creativity challenge

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Emperor

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Prompt: “Pull the Emperor card from your deck(s). Compare the imagery between the card provided below and the card(s) from your own deck(s). How would you read them differently and why?“

The Emperor Card - Tarot of the Hidden RealmTarot of the Hidden Realm – The imagery in this card makes me think of Odin and his two ravens.  I’m not -sure- if that’s intended (although I bet it is), but that’s where my mind goes. His expression and the depth of of darkness he sits in speaks of a man with a great weight of responsibility on  his shoulders. This translates, for me, into an energy, personality or person with a great deal to tend to, deal with, and a lot of responsibilities that take deep thought, solid reasoning, and the whisper of informants to help him stay upon the pulse of what’s going on around him.

The Emperor Card - Tarot Nuages, Garbage Pail Kids Tarot, Le Tarot de Marseille par Pole Ka

Tarot Nuages – Here we have a king, stooped and aged, that sits on a throne among the clouds high above all that he rules over. Untouchable, the figure sees everyone and everything.  The size of this figure and its lofty perch bring to mind the Christian God and his omnipresence.  So very far above the world and looking down, can anyone really understand what he thinks or where he comes from?  Probably not.  They follow him blindly and trust he has their best interests at heart.

Garbage Pail Kids Tarot – On a throne of mice with a leopard’s pelt as his robe, this emperor’s head explodes in a mushroom cloud as he pushes the button.  This card, to me, asks the question of where are you overwhelmed in your responsibilities… and how is this overwhelm affecting your judgements and actions?  How could you make better choices if you take a moment to stabilize rather than simply reacting?

Le Tarot de Marseille par Pole Ka – Dude looks like he’s looking over at the guy next to him thinking “this motherfucker’s an idiot”.  Highly decorated for honor, valor, and more, this general rules with a tight fist and demands excellence from all those around him.  It speaks of demands for perfectionism… and demands that you do more than just follow… but think.  As his gaze clearly says… Don’t be an idiot.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM, TAROT NUAGES, GARBAGE PAIL KIDS TAROT, AND LE TAROT DE MARSEILLE PAR POLE KA

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Relating and Relations

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Prompt:  Shuffle your deck of choice, then pull out every ninth card. Of the eight cards now sitting in front of you, which card do you relate to most strongly and why? Of the seven cards now left sitting in front of you, which card do you relate to the least and why?
Extra Credit: There are now six cards left. Assign a real person in your life, a fictional character, a movie, a book, or a song to each of these six cards and then tell us why you made the choice you did for each.

Cirque du TarotCard I Relate to Most Strongly – Ace of Wands – So much inspiration and so little time. There are so many things I want to learn and explore, but there’s never enough time.  Every single day, more new ideas and new interests stir to live inside my mind and heart, and I want to explore every single one of them.  Picking and choosing between them is hard when they all old so much potential value either monetarily, or through the pure enjoyment of discovery and exploration.

Card I Relate to the Least – The Fool – I am too cautious a thinker to relate well to this card.  Although I often move at lightning speed to seize opportunity or get things done, there is no carefree abandon in this speed. Instead it is controlled precision. Tossing all cares to the wind and being carefree and innocent just doesn’t feel like it is a part of my nature.  In fact, about the only time it ever happens is when I’m playing in the liminal spaces within the rainforests here in the PacificNW.

The Empress – I often think of Z when I see this card. As my mentor growing up and throughout my adult life, she has often held the place of nurturer in my life.  Sometimes The Empress and nearly always The High Priestess… it turns out that it’s her mother that has stolen the Empress role from her of late.  Now they seem to somehow share this role together in my mind.

Two of Wands – This card made me think of the second episode of the Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. It’s all about direction, planning, and the course of actions we plan to take in our lives.

Seven of Wands – Drive by Incubus
https://youtu.be/fgT9zGkiLig

Three of Wands – Time to Pretend by MGMT
https://youtu.be/B9dSYgd5Elk

Two of Cups – It is the timeless friendship between Morpheus and Hobs in the series The Sandman on Netflix that this card reminds me of. An immortalized human and the god of dreams strike up an unusual friendship by meeting once every century at the same tavern again and again.  It’s an unlikely friendship, and yet it shows how such relationships can grow from just the seed of companionship between two people.

Four of Wands – At the end of Ambrose Ibsen’s book “The House of Long Shadows” the main character, possessed by a myriad of spirits, is walled up into the home he had been renovating in order to keep all those entities trapped within that place.  The book then takes a look at the man’s spirit life afterward, and how the tree he’d thought smelled so disgusting all this time throughout the book now smells sweet and “like home”.  He found peace in the house, even if it was after the horror of how he died, and the scent of the callery pear tree now is a celebration of that peace and home he’s found.

DECK USED: CIRQUE DU TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Dollhouse

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Prompt Here: “Pull (at least) three cards, and use them to tell us a story about what it would be like to live in a dollhouse.”

Black Cat Tarot - Majors Only Deck

“I love myself a good box!” The kitty says as the dollhouse is sat down in the little girls room. Black fur pacing back-and-forth to twine around human legs as she watches with interest as the two sides of the house split open to create a wealth of small boxes to explore. (The Devil)

As soon as the human leaves the room, up the kitty hops, onto the table to circle the big box with all the little boxes inside. Peering in the windows to see all that lies within, then circling around to looking through the cracked open side and she begins to sniff curiously. (The Hermit)

Soon, she’s exploring each room eagerly, and pushing the little bits of trinkets and furniture off to the side or knocking them out the fall to the floor out of her way, until there is a scattering of little furniture all over the floor and each of the rooms in the dollhouse is empty. (The Sun)

She then wiggles her way into one of the rooms, working her way in with twitches and tugs until she can scooch and scrunch and smoosh her way to fitting inside. If it fits she sits, after all, and she will make sure that she fits in each and every room. (The Magician)

This room first, though, she thinks. And once she’s in, she’s oh-so-very comfy, and so she decides to linger a while. Instead of moving on to continue exploring, maybe she’ll just take a nap and explore the other rooms later. (Temperance)

DECK USED: BLACK CAT TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Sun

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Prompt: “Pull the card from your deck(s) that matches the card posted below. Compare the imagery between the card provided below and the card(s) from your own decks). How would you read them differently and why?”

Tarot of the Hidden Realm - The Sun CardTarot of the Hidden Realm – Children touch upon an innocence that is often depicted in the Sun card in tarot, and here we see two that play together, a flower in full bloom and abundance of green giving an impression of success that is about happiness and the butterfly above their heads lends a carefree atmosphere to time spent together.  This card speaks of happiness being about those you spend time with and the joy found in abundance, camaraderie, and sharing rather than monetary values.

The Sun Card - Lonely Dreamer Tarot, Förhäxa Tarot, Autumn Miss Tarot

The Lonely Dreamer Tarot – Here in the imagery of this card that is a serenity provided in the pool of water the figure stands in and the reflection of her form upon its surface.  The pool is calm and smooth, and the form of the woman graceful as the sun overhead turns the water into pure gold. The imagery in this card speaks to me of success in its many forms.  Not everything has to be about excitement, optimism, and positivity. Sometimes it’s in our most calm and serene moments where we discover true value in ourselves and the world around us.

Förhäxa Tarot – In this imagery, an angel appears to reap energy from a forest fire’s blaze below.  This speaks to me of there being no energy ever wasted.  Even forest fires have their purpose, and that energy is not wasted either. There is mystery here, but also hope.  Strength, too.  This card says that failures are not always failures at all, but rather a plan that is simply beyond our ken put into action.  It encourages, optimism and asks us to reject pessimistic viewpoints for a more positive perspective.

Autumn Miss Tarot – This card’s imagery is the closest to the traditional RWS imagery, and it speaks to me not of fun… not of joy or of peace (for who in their right mind can be peaceful, optimistic, and joyful when riding a horse while without paints?)  Instead, it speaks to me of success earned through tenacity and hard work, and the celebration of that success (as seen in the flying of the red banner the figure holds and the clenched fist of the other hand).

DECK USED: THE LONELY DREAMER TAROT, FÖRHÄXA TAROT, AUTUMN MISS TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Adrian’s Adventure

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Prompt: “Draw (at least) three cards, and use them to tell us a story about a farm with talking animals.”

Storytelling with the 愛されガールの かいこつ タロットAdrian Goat was a happy creature all the days of his life. He bounded and bounced around in his pen, climbed and played with the toys, and ate good food every day (The Sun).

One day the farmer left the gate unlatched though, and Adrian became curious. Tempted by the outside world (The Devil), he went against the warnings of Mother Spider and Brother Pig and squeezed through the opening (The Chariot).

He wandered off into the woods (The Fool), and soon found himself all alone as the sky began to darken.

Scared and alone, he could hear rustling in the trees, and he bleated fearfully instead of calling out for help, at a loss for words in the face of his first encounter with true fear (The Moon).

Remembering all the stories that the other animals had told him about wolves and bears with sharp teeth and claws, as the sounds came closer and closer he was terrified of what might jump out at him at any moment (Wheel of Fortune).

When the leaves right before Adrian Goat rustled, he shouted his fear and turned to run, dashing back through the trees and back into his pen, using his teeth to close the gate behind him.  No longer curious or eager for adventure in the outside world, he was now very happy for his safe, comfortable pen (The Hanged Man).

In the woods, Brother Dog and Alfred Horse chuckled to each other as they emerged into the clearing that Adrian Goat had left behind. Chatting quietly with each other as they returned to the farm at a leisurely pace, assured that Adrian Goat had learned his lesson (The Hierophant) and would stray no more.

DECK USED: 愛されガールの かいこつ タロット

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Magician

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Prompt: Pull the card from your deck(s) that matches the card posted below. Compare the imagery between the card provided and the cards(s) from your own deck(s). How would you read them differently and why?

Tarot of the Hidden Realm - The MagicianTarot of the Hidden Realm – Right, so… Perfection, for me, is not complete without a flaw. This card is essentially the “flaw” in an otherwise perfect deck that makes the deck truly perfect.  (This deck is my “Soul Deck” and thus, perfect for me… not in general.)

I have issues with this Magician.  Issues! I tell you.  Because when I look at him? I see a porn star. A gigolo. A male whore.  That’s what I see, and I’m unable to see anything else.   So yes… he’s a man with all the tools (and what tools they are!) and all the skills as well. He’s ready to go, knows what he wants, and is not just well suited for his work but very good at it.  Interpreting this card leaves me with an awareness that not everyone’s goals and values are going to align with everyone else’s and sometimes you have to focus on what’s right for you and only you.

The Magician in the Four Twenty Tarot, Mystical Medleys Tarot, and Ema Poetica Tarot

Four Twenty Tarot – Classic imagery in a non-classic artform, the Magician in this card is empowered (and a bit baked) and has all the tools they need at their disposal including the four elements that lie on the table and the smoking pipe in her hand as well. Around her sprouts her desires, manifested into reality. I would see this imagery as encouragement to go after that which holds value to you, that you have all you need to accomplish what you want in life if you use your skills, abilities, and tools wisely.

Ema Poetica Tarot – All elements are again accounted for in this card, as is growth in the form of flowers, and the addition of an all-seeing-eye that speaks to me of a greater sense of awareness of the world around them than what is seen in the previous two cards. Not only is the Magician determined and equipped, but they are aware of the world at large and will see hurdles coming and adapt to them to ensure success.   I would read this card as a reminder that there is more to success than determination and skill, and that sometimes to obtain one’s goals we must look outside ourselves at what’s going on around us as well.

Mystical Medleys Tarot – Singular focus is the theme I see in this card.  There is still growth in the flowers at the Magician’s feet, and all the tools are there for his use.  But instead of looking -out- at the world, the eye in this card is the Magician’s head and it is singularly focused upon what he holds and what it can do for him.  Where the Ema Poetica card speaks of looking outward, this one speaks of bearing down one’s focus and buckling down for the effort it will take to manifest what they desire.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM, FOUR TWENTY TAROT, EMA POETICA TAROT, MYSTICAL MEDLEYS TAROT