Is my Spiritualism Showing...?

I'm sure many things come to mind for you upon seeing a pack of Tarot cards. Some of you, I'm sure, associate them with carnivals or gypsies- ladies in beaded shawls who speak with a thick Bulgarian accent and predict "great change". Others might erroniously link them to the Devil, and think of them as tools of evil. A few of you might know it as a tool of Self exploration and discovery. However, I'm sure few of you know that it can be used quite effectively in the writing of stories.

 

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The Page of Cups, The Hanged Man, and The Empress are all cards that represent me in my personal readings.



I'm sure that among you readers there are at least a few aspiring fiction writers and maybe even some established ones. I'm also sure that many of you have experienced writer's block when working on a story. Perhaps a character seems a little flat, or her motivations are unclear. Here is where the Tarot can help. Being a thickly layered matrix of symbolism and archetypes, the cards are a great way to get your creative juices flowing.

Some of you might be hesitant to engage with the Tarot, perhaps because you don't want to spend time learning all the meanings of cards. Well, for the purposes of writing, you don't need a book on Tarot divination or endless tomes on the symbolism or numerology hidden in the cards. All you need is a deck and your imagination! Picking your deck is important simply because it will affect the variety of stories you can come up with. Tarot and other divination decks comes in all sorts of varieties and themes. Obviously, certain decks lack the deep symbolism of others, and themed decks (such as the Vampire Tarot) might just end up pidgeon-holing your stories. My recommendation? The tarot standard for the past century: The Rider-Waite. It's a very beautiful deck with complicated pictures, perfect for our imaginative purposes.

--Need some plot points to fill in your story? Shuffle the deck and pull some cards for a storyline.

--Having trouble "rounding" out a character? Use a Horoscope Spread to get more ideas on what your character's all about.

--Trying to find a conflict in a relationship? Use a Celtic Heart spread.

The good news is that there are spreads for almost any aspect of life, so there can be solutions to pretty much any writing rut you might find yourself in. Of course if you don't feel like looking up spreads online or buying books on the subject, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making up your own spreads, or even ommiting spreads all together and simply drawing cards at random. How you use the cards in your writing should reflect your creative process, and should never make you uncomfortable.

And if you happen to find yourself interested in the Tarot after a while, that's not necessarily a bad thing, either!


Have fun with this!

Nostalgically Yours

If you're interested in learning more about using the Tarot
in your writing, I recommend Tarot for Writers by Corinne Kenner.

"Avatar" Review (No Spoilers)

I'd like to start out by saying that this movie has honestly changed my life. It's touched me on such a deeply personal level... It was incredible.

Second, I highly recommend you see this movie in 3-D. Even if you've seen it flat already, go back and see it in 3-D - you will not regret it. Unlike most 3-D films, it doesn't abuse the medium (there aren't any of those gimmicks where they throw stuff at the camera, etc.), and James Cameron's fictional world seems all the more real in three dimensions.

So, the movie is set in a dystopic 2154, and though we don't actually see the earth in the film, we get the idea we've pretty much ruined everything. Anyway, we are exploiting a planet called Pandora for a coveted mineral, "UnObtainium" (stupid name, I know. Get over it). Ex-marine Jake Sully is sent to Pandora to take his dead twin brother's place in the "Avatar" program. Humans use complex machinery to inhabit test-tube replicas of the Pandora natives, the Na'vi, in order to study the local tribe and head diplomacy to move them from their Home Tree, which happens to be located over the largest existing source of unobtainium.

Some of you may notice similarities to the story of "Pocahontas". This is "Pocahontas" on steroids, and though the spiritual and ecological sentiments are a major part of the film, there is no lack of danger and adrenaline to keep the audience going - no singing birdies in this film.

The ecosystem James Cameron creates in this movie is rich and complex, and an absolute delight to the eyes. Not only that, but the thruline of the mother tree and the way the Na'vi are so deeply connected to their world. It's fascinating not just from the story perspective, but also in that it gives insight into the ways in which we affect our ecosystem, and vice versa.

Viewers with extreme agoraphobia might want to avoid the 3-D version of the film, as the extensive flight sequences may be distressing to those sensitive enough to heights. Some of you may already know that "barracks talk" is another euphemism for 'bad' language. This movie being centered around ex-marines, you can imagine that there is a lot of barracks talk. The violence isn't terrible, but the scenes of distress might be too much for some - if you couldn't stand to see "Titanic", there is an equal amount of human tragedy in this film.

If you're able to go see the film, do. This is this year's absolute must-see. This is a movie you will be telling your children and grandchildren about. DON'T MISS IT!


Nostalgically Yours

PS: I mentioned before that I feel it's changed my life, I'm actually going to start work on a Tarot deck based on the characters from the story. I'll keep you all posted as I work on it.
PPS: Did you know? When writing more than one "Post Script", the proper thing to do is to add another 'P' not another 'S' - as in, "Post post script"