If you’ve landed on this page, I’m sure you’re at least a little bit curious about the connection between creative writing and tarot cards. There are endless angles we could tackle this topic from, but I’m a fan of keeping things simple and straightforward as much as possible. So, I’m going to use the tarot spread above to answer this question.
Let’s look at the cards we drew:
Since we’re looking for the “why” behind writing with tarot, I slid the last card a bit further away from the first three to highlight its importance. The Nine of Cups is the answer to the question posed in the title. The first three cards add nuance and deeper layers of understanding to the answer. So, let’s go card by card to get the message.
First up, in the “Help” position, is the Queen of Wands. Whatever card falls here is meant to aid either in the overall understanding of the answer, or just a helpful thing to know in general. And this Queen of the tarot represents vitality, confidence, and independence. In any kind of writing, these are great qualities to embody. Without vitality or life, your writing will feel flat and dead. If the tone of your prose is unsure, your reader will feel the same. And I think it’s safe to say every writer wants to be seen as unique. I mean, has anyone ever excitedly signed up to be a blatant copy of someone else? I think not. Queen of Wands’s energy will help your writing to stand our, feel vibrant, and be a true reflection of what you want to put into the world.
Next, the King of Wands fell in the “Me” position, which represents the person asking the question. Essentially, this king represents us as writers and the energy we bring to our craft. This king is often associated with entrepreneurship, leadership qualities, and bold ideas. As writers, we use our skills to leave a mark on the world. We want our ideas to have an impact, to reach people they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. We want to influence. We want to inspire. That fits perfectly with the King of Wands.
The Page of Pentacles is what we should try to “understand.” That tells me the tarot can help us look at writing with new eyes. Pages represent learning, curiosity, open-mindedness, and new beginnings. Whether you’re self-taught or trained in writing, you’ll approach it with what you already know. By drawing on the tarot for inspiration, you expand the possibilities by introducing an element of the unknown in your process. Tarot cards bring a sense of wonder like nothing else. For creative writing, in particular, this is especially important.
Now, on to the most important card in the spread! Why? Why should writers consider working with the tarot? The “wish fulfilled card,” the Nine of Cups, has our answer. Simply put, writers should work with the tarot because it will get us to our goals and help us feel good in the process. Often, this card comes up to represent finding something you’ve been looking for. Have you ever worked on a project and felt like something was off, but couldn’t articulate what? The moment you find the solution is a Nine of Cups moment. There’s satisfaction and appreciation for what you have.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Nine of Cups can also represent smugness and ego. Sometimes we can get so self-satisfied that we become unapproachable and blocked off from any kind of new experience (remember the Page?). So, when we integrate tarot into the writing process, we also keep ourselves humble by acknowledging that we don’t have all the answers. We give ourselves permission to see things in a new way.
Finally, I want to make a quick note about what is not present in this spread: air. Water, fire, and earth are all present. They represent emotions and intuition, passion and willpower, and the material plane respectively. But air rules intellect and communication. Of all the elements, writing fits best with the air element. So, why is it missing from the spread? Because working with tarot cards takes you out of the analytical mind and moves you into the creative one. Of course, mental faculties are used to interpret the cards, but it’s more than just looking at a picture or listing the meanings. It’s trusting the intuitive side of yourself to lead you to the answers you seek. Writing with tarot stops you from worrying about comma splices and verb tense and reminds you to have fun with your art instead. 🙂