One of the
things I love to do is to look at my LWB (Little White Books) as Little White Books of creative potential.
Usually when I open up a new deck I look through the book to see if there are
any potential spreads that I would do for myself, sometimes I will alter the
questions, or mix them around to suit my needs, lately though I have been
seeing them in a totally new light and from the eyes of my fictional
characters.
Often when
we are in the process of writing a longer piece there will undoubtedly be days
when your cup is drained dry and the river of creativity is bubbling down to
the earth. While it can be nourishing to feel connected to the physical,
writing lends itself a lot to being in the ethereal realms of other worlds,
space and time. I have found over the past few years of integrating Tarot into
my creative writing process that there can be an amazing regeneration process
that comes from looking at something from a different perspective and
connecting to energy that is universal [such as the 78 cards in the Tarot]
Today I will
be sharing five steps that you can use to explore the cards and the spreads in the LWB for story starters, for scenes ideas and snippets that you
can later go back and expand on. I will also share an example of a snippet that
I created using the High Priest card from The
Ghost and Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt and her Realm of the Spirits spread.
1. Take a moment, and set a timer. For
the first five minutes of this exercise sit with the card and write down
anything that you see in it. Don’t censor, and refrain from looking at the LWB
definitions.
As an
example here are some of the things that I noted down from what I saw in the
High Priest card:
.12
orbs, could they be past selves, soul family members, trials or shadow
aspects?
. Paint scrapings in the background, unfinished like plaster – a job
that looks unfinished, possibly unfinished business?
. There is a bird on his third eye – representative of wisdom, messages,
callings, and synchronicity
2. Now once you have made some notes
about what you see, take a moment to switch perspectives and step inside the
mind and body of a character in your story. Follow the same steps as before,
making note this time of what your character tells you they see.
. I see the Ghosts of the people that I have killed throughout my life
. A book of lives and history that documents all my past lives
. I see my older self, my future self illuminated in a wormhole
3. Once you have got a list from your
perspective and your characters it is time to turn to the spread and look at
the questions. You don’t need to follow them chronologically; we are seeking to
find the position and the questions that are asked in that position as starting
points to bring it all together to create our prompt.
Example : In this spread I have chosen the [Spirit of the Present] position - that
asks a few questions. If your position has a number of questions, pick the one
that resonates with you the most [You can always come back and write on the
others] I chose – Where are you right
now?
4. Write the question at the top of your
page. Underneath it pick 1-3 pointers from your notes and write them down.
Those will be your prompts.
I chose to
note down these ideas inspired by my reflections
. Shadows illuminated
. Unfinished business
. Paint scrapings around her
. Old self or future self
. Dead – People she has killed
. Book of alternative lives
5. You have created a prompt, a story
scene starter. Set your timer to fifteen minutes and free write. Don’t worry
about what comes out, you can always come back to it and use what you have
written to create more prompts. Once you are done, take another card or another
question and a point and begin writing again.
Tip # It’s okay if you waver from the
meaning of the card. I love looking for
the fun ways to incorporate the meanings from the LWB & if you feel drawn
to I encourage you to check out the artists interpretations and see how it can
add to your current snippet. By doing
this exercise you gain an opportunity expand on your awareness of what inspires
and provokes you in the present moment and is great to look back on when
developing a deeper connection with the cards outside character driven writing.
Here is a really rough draft of the story prompt I used to create a story snippet for my current novel project. At the end of the writing session I wrote down three impressions or thoughts that I got from the snippet that I will use later to create more.
Vesper
stared at the cotton blue walls where the plaster peeled away and scratches of
fingernails and pain broke free to reveal the empty white walls behind it. It
was the only room without photographs lining the walls or faded wallpaper, yet
in the centre of each of the walls was a silhouette marking, a cream circle
with wide blacked edges inside it. The size of dinner plates, they looked like
eyes watching her, honing in closer as the candle flames dances and cast
shadows on the furniture across the wall.
She pulled
the thin sheet up under her chin and tried to close her eyes, fighting the
throbbing exhaustion pulsing inside her skull. Failing she rubbed her eyes and
saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Two silver orbs hovered around the
candle holders. They circled around the base and spiralled up, rising with the
flames. First smaller than the candles themselves and then growing larger until
they were almost the same shape as the circles on the walls, layers of grey
pulsated stretching out to white within them.
She sat up,
facing them directly and watched as they travelled slowly, taking their time to
cross the room, bobbing up and down, rising and falling in time with her breath
till they reached the circle on the side of the wall her mattress was pushed up
against. She felt the pressure, a weight pressed against the end of the sheet,
as the orbs lingered only inches away from her. The balls expanded, widening
and growing as they merged together.
Fingers
formed from their curves, fingers that reached out and curled towards her.
Something inside of her swelled an urge that she couldn’t contain. Her arm
moved. The black tendrils she had seen come from her palms earlier that day
swirled around her, the energy a firecracker of tension exploding and rippling
its way inside her, crawling beneath her skin. She held out her hand, straining
to touch the beings that were beginning to emerge from the orbs. Beside her the
sound of tearing swayed her for a moment, as the hands betrayed the connection
between them and went to the plaster, ripping at it.
Little pieces
flaked onto her bed. The energy from her own hand pulled her forward. On her
knees know she crawled to the circle and placed her sweaty palms in the centre.
The noise of scratching nails against the wall increased around her. The spirit
hand turned into an arm, the obs growing into fully formed beings upon impact
with the tendrils escaping from inside of her. She spread her fingers, warmth
from the wall flaring into a scorching pain. She tried to pull back, but her
hand was stuck.
“Don’t fight
it,” a voice said, hollow and echoing. It came from the hole that was drawing
her into the black centre to closer she got to it, until the voice disappeared
and pulled her inside.
The three
notes I made after writing were #Timetravel
- #Abduction # Wallwalkers
I would love to know if
you use this exercise. If it is helpful please leave me a comment.
What do you like to use
your LWB for? Have you ever used the spreads in creative writing?
