singedsun

Act I: Pentacles

I did something a little different for the layout of this one on the page I'm building for these. I like it, though I'm not sure I'll do them like this for every single one. I like breaking up the structure. This one took me a little longer, just to see if I could better structure the story aspects. So they've been written and rewritten a few times.

Content Warnings in the images for fire, swords and more covered faces.

( This is my layout with more cards from The Somnia Tarot by Nicolas Bruno )

My draw for Act II was: 2, 12 & 5

TWO
"Your eyes are drawn to a statue. What is this statue of? Which emotions does it stir in you?"
THE LOVERS :: The walk to town is uphill until the path along the coast falls away into a cliff with nothing but an distant crash of waves against rocks far below. The entrance is flanked by two standing stones and a path that feels like a way to somewhere warm and comforting. I pass a plinth outside the church with a sculpture of clasped hands wound together by vines. I approach, further investigating the structure and rounded edges of leaves and fingers and thumb clasped over thumb. My own hands stretch and curl, a ghostly echo of former warmth passing over my palm. Fatigue has settled into my shoulders and the growing void in my stomach reminds me of the cold both inside and out.

TWELVE
"Someone asks for directions and you're able to correctly point the way. Where was this person trying to go? Why do you know the route so well?"
THE WORLD :: Before I have gone much farther, a woman waves her arms in big rounded gestures in front of me. I stop long enough to see the concern in the lines of her face. She's speaking but it's muffled as if fighting through a curtain against the wind. Something about her dark dress and shining buttons, her exaggerated movements make me uneasy. I turn and point back toward the church, as I spot the circle and small chain around her neck. The place is visible and if she'd ignored me to walk a little further, she would've found it on her own. It must be the right answer; she takes off running in its direction.

FIVE
"Someone on the street recognizes you. How do they react when they see you?"
JUSTICE :: I find myself in a small row of houses, well lived in from the looks of them, a quiet road with fewer people passing by. Something rattles a window as I pass, the vibration turning my attention just in time for me to catch a glimpse of someone on the other side. They're bent in pain, mouth open. A scream tears free from the woman, it's a guttural sound that rips through me despite the wall between us. Horrified eyes stare back at me through the window.

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Hope you enjoyed. If you'd like to participate in this weird writing exercise, check out my first post here.

As the universe is wont to do, I've had quite a few reminders recently that I have a variety of tarot and oracle decks near me at any given time, in any given room, but I don't talk about them much or post about them. I don't (or very rarely) do I use many of these decks for any kind of actual divination purposes. I have an oracle deck I use often and less than a handful I might actually pick up and turn to for any kind of spiritual or divination practice. That said, I do use them often for prompts and writing way more often. And the more abstract the art is, or the more it varies from a traditional Rider/Waite deck (I think) the more useful I find it for these purposes.

Here's a few of my favorites:

The True Black Tarot which is this gorgeous black deck with a minimalist golden scheme and stunning artwork.

The Last Unicorn Tarot by geekify, which was a Kickstarter product that turned into this absolutely gorgeous deck. Mine came with really beautifully carved hardwood box to keep the cards in and the whole set is lovely.

The Ok Tarot by adamjk who also makes the yearly planners I've been using since 2015. This deck is extremely minimal, it's meant not as an introductory deck but to be used by anyone as a simple like meditative guide. It's really nicely done.

I have this Lenormand Oracle by Harold Josten which is a little off-putting by typical divination users but I like it because there is a verse on the card itself which makes it great for prompt/writing purposes.

I can't find a great link for this, but I also keep near my desk a set of the Black Rabbit dice, which were built as a storytelling game device.

Originally, I got into using Tarot and Oracle devices for storytelling purposes from this book, Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner. It's a really interestingly set up book which goes card by card to give you prompts for your writing project, whether you're looking to start something new or need help getting over the next hurdle in an existing story. This is also just a really great place to learn how to interpret cards specifically if you're interested in the practice of doing so.

Since coming upon that book many years ago now, I've found that since most decks come with their own books of meanings and interpretations for the cards, I can generally use those to help me stir up an idea if I need one.



As a tabletop roleplayer, I've also come to extremely value the use of random tables to help stir up prompts as well. You can always find these online, no books needed. My favorite is the donjon website. If you have a specific game/genre in mind you can start there, but my favorites on his site are the random inn and random town generators, which give some great start points that you can then just tailor to your hearts delight.

If you're a gamer, of find story use out of games, I'd also recommend reading up on games like:

• The Quiet Year which is technically a map-making game played with a deck of cards, that tells the story of a civilization after collapse.
• Dialect which is a game about language and how it dies.
• Hearts Blazing which is a game about how to write/tell the story of a sci-fi television show
• Downfall a game about telling the story of a collapsing society in a variety of genres -- I HIGHLY recommend grabbing the PDF for this. It's got some really amazing ideas for telling stories about society that are useful outside of the actual rpg premise.
• And one that is absolutely entrancing to me, Kiss Her Before the World Ends by Alice Grizzle. Which is exactly what it sounds like, in a rpg format for 2-4 people.

And lastly, there's some amazing one-person rpgs out there that are meant to help you tell interesting stories. I've enjoyed The Bookshelf by Linda Codega, which is a story you put together using the things on your bookshelf. Or something like Variations on Your Body which is really four different games in one which is 4 games about learning to understand your own self.

Okay, I know that's a lot of stuff, but I hope that you found something in here that was interesting or useful to your writing practice - or your gaming group even!