On Tarot, Symbolism and Writing
I find Tarot deeply fascinating and I enjoy greatly reading about its history, development, symbolism and current views on it. While studying Tarot I came to the conclusion that, in an unexpected way, I think it can help people that want to write be better writers. A few things drove me to this conclusion.
One of them is the details of the Tarot cards and the symbolism of those details. In Tarot cards everything means something.
The color of the clothes, the clouds on the sky, the position of the feet on the ground, in water, are they static or moving, every little thing tells you something and on top of all these we have the big, world defining archetypes.
The tarot teaches us about us as humans and about our evolution in the world.
I find it fascinating that you can find in the cards references to our myths, to our stories and to historic events, plus all those arcane (I had to!) little symbols that you can discover only when you look at a card in depth.
I was thinking this helps us become better writers not only because we learn about our mythology and symbolism, but because it teaches us the power of the detail.
I think that details matter and they can make a piece of writing outstanding, putting a bit more meat on the bones of the story, while also adding depth and dimension.
Yeah, for sure, sometimes symbols can be unnoticed and lost, but when they are noticed they can bring so much joy and additional meaning.
I was also contemplating the idea that the Tarot can be used for a creative writing exercise Draw a card from the deck and create a story for it, or another option is to choose a card that you are attracted to and do that.
I think this is great because it can engage your intuition and I think people would be surprised how much they can pick up from a card that initially seemed just a little piece of drawn carboard. It could jump start things if ever one is stuck.
If the Tarot itself is a bit overwhelming there are countless beautifully designed Oracle cards that can be used in a similar manner.
The cards give us the chance to slow down and connect to a deeper, sometimes buried, by day to day, part of ourselves, and they can bring joy just by their beauty and their stories, much like writing, no?
Love your idea of looking at a tarot card and writing a story about it. I'm drawn to tarot even though I can't understand why, however after reading your article I have a better idea why. Tarot can teach you to be more observant, to slow down and understand the world around you. I admit I feel ambivalent and almost ashamed of liking them, because I want to understand how they work and absolutely can't.
Thanks for sharing your ideas here.
The evolution of language and lore isn't just an ancient phenomena. It unfolds all around us even today. At a company I worked for there was a project: Batch Emulsion... A long name which was quickly abbreviated as BEACON. The next generation of the the equipment was designated Son of Beacon. Which soon was known as SOB. A related project was Baby of Beacon: BOB. This played out over more than a decade. One day, I looked around at all of the young employees at the company, and realized that none of this sequence of nomenclature had made it into the documentation. I was the only one left who remembered it all. And now, I'm gone too.