SynTAROTis

Tickle the typewriter

Do you use the Tarot as inspiration for creative writing? Here are a few ideas:

• Remember the backwards story? You start with a card for the end, then the middle, then the beginning?)
• Draw a card and tell the beginning of the story. Now draw a second card for the end. What happens in between?
• Draw one card: if this card were the end of the story … ?
• Draw one card: if this were the middle of the story …?
• Draw two cards, one for a character and one for the beginning of the story. Now reverse the cards and read them again: “what went wrong?” (This works quite well to suggest how elements in either the character or the situation drive the story.)
• Choose from the elements below, and draw a card for each:
  • the beginning of it all
  • a need
  • a reason
  • a warning
  • a prediction
  • a disaster
  • an important person
  • an ending

The backwards story

Stories can inspire ideas; so can doing things differently. Let’s tell a story, but start at the end.

1. Shuffle the deck, then draw a card. This is the end of the story. What happens? Is it a happy-ever-after story, or a tragedy?
2. Draw a second card and place it to the left of the first card. This is the middle of the story. How does this card connect to the first one? What happened in the middle of the story to get to the end? What kind of story is it: a love story? a mystery? a suspense story? (You are not allowed to change the ending ….)
3. Draw a third card, placing it to the left of the second card. This is the beginning of the story. What set events in motion? How did the beginning lead to the middle and the end?

So, what’s your story?

"Improve me"

If you enjoyed the previous two games (“Odd card out” and Edward de Bono’s exercises), you might like “Improve me.”

Have you noticed that with the “Odd card out” game, you had to study the cards to find differences and similarities? You might have looked up or recalled the traditional divinatory meanings of the cards. “Improve me” is another game in which you have to study the cards to come up with creative ideas.

It works like this …

Shuffle the deck, draw two cards at random, and place them face up in front of you. Using any criteria, show how the second card improves the first. You can define ‘improve’ any way you wish.

Say for example that you have drawn Trumps VIII and XV, Strength and the Devil.

How can the Devil improve strength? Here are some of my suggestions, but you will find different ones:

• Strength is about order, the Devil is chaos. Temporary chaos is good for creativity.
• The woman in Strength is very serious; the Devil can add some mirth.
• A weakness (the Devil) can be turned into a strength. The Devil ‘activates’ this process.
• The Devil draws out the worst in us, it shows us our shadow side; we cannot be creative when we know only what is in the light (Strength).
• When we have confronted our shadow (the Devil), we also discover new strengths.
• The woman is earth-bound; confronting her shadow can “give her wings” (the Devil).
• The woman needs physical strength to control the lion; the Devil suggests that you can bind someone by mental power alone (although the Devil’s tricks—temptation, guilt, fear, despair—are not recommended!).
• The lion (Leo) suggests fire; in Trump XV the fire becomes reality.
• The Devil’s crown is more spectacular than the woman’s, and offers better protection (in a materialistic sense, of course).
• Strength is a concept suggested by the image; the Devil is there in all his (un)glory.
• Time has moved on from day to night.
• Strength shows a woman and her instincts, which she has under control; the devil features not only the Shadow, but also a man and a woman. The Devil is therefore closer to ego integration (the shadow is integrated into the consciousness; male and female are balanced and integrated).
• Unlike Strength, where the animal instincts are controlled, the Devil suggests passion and desire, which is necessary for certain elements in the creative process.
• When the Devil enters Strength’s world, the “sparks will fly.”

“Improve me” as a creativity technique”

Every ‘improvement’ that you came up with during the game, can also be used to spark ideas. The same goes for the “odd card out” game.

Suppose you own a software company, but have problems retaining staff. Young people in particular stay only for a while, and then they move on. What can you do to make them want to stay?

• Order to chaos might suggest that the creativity required for your business will not flourish in a conventional office environment. Some chaos—casual clothes, brightly coloured inspirational images on the walls, toys and various objects that can serve as “ticklers,” a deck of Tarot cards, for example—may be more attractive to the creative spirit.
• Mirth: most creativity experts agree that fun enhances creativity; how about a “joke competition” once a week?

Odd card out: a creativity game

Games can help you practise being creative. In the previous post I told you about Edward de Bono’s “Odd man out” exercise. Here is a Tarot version:

1. Shuffle and draw four cards. Place them face-up in a row in front of you.
2. Using any criteria (image, colours, keywords, symbols, divinatory meanings), decide which one is the “odd card out.”
3. Now find at least four additional reasons why the card is the odd one out.
4. Finally, place the card last in the row of cards before you, take the first card, and find five reasons why that card could be the odd one out.
5. Repeat with cards two and three.

This game is not only fun, it stimulates creativity by forcing you to look for similarities and differences, even if they are wildly outrageous. In fact, the more creative you have to be, the better!

Here is another bonus: this game is a very good way to study the cards in detail, especially if you are new to Tarot, or have a brand new deck to explore.

Related post:

Exercising creativity

Exercising creativity

Creativity is a skill. We are all capable of being creative, although some are more skilled than others. And as with any other skill, practising leads to improvement.

Edward de Bono wrote a lovely book called How to have creative ideas: 62 exercises to develop the mind (affiliate link). The exercises, which all use random words, aim to “tickle” your brain into creativity.

Here are a few of the exercises.

The book includes tables of random words, but you can use any method to get a random word. One way is to take a book, open it at random, and place your finger on a word.

Odd man out

1. Get four random words.
2. Study the words, and find one that could be the “odd man out.”
3. Explain why.

De Bono’s example with random words FUR, RANSOM, CHIMPANZEE, and WORRY:

• … ‘worry’ is the only human emotion among the words
• … ‘chimpanzee’ is the only creature
• … ‘ransom’ is the only word that implies criminality
• … ‘fur’, ‘ransom’, and ‘worry’ are all unpleasant (for some people). ‘Chimpanzee’ is not.

Grouping

1. Get six random words.
2. Divide the six words into two groups of three on some basis.
3. Explain your reasoning.

De Bono’s example with random words TEARS, NIGHT, PREJUDICE, SPINACH, ANGLE, PYJAMAS:

• … ‘prejudice’, ‘night’, and ‘tears’ are dark in nature; the others not
• … ‘angle’, ‘tears’, and ‘prejudice’ are all ways of looking at something
• ‘… prejudice’, ‘spinach’, and ‘tears’ can all be complicated; the others are not

Pairing

1. Gather two lists of four random words each (List A and List B).
2. On some basis, pair a word from List A with a word from List B.
3. Define the basis of the pairing.

De Bono’s example with List A (TOAST, PROPHET, CHIP, TAIL) and List B (RUNWAY, FORMULA, LOLLIPOP, PYRAMID):

• … ‘toast’ (from List A) and ‘lollipop’ (from List B) are both edible
• … ‘prophet’ and ‘pyramid’ both occur in ancient cultures
• … ‘tail’ and ‘runway’ are both to do with aeroplanes
• … ‘chip’ and ‘formula’ require mathematics

Combining

1. Obtain two random words.
2. Try to combine the words to create a new business.
3. Show how the new business would work and why it might be expected to make a profit.

De Bono’s example with DOCK and CABIN

• … special parks where travelling cabins (motor homes) can dock very easily and comfortably
• … creation of special docks for the home (‘cabin’). These would be places where you could put various things like cameras, computers, briefcases, etc.

___________________________________

De Bono, E. (2007). How to have creative ideas: 62 exercises to develop the mind. London: Vermilion.

Tarot “South African style”

South Africa’s favourite cartoon household discovered Tarot!

This one is from last week …

… on the Madam & Eve “A week of cartoons” page, and the second one from the weekend cartoon page (and published in the Mail & Guardian 1 September 2012 edition).

Crime cards!

Another exercise for developing the imagination.

Someone has been murdered.

You, of course, are the detective (or skilled amateur) who must solve the crime.

Divide a Tarot deck into Major arcana, court cards, and pip cards (Aces through Tens).

Shuffle the three piles of cards separately, and then, keeping the cards face down, draw the following cards.

Draw a court card to represent the victim.

Draw a pip card to provide the scene of the crime.

Draw a major arcana card to supply the motive.

Turn over the victim and scene cards.

Which elements on the scene card could be clues to the murder? Where was the murder committed? When was the murder done?

Examine the victim card. Can you identify any traits or behaviour that could have led to murder? (The Queen of Pentacles is insufferably smug; no wonder she drove someone to murder. The Page of Wands never even saw the murderer coming—he had his eye on the goal and nowhere else.)

What was the victim doing in that particular place?

Can you find a weapon in the victim or scene cards? (Is that a poisoned chalice the Queen of Cups is holding? Who is the man with the spear on the Six of Cups?)

Turn over the motive card. What was the motive? (The Wheel of Fortune could suggest an accident; the Empress might represent passion; the Devil could imply drug smuggling or kidnapping.)

How does the motive relate to the victim and scene cards? Find the links.

What else does the motive card imply?

Now turn over the murderer card.

Congratulations, you caught the murderer! But how did you do it? Find the clues you followed. Examine the card in the light of the previous cards. What are the links between what you have found earlier, and the murderer card? What else does this card show?

Since this is Tarotland, the victim, murder, weapon, and motive can be as unusual or absurd as you wish.

Have fun :-)

Just imagine ... you can be more creative

Are you creative? Of course. We are all creative, to varying degrees. We all solve problems daily. We think up excuses and we daydream when we should be working. The question is “Can you learn to be more creative?”

Yes.

The elements of creativity—for example curiosity, the willingness to take risks, the ability to follow a hunch, the capacity to have fun and entertain wild ideas, the courage to follow a course of action without knowing the end result—can all be learned and developed.

A crucial ingredient for creativity and creative problem solving is imagination. Most creativity techniques require imagination to be successful. We were all born with a capacity for imagination, but most of us are taught to suppress flights of fancy in favour of rational, logical thinking.

So how do we rediscover our talent for imagining things?

Practice. What else!

Here is an exercise to get you going:

A crime has been committed!

Shuffle your cards, then draw three at random. Place them before you.

A sensational crime has been committed. You wrote a stunning article on the crime that has made you a world-famous reporter. What was the story?

Go wild, use your imagination!

Script for learning the key concepts associated with Tarot cards

MysticBoard.com offers this script to help you learn key concepts associated with each Tarot card. Try it out!

You can choose to study one suit at a time, or the Major Arcana only; you can also choose whether or not you want to include reversals at this time. The script will also test your knowledge and tell you how you fared.