Using Tarot cards to come up with ideas is one of my favorite ways to use the cards and it’s a fairly easy process.
Decide what you need ideas for
Are you writing a YA novel, a series of Science Fiction books, or blog posts? Seriously, this concept can be used for just about any kind of writing or anything you need ideas for but having some direction will help you narrow down ideas during brainstorming.
Grab your trusty deck
While shuffling your cards, think about what you need ideas for. Not just what you came up with in number one above, but also specifics. For example, I want ideas for a new YA novel that includes a Mother-Daughter relationship. This helps get your intuition and your cards on the same page.
Pull cards
Once you feel comfortable, stop shuffling and start pulling your cards – however you like. You can cut the deck or pull from the top. You can fan the cards on the table and randomly pull or create a “spread” of sorts. You can pull one card at a time or flip up two or three at a time. There is no wrong way to do this part!
Start brainstorming
Now it’s time to start looking at the card or cars and write down any and all pings that come to you right away. For example, say you need ideas for blog posts and you pull the 8 of pentacles – the first thing you might think of is skill versus mastery which makes you think of a conversation you had with a friend about whether writing can be taught. Boom, idea number one! Write it down and keep going. If you need to set a timer, do that. If you know you have time, then relax and enjoy the process.
Keep going!
Keep pulling cards and writing down ideas. It’s really that simple. But for some extra help – look at the people in the cards, what are they doing? Look at the background and the foreground – sometimes I get random ideas based on boats, hills, mountains, and cities. Look at the colors in the card for inspiration. And if nothing else works, how do you feel when you look at the card? Does it remind you of anyone? Or a situation you’ve been in before?
Here’s one more example, let’s say you want to write a romance novel and you pull the 8 of Wands. What are you going to do with that? It’s just some wands flying through the air. Well, maybe you think of air travel – your couple could meet on a plane or in the airport, or maybe they’re saying goodbye because they’re going to do long distance.
The card is also about communication so maybe there’s some miscommunication and your new lovers meet at the wrong movie theatre. While at the wrong one, your heroine starts talking to a young man waiting for his friends and BOOM – love triangle and conflict can start.
Have you ever used Tarot cards to help you brainstorm new ideas?