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Tarot & Narrative Magick

pachinko droog

16:46 / 18.07.03

Has anyone tried this--using the cards as a means to affect a narrative's outcome? Ssend the story off in a new direction? Overcome writer's block? Bring in new influences on a hypersigil? Maybe do a reading for the characters in your story?

Of course, one needn't be limited to just tarot in this sense; the I-Ching, runes, bibliomancy, cut-ups, etc. could be used in the same manner. Chance and indeterminancy as applied to storytelling, especially where synchronicity is concerned is a bit of a fascination of mine. I prefer the Tarot though because of all the archetypal material inherent in the cards' illustrations.

I've had mixed results, but overall its a great means of injecting some new life into a story when you need it. ( Applies equally well to comic scripts too, no doubt.)

—| x |—

18:22 / 18.07.03

Italo Calvino wrote a book called "The Castle of Cross Destinies" where he uses the Tarot to write the story. Actually, I think he writes three different variations of the story based on three separate arrangements of the cards. Good stuff.

I wrote an essay on human nature once by pulling the runes out one at a time, and then linking the track of the essay (and the main theme of "living") to the runes drawn in the order that they came out. It worked OK, but needed to be polished (a task I abandoned before starting...).

I would say that, yes, it can be a great way to shake up a block or barrier in a story or essay!

Nietzsch E. Coyote

01:24 / 19.07.03

I've used taro as an aid to story telling. I have used draws to explain a situation. I have used them to plot sections. I have used related symbolism.

It has been fairly successful.

adamswish

14:04 / 21.07.03

not sure if this is the same thing but for the past few days I've had the idea of writing a collection of short stories' each one based on the tarot cards.

Running from "The Fool" to "The Universe" (and forgive me if I've cocked that up, memory isn't what is was) but not necessarily about magic, just taking an idea from the title of each card to formalate the story.

I'm not even sure if this is an original idea or if I'm remembering something I've heard of to.

Tamayyurt

14:23 / 21.07.03

I did a similar thing with poems a few months ago. A lot of them were really successful but some of them seemed forced. I do like the idea of having the cards dictate the story... tell me more about that. How exactly does that work?

pachinko droog

18:17 / 21.07.03

I can only speak for myself as far as this goes. What I tend to do is if I'm stuck as far as where to take the plot next (as opposed to having the whole thing sketched out in advance), what to have a character do, etc. I just do a random draw from the deck and write down my first impressions, not what the card means according to Waite's or Crowley's or whoever's definitions, but what the card "says" to me on an intuitive level.

Also, I might use the cards to construct a "dream narrative" for a character to mull over upon waking. (I do this in roleplaying as well.) It really helps you to get inside your character's head, which is I suppose the whole point to having a fiction suit. I haven't tried this with the I-Ching yet but that's my next project.

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