Me, at a magical shop in Seven Dials, London
““The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.””
Why Tarot Is Great For Writers
I’ve had a tarot practice for a few years now, a daily habit that helps me get in alignment for the day and allows me to create some structure around the inner work I do on both myself and my books. Sure, it’s woo, but I’m a firm believer in finding tools that help a gal access her own inner wisdom, modalities that enable me and my writers to understand ourselves better so that this wisdom can make it onto the page.
Tarot was something I at first avoided: having grown up in a religious home, I’d always been told it was the devil’s work. But I’m older and wiser now and have thoroughly jumped on the tarot bandwagon—it’s recent popularity makes it easy to explore the practice, with gorgeous decks for any and all personalities, as well as wonderful online teachers and resources (not to mention some terrific books).
Whether you've played around with the cards or not, it's a really fun and enlightening (and tactile!) way to do both inner exploration and work on your characters and story. It gets me away from the screen and helps me tap into that well of divine feminine wisdom. The images and archetypes of the cards call up our own ancient understanding of the story of being human—the universal struggles and triumphs we all face.
Guided Introspection
I have a friend who says tarot is “guided introspection” and I like that definition. It’s not prophetic. It’s not fortune telling. You make your own magic. To me, the cards are almost journal prompts: I ask a question that is thoughtful and intentional. Then I shuffle the deck and pick a card or do a spread of cards (always facedown).
Each day I pull one card with the query, “What do I need to know today?” This is often called a “daily draw.” Sometimes I journal about it, other times I don’t.
Whatever card I get is an invitation to inquiry. That’s it.
I’m a bit of a spiritual misfit, so I think of tarot the same way I’ve come to think of all things spiritual: “It’s a mystery!” (I’m channeling Geoffrey Rush from Shakespeare In Love here). To me, it doesn’t matter if my cards have a spark of divine inspiration, a push this way or that from the universe or if they are only ever simply tools to help me better engage with my subconscious.
Sure, it’s uncanny how often they are spot on. The more you work with the cards - especially once you’ve found a deck you love - the better able you are to see the layers in the messages, the connections between cards, the shape of the story of your life.
My cat, Circe, with the Spacious Tarot deck - one of my favorites!
Beginning A Tarot Practice
Tarot can seem overwhelming at first. There are a lot of cards and you won’t be familiar with what they mean. Have patience and just get to know them better. Each deck comes with a little book that will give you a basic interpretation of the cards, but what’s more important is what the images bring up for you. That’s why it’s so helpful to get a deck with imagery that really speaks to you. There is something out there for everyone. (More on decks later).
Each little book will also have some spread suggestions, so you really can just dive in and go for it.
While there are tarot apps, I do not recommend them. I find that I get the most out of the tactile experience of seeing the cards, shuflfing them, laying them out. I like the energy I put into the deck and like to think that something alchemical might be happening through that (admittedly, that is super woo - but I like woo). In this way, tarot has become one of my go-to ways to fill my creative well.
Having a book is really great for deeper and more insightful understanding of the cards (I also have some recommendations below for that). The books will also help you draw more connections with your work.
For example, you might look at which card represents your protagonist and then do a deep dive into that card to see if your research sparks anything for your story.
The main thing is to simply spend time with the cards. Over months of daily draws or spreads, you’ll begin to forge a relationship and understanding of them. Plus, it’s super fun.
Journaling With Tarot Cards
I love to get some good introspection on and I’ve found a wonderful bridge between tarot and my journaling: Mary K. Greer’s Write From Your Heart practice.
In short, you begin writing in your journal, then shuffle your deck and pull a card. Write some more. When you’re ready for a boost of insight, pull another card. I do about five cards.
When I’m journaling in this way, I approach it like Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages. It’s stream-of-consciousness. Usually I do this for myself, but you can absolutely do this for your book. Maybe you’re stuck, maybe you aren’t sure about next steps, or you’re trying to understand your protagonist better.
Seriously: Get ready for some big insights.
Tarot For You & Your Characters
Below is a tarot spread I created for my most recent novel, Little Universes. It helped me get much deeper into my complex heroines' hearts - and I really enjoyed doing it for myself too. I made this spread up myself because there were specific questions I needed answered for my characters. Carrie Mallon (of The Spacious Tarot fame) made up this little graphic for me when she shared the spread with her tarot devotees when the book first came out. Side note: Making up your own spread is a wonderfully creative act!
A tsunami plays a big part in the book, so I went with a wave shape and then I based the query on the age old meditation question - it's actually an incredibly powerful practice to work with this question. I was inspired by Rumi too: "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop."
Whoa. Right? Right?!
Sometimes when I get stuck in a book, I do this or other spreads and it almost always opens up some line of thinking I hadn’t explored before.
Internet Resources For Tarot
Susannah Conway: Best online tarot classes EVER. She is amazing. The 78 Mirrors Course is for practitioners who are familiar with tarot already, but I suspect her Daily Guidance is a great intro. I love her! So brilliant and creative.
Carrie Mallon: My go-to gal for interpretations. She’s the co-creator of a deck I ADORE, The Spacious Tarot. Her Instagram and newsletters are fabulous. I adore her interpretations of the Wild Unknown deck, but you can use those for any deck—I certainly do. Play around on her site and get to know her. I also did a Skype reading with her and it was FANTASTIC. She’s the real deal.
Decks
The first thing you’ll notice is that there are decks that are called “tarot decks” and some called “oracle decks.” Get a tarot deck. While oracle decks can be fun, they won’t give you the deep and long term insights that tarot will, simply because oracle decks are each their own thing. They’re not based on the archetypes and Jungian psychology that underscore tarot. It’s much harder to make connections over time with them, and apply them to you and your work.
It’s generally considered best to start out with the Rider-Waite-Smith, which is what everything is pretty much based on. Get the Centennial Edition - the colors are prettier. These will familiarize you with the foundational archetypes of the tarot.
I also really dig The Modern Witch Tarot Deck as a starter deck. Super fun and totally gorgeous. It’s very close to the traditional meanings and can be a great entryway into tarot - a little more accessible, if you will (and less patriarchal and WAY more diverse). For example, The Hermit card is a gal with her laptop - as writers, we so get that.
My current deck love is the Shadowscapes Tarot - it is perfect for creatives and beautiful and gives great insights. I bought it at a witchy store in Edinburgh called The Wyrd Shop, like you do.
Shadowscapes Hermit Card - see how different these depictions are?!
I just got a new deck and think it's PERFECT for storytellers, as it's based on fairy tales and folklore from around the world (and it's gorgeous!): Tarot of the Divine.
The Wild Unknown was my true gateway drug for tarot once I learned more about the cards - it’s a powerful deck, but it’s very different from the traditional RWS deck, so it’s not one to start with. It is the one that really spoke to me for the longest time. But! It’s messages are really blunt - it’s a punch in the vag sometimes, so just be ready for some BIG truth bombs.
I also adore The Spacious Tarot - its co-creator, Carrie Mallon, is my go-to gal for readings and tarot wisdom. The Tattoo Tarot is also great fun.
Go on Pinterest to check out different kinds of decks - it’s so much fun to see what’s out there, and to compare interpretations in all the different illustrations. Instagram will have a lot, too. There’s a #tarotforwriters hashtag, even!
Which deck do I choose?
It’s a personal choice, but I think most tarot people would agree with me that you’ve gotta start with the Rider-Waite-Smith because EVERYTHING is based on it, or in conversation with it. Tarot can feel intimidating at first because it’s 78 cards and they all have different meanings. You don’t have to memorize them all at once! I still don’t remember what half of them mean. Keep an easy guide handy nearby (all decks come with their own little white book). If you start here, then all future decks will make a lot more sense.
If you really want to dive in, I’d get the Rider-Waite-Smith Centennial Edition (same as the regular, but prettier, with Smith’s original coloring). At the same time, get a deck that really speaks to you. Usually you fall in love with the illustrations online or in a store and it just…calls to you. Get that one, too. Again, see my recs above as a starting off point, but have fun exploring!
Rider-Waite-Smith “Clone” Decks: These are decks that follow the same structure and concept of the original cards. So the illustrations might be VERY different, but the scene depicted, the message of the card, is the same vibe. Clones include Aquarian Tarot and the Uusi Pagan Otherworlds, as well as The Modern Witch Tarot and the Eight of Coins Tattoo Tarot. Shadowscapes is kind of a clone, but also very unique. I’d say it’s a hybrid.
Non-clone decks would be the Wild Unknown, one of the most popular decks in the world right now, the Naked Heart tarot, and the Spacious Tarot (see above).
Eight of Coins Tattoo Tarot Fool Card
Where to get decks:
You can get them in a lot of places, but I recommend checking out your local witchy store first. Support your local woo! To be fair, many stores don’t have a great stock, so I often buy most of my decks online. You can often get them through your local bookstore, Barnes and Noble, or - if it’s a newly created deck - the artist’s website.
But I feel like when I get cards from a physical place, it tends to make that deck a little extra special.
Books On tarot
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (Rachel Pollack): The tarot bible. A must-have. There’s a new edition (the yellow one) that is the whole thing in one book. Back in the day, it was two volumes.
Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self Through The Wisdom of the Cards (Michelle Tea): The book kicks ass. Michelle is a writer outside of this book, so she really gets the whole creative deal. Her interpretations and illustrations take all kinds of diversity into account. She has great interpretations with funny asides, and she’s not afraid to get vulnerable and share her own story to help you. Also, she has fun weird, witchy activities for each card, if you want to play Sabrina for a night.
Tarot for Your Self (Mary K. Greer): This book is AMAZING. Very in-depth and really helps you develop a relationship with the cards. Admittedly, it can feel like a deep dive if you're just starting out, so I'd recommend this once you have a solid practice or are really committed to going all in.
The Creative Tarot (Jessa Crispin): A book for artists who do tarot. Lots of fun activities and interpretations, though, honestly, I never use it much. To each her own!
Podcasts Featuring TAROT
Biddy Tarot: This is how I first started to really learn about the tarot world. There are lots of great interviews and insights, as well as tons of resources. She also has a website and deck.
Interpretations
There are many interpretations for the cards and it depends on the reader and the deck / deck creator. What matters is what the card means and brings up for you. However, understanding classical interpretations and intersecting them with things like psychology, history, etc. can be deeply rewarding for your introspection.
The Uusi Pagan Otherworlds Deck
The Queen of Wands
A fun thing to do is figure out which of the tarot’s court cards you are. The court cards represent aspects of ourselves—and sometimes the people in our lives. They’re also great archetypes that can help you as you’re building your characters in your books. (Fun exercise: go through the court cards and figure out who all your characters are AND your fave characters in the books you love).
Tarot teacher Susannah Conway (mentioned above), took the trouble of figuring out the Myers-Briggs for each of these cards (you can learn all about that in her 78 Mirrors Course, which I am obsessed with). No surprise to me, my court card is the Queen of Wands - INFJ, baby. Even if you’re not an INFJ, the Queen is a card card to prop up in your writing area because she’s basically the patron of us lady writers. Read on for more (this is all from Susannah Conway, btw).
The Queen of Wands
Motivation: The Embodiment of Passion and Creativity
Myers-Briggs: INFJ
Keywords: vibrant, warmth, sensual, visionary, magnetic, dramatic
Element: Water of Fire
Wands: Active/yang energy
”She is the witchiest of the four queens. Strong-willed and confident, but that fire is tempered by water energy, so she’s not too full on. (The wands are the fire element of the cards, representing creativity, passion, action, and energy).
Self-expression is her obsession and she inspires others to let their creativity flow. She teaches us how to embody our creative power and recognize our own magnificence. She encourages us to trust our desires and live out our creative dreams.
She has a tendency toward the dramatic. The shadow side of her might result in lethargy, a lack of direction, or impulsiveness. But she’s strong and she’ll overcome those tough times.
The Queen of Wands reminds us to give in, or to give up our dreams.”
I also really love Carrie Mallon’s take on the Queen of Wands in the Wild Unknown deck (in this unique deck, the Queen is known as the “Mother of Wands”). Carrie has her own deck now, but her interpretations of these cards have been incredibly popular. Find those here. I use these interpretations for any deck.
As you’ll see, interpretations can vary.
An excerpt from Carrie on the Mother of Wands in The Wild Unknown:
”The queen radiates the energy of the suit of wands from the inside out. Devotion is one of the keywords I associate with this card: she is clear about her passions and devoted to nurturing them. Others gravitate towards her inner warmth. She sets a keen example for living a creative, passionate, radiant life.
In many decks, the Queen of Wands is shown with a sunflower. This symbolizes her blossoming life force. She knows who she is and lives securely from her glowing center. She is not oblivious to the hardships of life – she is willing to stand up completely for what she believes in, even if that is risky or uncomfortable. But even so, she’s an eternal optimist, always oriented towards the good in herself, and drawing out the good in others.
In a reading: The Mother of Wands may be asking you to follow her example. Practice gratitude and protect the things that matter to you. Keep your attitude bright and good things will come your way. Live with your whole heart, be devoted to your path. You’re not here to half-ass things. Let your zest for life color everything you do!”
Hermit card from The Wild Unknown
Wherever your tarot journey leads you, I hope it brings wonderful insights into both you AND your characters.
Whatever helps, right?
Add this to your meditation or mindfulness for writers practice, and creative well will be overflowing!
