter the recesses of your own mind for inspiration.

Now the above explained how to use tarot to generate a brainstorm and trigger the unconscious to yield greater insight into the subject matter at hand. It can be used by any writer with a tarot deck to ponder how a pending project can be further developed.

The same technique can be applied for a tarot reading on the poet or writer and the project itself. This is particularly effective if a project seems to be challenging and the poet/writer would like assistance from the Universe to help organize the project. A tarot reader can be brought in to establish a trinity across the collective unconscious, formed by poet, tarot, and tarot practitioner.

Let’s illustrate.

Amy Glynn of A Modern Herbal (Measure Press, 2013) and a regular contributor to Best American Poetry has kindly allowed me to showcase the technique using her current project, a collection that she described to me as “Romance Language.”

 

I’ve selected the Knight of Cups to represent her project. The knight wears armor with red fish printed on his tunic, emblematic of faith and prophecy. There are wings on his feet and on his helmet, which to me intuitively resonate with the romanticism of the project. The Knight of Cups in the tarot is a character who sees the world through poetry and beauty and there is a strong sense of romance about him. There is also a sense of perception through a self-made filter, perhaps resulting in one who is just a shy bit out of touch with reality, in a mostly endearing (though sometimes epically tragic) way. I felt he, the Knight of Cups, could signify Amy’s project.

I cut the deck into four piles. The first: community and institutional influences. Two very strong, potent cards. The Sun in reverse and The Fool, both from the Major Arcana. In reverse, The Sun speaks of disorientation and profound quiescence and calm in the face of such disorientation. Since The Sun card is positioned in reverse in the area of institutions, it could suggest marriage gone awry. Traditionally, The Sun card in reverse indicates the loss of something valuable, be that a literal something or a figurative. There is trouble in paradise, as they say.

The Fool is a harbinger of new beginnings, and although this project is not Amy’s debut, there will be something new about it. It is a project of a clear conscience. The Fool here turns up his nose at community and institution. There will be a great deal of diversion from standards and norms. Whether that means the project will fly off that cliff that The Fool stands so close to and ascend to the heavens or plummet downward remains to be seen. There isn’t going to be much middle ground here. The so-called “middle path” of Buddhist thought is not going to be what “Romance Language” is about.

This project bleeds with pain. In the second pile on perception, observation, and the sensory, we see a dominance of swords and The Devil, who symbolizes bondage, temptation, seduction, and addiction—all interesting words to come up in a project called “Romance Language.” The Four of Swords is about caution and social unrest. It is about recovery. The body is in recovery. The Seven of Swords shows an impulsive spirit, but one who engages in games of deception. Of the physical sensations the project could play off of, it will be about pain, an unsettled spirit descending into indulgences as a means of escaping that pain.

In the plane of thoughts and emotions, there is The Star, the card of hope and visions. One poem in particular in Amy’s collection, the golden seven-pointed star in the center, will shine brighter than the others. It will be a poem governed by Air, of higher intellectual realms, of the thought plane rather than the emotional, of philosophizing rather than feeling, and it will be a poem influenced by Saturn and Uranus, should one be any bit interested in astrology. The Three of Swords needs little interpretation: it speaks of heartbreak, loss, and strife, but synchronously enough, speaks of ideological conflicts, again calling reference to ideas over feelings, which is an intriguing premise given the “Romance” part of the project theme. The Ten of Pentacles in reverse is about the fall of a family empire. There is familial disunion, ostracism, and disengagement. These are the emotions amuck. It seems to be a reflection, or maybe shadow, of The Sun card in reverse that appeared earlier.

As for the values and culture explored in “Romance Language,” the Nine of Pentacles speaks of an independent woman, a woman in solitude. She is a woman of refinement and privilege, but there is also something lonely and misunderstood about her. There is only a bird, as fiercely independent and indulgent of freedom as the woman, to keep her company.

The Ace of Cups suggests great success with Amy’s project. It also suggests spiritual and emotional catharsis. What is of value? Independence and freedom, says the Nine of Pentacles; fulfillment of desires, spiritual revelation, and the much-needed breakthrough, says the Ace of Cups. Outwardly there may be a masculine quality to the project, signaled by the Knight of Cups, but inwardly, “Romance Language” is decidedly feminine, and yin, as manifested in the Ace of Cups.

I see the reading as a roadmap for Amy’s unfinished project. It could be used as a reference and revisited when there is a block in her creative flow. The imagery and themes here can be used to trigger new poems. Drafts can be polished if any points raised in the tarot reading resonate strongly enough with the poet. It can help her reconcile the diverse parts of the project into a cohesive whole. Perhaps it helps her see patterns more clearly than before. Or it does nothing but entertain the poet for a few moments and rejuvenate her to return to her project with full force.

In any event, the poet, whether the poet is conscious of it or not, understands tarot, and to approach tarot as a writing tool is to consummate that powerful alliance. Start by drawing cards one by one and writing poems (or free writes) about them as Kay Ryan had done. Perhaps Corinne Kenner’s Tarot for Writers (Llewellyn, 2009) could be helpful. Give the foregoing exercise a try.

The mutual affinity tarot and poetry have comes from the language of mythology and metaphor they share. That affinity is embodied in the Two of Cups, of fates and karma intertwined.

I found that affinity in a poem as well.

We meet on the road

But once and I cannot tell you

In the time we have:

'We are one.'

'What's left, what survived, what remains

Of old dreams, old wars, old loves.'

from “Leuk Lao” by Bryan Thao Worra, Tanon Sai Jai (Silosoth Publishing, 2009)

Tarot helps the poet understand, in the time we have, “what’s left, what survived, what remains of old dreams, old wars, old loves.”

Teachers of the tarot may talk about the importance of understanding astrology or numerology or even mythology or various other esoteric studies to understand the tarot. I say if you want to know who I am, then you must first know who I love and likewise, to master tarot, you must first know poetry. Thus, the poet begins in a propitious position to read tarot and where better to start than to read for your writing.

Have a great weekend.

Comments

[Tarot reading online]

I find the link between poetry and Tarot interesting - and how you're connecting the two. I adore both, so this was a great read.

[Best Psychic Directory]

Some of the best psychics often get asked to read on writer's careers or prospects ahead. This method of reading should be very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[Tarot Clarity]

Tarot is poetry I think. Thank you for this article.