Friday Tarot Prompt

Please note: I am not a professional tarot reader. These posts are mean to act as tools of inspiration and self-reflection, not prophecy.

For today’s reading I used my Universal Waite Tarot Deck.

The card that came up was the IX of Swords.

Theme Words: Anxiety, Depression, Suffering, Isolation, Doubt, Nightmares

For Your Stories:

This is the card of the Dark Moment. Fears are ruling your character’s decisions. They’ve lost hope. Their negative thoughts are stacking on them like the swords above the figure in the card.

Doubts and fears can become prophecies when given too much power. Swords is the suit of thinking, so this card indicates that these fears and worries are all in the person’s head. They need to examine the situation from a new perspective. Sometimes they need to enlist the help of someone else to see more clearly. Sometimes they need to see themselves and their own power more clearly. But this moment is crucial in the character’s journey of growth—they must overcome the fear in order to win the day.

Scene prompts:

-What is your character’s worst nightmare? Make them face it in real life.

-What self-limiting belief must your protagonist overcome before they can live fully in their authentic power?

-List nine things your protagonist is worried about. Choose one and have them write a letter to that fear.

For your Creative Journey:

There’s really no way to discuss this card without addressing the global pandemic. We’re all literally isolated and have lots of very real worries right now. Like me, a lot of you are probably having trouble sleeping.

Here’s the truth: Worry is creative Kryptonite. It’s hard to focus on fictional worlds when the real world is so scary. But maybe right now we don’t need to be worrying about productivity or writing the Great Pandemic Novel. Maybe it’s enough to simply take care of yourself and those you love. Maybe the best gift you can give your creativity right now is to get out of that noggin for a while.

Confession time? I get this card a lot in readings. I live in my head and it can be a pretty dark place sometimes. So I’ve had to learn how to work around myself in order to overcome my worries and get on with living. Below are some things I do when I’m feeling especially nine-of-swordsy.

-Give yourself a break. You don’t have to be productive right now. Beating yourself up for being lazy on top of worrying won’t get your muse working. She’ll most likely stop talking to you altogether.

-Reach out to friends. Schedule a Zoom Happy Hour with friends. Email a creative colleague. Write a letter to an old mentor. If things are pretty dire, reach out to a virtual counseling service or hotline.

- Practice being present. Worry is anxiety over the future, which we can not control or foresee, especially now. Things we took for granted a month ago are up in the air now. You only control right now. You can practice meditation or you can do an immersive activity. Yesterday, I set down my phone and worked on a puzzle for an hour. Anything that gets the hamster wheel in your head to stop spinning for a bit is a gift right now.

-Do morning pages. This is from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Every morning, first thing, sit down and write three pages longhand. Just vomit out all of those worries, both big and petty, there. Download them from your head. When you’ve got three pages written—keep that hand moving, this isn’t supposed to be polished prose—close your notebook and get on with your day.

-Move your body. Climb out of your head and into your body. This can be anything from doing a few sun salutations to turning up the music and dancing your stress out to taking the dog on a walk around the block. This doesn’t have to be verrry serrrious exerrrcise! In fact, it’s better if it’s not. Just wiggle a little so that your brain will shut the eff up for a bit.

This is a tough time for everyone. Writers tend to be super good at End-of-Days-thinking, and that’s not helping anyone right now. We’re in survival mode and that means you need to lean real hard on anything that helps you gain some perspective.

What are your favorite get-out-of-your-head tricks?

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