Friday Tarot Prompt

Six of Cups

Today’s card is the Six of Cups, drawn from the Everyday Witch tarot deck.

Six is the number of community and transition in numerology. Cups is the suit of emotions.

In this card we see cups represented by planters filled with flowers, and a gardener witch (who looks like David Schwimmer for some reason) handing one of these to a young witch. It’s a positive card that speaks of growth and generosity. It’s a kindness card.

For Your Stories

In Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, he talks about a moment in the first part of a story where you show your protagonist doing an act of kindness to show that he/she/they are worthy of achieving their goal. He uses the example of saving a cat from a tree to create empathy for the character.

Story Prompts

-What’s the save the cat moment in your story? If you don’t have one, write it now.

-Your protagonist receives a gift from someone that teaches them to see things in a new light.

For Your Creative Journey

I love that we got this card right now. The last ten weeks have created such upheaval in all of our lives, and it’s causing a lot of people to take stock and reprioritize. It’s also offered so many opportunities for kindness.

I’ve talked to more of my neighbors under this lockdown than I ever did before. People are offering to run to the store for their neighbors and making masks for friends and making room in their day to call friends and family to check on them.

The last couple of weeks, though, there’s a palpable sense of fatigue. People are restless, bored, frustrated, stressed, angry. The communal sense of “we’re all in this together” has morphed into partisan rhetoric and angry finger pointing.

This card reminds us that now more than ever we need to be kind. To our neighbors, family, friends, strangers—and to ourselves.

Gratitude and kindness counteract stress. They remind us that the news is an emotional vampire that feeds off your fear, but in your own backyard there are so many examples of generosity and goodness.

As for your writing? Well, how are you showing up for yourself?

Here’s an example: I catch myself indulging in the news a lot lately. I use the word “indulging” because it’s definitely a schadenfreude thing. It appeals to the darker, nihilistic sides of my personality. But I know that that side isn’t the one I want to be in charge. Because that side is prone to depression and self-sabotage. So when I catch myself wallowing in the latest bad news, I force myself to turn it off and go do something positive, like taking a walk or watching a silly show or reading.

We talked last week about mothering yourself, and that same energy can be found in the six of cups. Kindness includes redirection when you’re headed down a dark alley. It includes not taking the call from the relative who loves to drain the life out of you with their latest life drama. It’s kinder to both of you not to sink into that pit together.

Creation is a positive force, even when we’re creating dark things. I’ve been writing a lot of horror, but I can’t sit down and write if I’ve filled my head with news that makes me want to lay down and give up. Just like I can’t show up for myself and the people I love in a generous way if I spend all of my time fighting with strangers on the internet.

Fear shuts us down. Anger shuts us down. Generosity opens us up, and openness is required for creation.

Today’s assignment is to do one nice thing for yourself and one nice thing for someone else. Don’t post about it on social media. Just hold that feeling of generosity close and see how it feels in your body. How can you take that energy and use it for creation today?

Have a great weekend, friends.