Month: June 2023

Storytelling with Tarot, Pt 3

We’re back with part three of storytelling with tarot cards. So far we’ve set the scene with our main character, our Fool. We’ve met other characters. Their lover, their Emperor, their Hermit. They’ve found their strength and their chariot. 

Our Fool is going to need those things because today we’re getting into some of the heavier cards. 

(By the way, if you missed part one or two, you can find them here. You can also find my long-winded disclaimer that this series is meant to teach storytelling, not tarot. I am not qualified to teach tarot.)

Justice

The Justice card always reminds me of Vulcans. If I were to make a Star Trek tarot deck, I’d put Tuvok on the Justice card. 

(Yes, I know there are Star Trek decks. No, I don’t know if Tuvok is included.) 

Justice is about getting what we deserve, based purely on facts with no emotional involvement. 

This is a great time in our Fool’s story if they’ve dotted all their I’s and crossed all their T’s. But what kind of story would that be? It’s far more likely that our Fool has, well, acted the fool in some way or another. Some way that is going to come back and bite them on their ass.

The best comparison I can think of this is the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. He was cruel to a helpless woman, and for that, all of his household was punished. He fucked around and everybody found out.

There was no emotion here. There was no compassion for Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, or even little Chip. The witch didn’t consider those emotional considerations. She simply handed out Justice.

Where in your story will your Fool find Justice smacking them in the face? 

The Hanged Man

Through tarot, we find so many biblical symbols. The Hanged Man is a strong example. 

The Hanged Man stands for wisdom through suffering. Enlightenment through hardships. This is Gandalf the Grey dying and coming back as Gandalf the White. It’s Aslan dying on the Stone Table and coming back stronger. It’s Oden hanging from the Tree of Life. And, if you’re into Jesus like me, it’s His sacrifice on the cross and coming back as more than a man. 

American Gods by Neil Gaiman did this the best, I think. When Shadow spends all night tied to a tree and dies, only to come back stronger. Only to come back as a demigod himself. 

This is likely a moment later in your story. When your Fool has to go through something terribly hard to gain the strength to become the hero. 

Death

I learned most of what I know about tarot from a book called Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova. As Death is so often a misunderstood card, I would like to quote Cynova regarding it. 

“Death means change. Death means change. Death means change. Death means change. Death means change.”

The Death card means that change is coming whether we want it to or not. It’s the death of a friendship, a job, a circumstance. Maybe it’s a change for the good, maybe for the worse. Either way, there’s no stopping this change. 

Sometimes, in a story, it can mean death. Like when Dumbledore dies in Harry Potter. This changes the entire world that Harry lives in.

What happens in your Fool’s story that changes their whole lives?

Temperance

I love the Temperance card. It’s about peaceful balance. Not tragic, unfeeling balance like Thanos. But a simple, karmic balance. It’s getting out of the world what you put in. 

This is a moment in your Fool’s journey when something they’ve done is coming back to them. Usually something good. Maybe they helped someone out earlier in the story, and they show up with something needed now. Maybe they picked up some innocuous bottle earlier in the story, and it turns out to be Fai repellent when we’re being attacked by the Fai. 

I’d consider this a bit of luck, one way or another. It’s like in Stranger Things when Dustin falls in love with a girl who just happens to have the correct mathematical equation needed. 

The Devil

Alright, I know this is the card that gets people in a bit of a tizzy. But the Devil card is honestly misunderstood. 

It does not, in any way, mean anything about worshiping the Devil. 

The Devil card is temptation. It’s us humans doing ourselves in with our favored vices. And your Fool for sure has vices.

Maybe your Fool has a drinking problem. Or an anger problem. Maybe they’re the kind of dumbass who can’t stop telling on themselves. Maybe they can’t control their spending or their gambling. 

My favorite example of this comes from Hamilton. That’s right, you knew I had to reference that at some point. When Hamilton is stressed, he defaults to his vice. His vice happens to be Miss Maria Reynolds. 

We all self-sabotage. It makes sense that your Fool will do so too. 

That’s it for this time. I hope you’re having as much fun with this series as I am.

We’ve just got one more post to go. Let me know if there’s a care you think I got wrong or if you’ve got an alternate interpretation in the comments. And I’ll see you next week. 

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Storytelling with Tarot Pt 2, The Lovers to Wheel of Fortune

If you missed last week’s episode, please check it out here. I went through a lengthy disclaimer that I don’t think anyone wants me to repeat.

The short version is this. Tarot cards tell a story. It’s the Heroe’s Journey told in playing cards, with The Fool as our hero. Being both a witch and writer, I like to use the Major Arcana cards of the tarot to outline my story. This is not a lesson on how to read tarot, but a lesson on how to use tarot as a tool to write a detailed outline in a fun way. 

One thing I don’t think I mentioned last week is this. This is not a list of plot points that we’re going to hit in order. This is a way to hit some important plot points, as well as discover important characters and relationships. Some stories will have all of these things, and some won’t. This is just a fun way to get you thinking about the details of your story. 

We’re talking about some of my favorite cards today, so let’s get started. 

The Lovers

Ah, the love interest. The character that makes your Fool’s heart skip a beat. The one who seems to light up the room when they come in.

The one that isn’t necessarily needed, in my opinion.

Look, I got five books into Station 86 before Sennett found a partner. 

But love can be a wonderful addition to a story, even if it’s added later. Love stories like Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, or Chuck and Sara from Chuck. These sorts of warm, lovely relationships can be a breeding ground for plot bunnies. 

The Chariot

This is one of my favorite cards to pull because it’s so empowering. It’s all about having control of a situation.

In your Fool’s journey, this is when they realize that maybe they do have this under control. This is facing a challenge that is well suited to our Fool’s strengths. Like Klause Baudelaire in a library, this is the moment when your character has everything under control. 

Strength

This card is all about grace and success under pressure. It’s handling a battle, struggle, or uncomfortable family gathering with ease. Especially when this was something that would have once felled the Fool. 

This should be something difficult. Like when Mulan climbs the pole to fetch the arrow. She does so using her strength and intelligence, both of which she’s earned. This is the moment, maybe after our Fool has failed and become more determined to meet their goal, that we start to think they might really win this thing. 

Or at least not die. 

The Hermit

There are times when we all need to do something alone. Or at least, take some time alone to sort ourselves out. That’s the moment the hermit card represents. It’s a solitary time to grow. To be alone, but maybe not lonely. This is the time to grow, to learn. To like our own company. 

Maybe your character was cast out of their home or friendship circle. Maybe everyone they love was taken from them or walked away.

The best example I can think of this is going to show my age. But it’s the song Close Every Door from Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. Joseph is tossed in jail, away from his doting parents and jealous brothers. And he takes that time to figure himself out. He comes out a better person than when he went in. 

Wheel of Fortune

Plot twist! 

Maybe our Fool is doing well. Then it’s time for them to face something way too powerful for them. Maybe our Fool’s been a sad sack so far, and they’re in desperate need of a win. Wherever we are now, it’s time for the tides to turn.

How many examples can I possibly reference here? Think of Cordelia in Angel, after her family loses all their money. Whatever moment your character’s world flips upside down, that’s the Wheel of Fortune. 

Another way to think about this is karma. What character in your story needs to get what’s coming to them? Either good or bad. There’s a great line from the first episode of Firefly that I always think about when I see this card.

Mal, the main character, looks at Badger, the underworld mob boss who just betrayed him. “The wheel never stops turning,” he says. Badger responds, “That only matters to the people on the rim.” 

We are all on the rim, Badger. And sometimes when that wheel turns, our characters are going to get chucked off. 

That’s it for this time. I’ll be back next week with the next five tarot cards. And I want to hear what you think. Have you tried using any of these tarot cards as outlining prompts so far? Let us know in the comments.

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Storytelling with the Tarot Pt 1, The Fool to The Hierophant

If you know anything about tarot, then you already know it tells a story. It’s the tale of the Fool, traveling through a series of challenges and misadventures. As a writer and a witch, I love this. I love that we can find the Hero’s Journey in this spiritual tool. 

Using tarot to help you tell a story can be a fun exercise and a great way to fight writer’s block. So explain how each card of the major arcana can represent a plot point found in most stories. Of course, the major arcana is 22 cards long, and I’m shooting for this post to be under a thousand words. So this is probably going to be a mini-series. 

If you don’t know anything about tarot, you might pick up some info along the way. I am not in any way a tarot expert, though, just an enthusiast. And this isn’t a description of the card’s interpretation. Only an interpretation of how the card might apply to a story. 

As a final note, I’ll be referencing the Tarot of The Divine deck, by Yoshi Yoshitani. It’s a deck inspired by fairy tales and lore from different countries. It felt the most appropriate for this sort of thing. 

The Fool

The Fool represents our hero at the start of their journey. They are young, innocent, and dreaming of a better life. This is Ariel looking out at the castles of the people on land. It’s the heroes of countless fantasy stories, living in their sleepy villages and looking for adventure. I can almost hear Belle singing about wanting adventure in the great wide somewhere. 

The Magician

The Magician card is the part of the story when we learn something amazing about our main character. The thing that sets them apart from other people. 

This is Hagrid showing up to tell Harry he’s a wizard. It’s Luke finding out he’s a Jedi. It’s Luna coming to tell Usagi she’s Sailor Moon. It is, in short, the moment when our Fool finds out there’s something terrific about them. 

The High Priestess 

Now is when we start calling in the support team. 

The High Priestess is the learned elder. Think of Kit Snicket in Series of Unfortunate Events or Haymitch in Hunger Games. This is the character that’s in a perfect position to help our Fool because they’ve already walked to The World and back.

The Empress

Still rounding out the characters, the Empress is a character who acts maternally towards our Fool. It might be their mother, or legal guardian like Aunt May. But it’s someone who wants to look after and protect our Fool.

A thought on the Empress. I would also consider Mother Gothel to be an Empress personality in the life of Rapunzel in Tangled. She certainly has an interest in protecting Rapunzel, even if it’s for selfish reasons. 

I’m just saying, this doesn’t have to be a good character.

The Empress also doesn’t have to have anything to do with our next character. 

The Emperor 

Maybe this is a father figure. Maybe it’s a king or a leader. It doesn’t have to be a man. One great example is Melinda May from Agents of S.H.I.L.D. This is generally a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of character. Which is often why our Fool is butting heads with them. Again, this can be a good or a bad character. A father’s protection can be a blessing. A father’s watchful and judgemental eye can be a curse.

The Hierophant

The Hierophant has a lot of different meanings. It can mean a religious leader or a message from God/Gods. I consider this the inciting incident card. Or the call to action card. Someone or something has called to our Fool. Maybe their hometown was destroyed. Maybe their dog was killed. Maybe they’re destined to kill a dark wizard and someone’s just come and told them like an idiot.

Whatever it is, the journey is serious now. There are implications of real-world consequences for more than just our Fool. 

We’ve gone through the first six cards of the tarot and gotten to the real start of our story, so I think we’ll leave off here for now. But I’d love to hear what you think. Am I interpreting a card wrong? Let us know in the comments. 

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Alternative Memory Keeping

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My birthday was this past Wednesday. Like most people, I spent a little time around the day, when I wasn’t enjoying extra coffee and the best brownie ever, reflecting on the past year of my life. And it’s been an interesting one. Some ups and downs, both personally and professionally. I’ve grown some and learned a lot. There have been better years of my life, for sure. But by God, there have been far worse. 

I enjoy having the ability to look back on the past year. Memory keeping isn’t a huge part of my life, but it’s still important. 

Here’s the thing, though. I don’t keep a journal. Frankly, on top of all the other writing I do in a day, it’s too much. And while I take pictures, I don’t often get them printed. I don’t scrapbook, though I do like it in theory. 

Record keeping is something that takes time. And time is something most of us just don’t have a lot of. It’s often something we do for holidays, birthdays, and vacations, but not so much on an everyday basis. I mean, who’s got that kind of time, right?

But the regular days hold so much joy. It’s on average Tuesdays when we find a new book series that will become our whole personality for the next three months. It’s a common Thursday when the dog finds the bag of flour and makes himself the cutest ghost ever. The creative breakthrough, the new coffee shop, the cozy rainy afternoons, the really good talk with your partner. These are things that I want to remember just as much as what we did for my birthday. 

So today, I want to share with you four things I do to collect memories daily. They aren’t large things, they don’t take up a lot of time. But they create a net that traps the everyday memories that I treasure looking back on.

Bullet journaling

Most of you know that I keep a bullet journal. Mostly this is to keep myself organized and my plants alive. But it also catches memories. I have a page every month dedicated to recording the best memories. Here I’ll track big events, of course, but also little things. When I discovered the musical Six. When the power went out in our little city. 

Even my everyday to-do list in my bullet journal tracks some memories. Looking back I can see exactly how long I struggled with a short story. When I went through a big cleaning phase and cleared out a ton of house tasks. When I had to run every errand known to man in a single day. These are fun things to look back in, even if they weren’t fun at the time. 

Notes on a perpetual calendar

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my Peanuts perpetual desk calendar. Because it’s one that I can use year after year, I decided to use it as a mini memory keeper.

On November 15th of 2022, I started writing one sentence about my day on the calendar page. This might be something like, we finished Reboot today. Or, I went to visit my grandma today. 

As the days and years go by, I’ll be building on these little notes. So this becomes more and more precious as time goes by. 

Instagram

I post something on Instagram most days. Often it’s pictures of things that made me smile that day. A new plant, a nice sunset, or the cute way Harper curled up next to my book.

Yes, I also post info about my books and blog posts. But even that’s kind of a fun look back. I spent some time on my birthday just looking back at what I’ve posted in the last year. Between this year’s picture of my birthday coffee and last year’s. And I was awash with memories. What I was reading. What I was passionate about. When my one air plant sprouted flowers without warning. A hundred little mini-adventures, snapping silly pictures of dogwood blossoms while running errands. 

Now look, I don’t suggest sharing your whole life on social media. And I caution you to remember that Instagram in particular is a highlight reel. But if you do use social media, consider using it in such a way that you’re reminded of good moments when you look back over your account. 

Gratitude logs

Finally, this is a practice I’ve used for almost a decade. Every morning I write at least three things I’m thankful for from the day before in my planner. 

First off, this is just a good way to start the day. Even if the day before was a hard one, I can at least think of three things I was thankful for. I made a really good cup of coffee. I slept well. I took a shower with a shower bomb and it was nice.

This also has a built-in memory-keeping factor. I keep all of my old planners, of course. And I can look back to any day and be reminded of at least three good things that happened. 

And on hard days, I can look back on other hard times. I can see that even at my lowest, I still had things to be thankful for. Hard not to feel good about that. 

What about you? What’s your favorite memory-keeping habit? Let us know in the comments. 

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Coming out

The first bisexual character I remember seeing on tv was The Todd on Scrubs. For those of you who never saw the show, imagine if Pepe Le Pew was a surgeon. During one episode some of the female doctors suggest to him that he might be gay, and use his abusive actions towards women as a way to mask this. 

Maybe they should have contacted HR, but that’s another story. 

At any rate, by the end of the episode, he realizes that he’s simply so horny that he’s attracted to everyone. There’s a scene that’s stuck in my brain to this day, of Todd walking down the hall, checking out the ass of everyone he walks past. Someone asked him, in disgust, “What are you?” 

He responds, “I’m The Todd.”

This introduction to the theory of bisexuality probably isn’t why it took me 35 years to figure myself out. But it sure as hell didn’t help.

I’m turning 37 years old next week. And I am just now coming out as bisexual. 

I am not being brave doing this. I am incredibly privileged in many ways. I am surrounded by friends who are wonderful, accepting people. Many of whom are part of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m married to a man, so I pass for straight unless I tell someone I’m bi. While I don’t belong to an organized church, I’m a Unitarian. My day job is wonderfully supportive. And I don’t talk to most of my family anyway, so it’s not like I’m alienating any of them. 

That’s part of why I waited so long to come out. For a very long time, it felt like some people were claiming to be bisexual because it was trendy. And maybe some people did that.

It’s not trendy to be LGBTQ+. You are or you’re not. But for a brief, shining couple of years, it was considered cool. And people got a lot of attention for coming out. That’s great, I loved that. 

I didn’t come out then. Because I didn’t want anyone to accuse me of lying. Of stealing attention from real members of the community. Because that’s what it felt like for me like I wasn’t really a member of this community. Like I wasn’t welcome. Because Cupid spun my wheel and landed on a man, a wonderful man, I did not feel welcome in this community.

It never stopped me from being an ally. It never stopped me from supporting LGBTQ+ rights. It just left me very confused about some relationships I’ve had in the past, that I would have sworn were just friendships. 

Friendships with a beautiful girl with thick brown hair and the brightest smile I have ever seen. Who I still miss every day. Who still has a little part of my heart. 

All that aside, I didn’t come out. It took me until last year to figure out that yes, I was bisexual and yes, maybe I should let people know that. Because as much of a party as Pride should be, it sure doesn’t feel like a party right now.

Because the ’20s are feeling more and more like the 1920s, and our society is going backward. Pride is taking on a whole new meaning for me this year, which is why I’m coming out now.

Pride, like a lion’s pride.

I have more to say on that in a moment. 

First, though, I want to talk about coming out in your late thirties. I guess coming out any time is weird. Coming out when you’re a full-blown adult has its series of issues. For me, it feels like having a project half done and just now realizing there was a second half of my toolbox I’d never even opened.

It also feels like looking back at that first half of the project and seeing a pattern I wasn’t trying to make come out clear as day. 

It’s taken me over a year, and some deep talks with my therapist, to come to terms with this. That I can’t go back and make different decisions, and I don’t know if I would if I could. I am married to a wonderful human being who is my partner in every sense of the word. The fact that he’s got boy parts isn’t a part of the equation. And that’s something beautiful to realize all by itself. To really and truly love the soul of a person, independent of the body, is a treasure.

Which brings me to my next point. Maybe we should just stop holding people to social expectations based on their private parts. Maybe it’s time we stop expecting men to act one way and women to act another way, even cisgender people. Maybe our strengths, weaknesses, and interests don’t have a damn thing to do with gender or sexuality. Maybe makeup is for anyone who wants to wear it, sports are for everyone who enjoys them, and I don’t need a goddamned pink jersey to support the Steelers. Maybe, and stick with me on this one, we should stop judging people before we get to know them as individuals.

Now, I need to talk about transgender people. Because frankly, we all need to be talking about transgender people. Because they need our help. Especially the kids.

Transgender teens and adults are at risk every single day in America, not just during June. They’re at a higher risk for suicide. They’re at risk of being attacked, abandoned by their families, and fired from their jobs. And we can’t let this happen. We have to stand up and support the trans community. We have to rally around them, like a Pride, and defend them. And, here are some ways we can all do that. It doesn’t matter if you’re trans, if you know someone who’s trans or if you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or if you’re an ally. Trans people need our help right now. And here’s what we can do.

Contact your local representatives on every level and ask them what they’re doing to support trans rights. Especially if you’re in a state that is actively making it illegal to be transgender. (Looking at you, Florida.) 

If it’s safe for you to do so, attend protests and rallies in support of transgender people. Attend a drag show if you can and are comfortable doing so. 

Support trans creators, especially if they’re from one of the states cracking down on them. If you, like me, are super broke, support them by sharing their content and kind words. 

Support LGBTQ+ charities, like The Trevor Project.

And remember this. Lots of companies are going to put out rainbow-colored content this month. And that’s fun. But they don’t get credit for that if they’re supporting Republican politicians and lawmakers. They don’t get credit for that if they’re not supporting their workers. And they sure as hell don’t get credit for that if they take all their rainbows down on July first and don’t say another goddamned word about LGBT+ support until next June. 

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