storytelling

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Walk

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Prompt: Pull up to three cards use them as the inspiration to draw, craft, or describe a spooky nighttime walk outside.

Eldritch TarotDeath – On Halloween night, Fred took his little sister out trick or treating for the first time.  Their parents had divorced this year, something that had been coming for a long time, and he was the man of the house now.  That meant that even though he wasn’t really all that excited about trick or treating this year, he was in charge of keeping his sister safe.

Hand in hand he took Cassie from house to house in the unfamiliar neighborhood they’d moved into just two weeks before. At each house they chimed their “Trick or Treat!” after the door opened and held out their bags for the goodies to be dropped inside.

The Devil atop The Magician – When they reached the end of the street and the last house that sat there, they repeated he process again and the man that answered the door was friendly and boisterous.  He complimented their Robin Hood and Maid Marian costumes and gave them whole candy bars!

The man said that he had more inside, but he had to go all the way to the kitchen to get them.  He invited them both to come in, and Fred’s sister tugged on his hand to pull him forward toward the front door, eager for more of the good candy that the man was offering.

The Hierophant – But Fred had been given a talk by Dad that Cassie was too young to have gotten yet.  Dad had told him about the bad people.  People that seemed nice but wanted to hurt him or his sister, steal them away, and do bad things to them. Dad’s talk stuck with him when he and his sister walked to school every day, and it came back to him now as Cassie tried to pull him up the porch steps and into the stranger’s house.

Taking a strong, hard hold of his sister’s hand, he declined the man’s offer and hurried them away from the house at the end of the street. At home, he would pass on Dad’s talk to Cassie.  At home, he would make sure that Cassie knew to never, ever go down to the end of the street by herself… and that she could always depend on him to go with her if she wanted.

DECK USED: THE ELDRITCH TAROT (MAJORS ONLY)

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Kings

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Prompt: Pull the Kings out of a deck of your choice. Consider… Do you have someone in your life, or is there a real or fictional character you know of that fits with one of these cards? Do you have people in mind that would fit with each of them? Then share that here and tell us about the connection you see between each King card and the person or character it represents for you.

Zombie TarotKing of Wands – A man with a plan, this man has lots of plans but sometimes his enthusiasm gets in the way of good sense. Lots of knowledge and experience under his belt, he seems to think he can do anything, then is surprised when things don’t always turn out as planned. That doesn’t keep him from going after the next project on his list though, or the one after that, and bringing his buddies with him in on the job makes everything that much better. His friends come over and have a blast, while the wives curse him for stirring their husbands up… and bless him in the same breath for seeming to give their husbands an extra spark of life.

King of Cups – A gentle touch and a core of steel, this man knows how to make you feel heard and understood. He sees what you’re hiding… or at least that you’re hiding it, and will gently pick at it until you give him that burden you hold so that it can be shared.  He’s easy to trust and draws you in, but make sure you don’t push against his boundaries too hard, or you might find yourself out in the cold again.  He loves hard and deep, but despite the magnetism to draw others in, he’s picky about those that he allows to get in deep.

King of Swords – She stands behind a podium five days out of seven, a large auditorium of young minds hanging on her every word.  The board behind her is filled with evidence of her intelligence and expertise, and she will lead these minds to become the newest generation to change the world.  She’s a hard taskmaster and has a sharp tongue, and god forbid you disappoint her high expectations.  The thing is though? Something about her and those expectations means that if you do disappoint? You’ll be harder on yourself than she has need to be.

King of Hazards (Pentacles) – She exudes a sense of duty and a grounded energy that makes her easy to trust and goes to work each day where that trust is used to lead others. She knows each worker by name. With precision blueprints in her hands, she directs others on bringing her creation to life and with each day that passes, what was only a dream in her mind slowly becomes a reality on the corner of Fifth and Fircrest. Some day her family will live in this building, a structure she’d dreamed of since a child and now is entrusted with bringing to life.

DECK USED:  ZOMBIE TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Prophet

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Pull (at least) three cards use them to tell a story about a hayride or a visit to a pumpkin patch.

Halloween TarotThere was once a young boy that was high strung and seemed to constantly be afraid of everything (The Moon). Because of this, he was picked on by everyone in town (Judgement).

Even with all the teasing and mockery, the boy was not dissuaded in the least from returning to the towns people, his teachers, and even the police, with wild stories about the town going to waste and world destruction (The Tower).

One autumn, the towns people had had enough and decided to take things into their own hands (The Magician).  They plotted together to come up with a plan to change the boy’s ways and make him stop (Death) with all the horrible tales of death and destruction.

For Halloween, they created a haunted pumpkin field and tricked him into visiting late one night (The Fool) with the intent of teaching the boy him a lesson (The Hierophant). They they tempted him into the pumpkin patch with promises of listening ears (The Devil) and caught him in a trap and strung him up (The Hanged Man), forcing him to stay the night in the haunted pumpkin patch with all the scary decorations and frightening noises.

It was a horrible, terrifying experience for the boy and when he was released, he ran home to tell his mother of what he’d experienced (The Empress).

His mother was enraged by what she heard, and she plotted her revenge.  On Halloween night, she showed her true colors (The High Priestess) and revealed herself as a witch.

She cast a curse upon the town (The Chariot), seizing control of the fate of each and every person that tortured her son, and sentenced each of them to a lifetime of night terrors (Justice).  And as the people of the town became more and more sleep deprived, the prophesy that her son had tried so hard to warn the towns people about came to fruition. The town truly began to waste away as some trying to outrun the curse and others passing away… until none remained.

DECK USED: HALLOWEEN TAROT MAJORS ONLY DECK

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Mamma’s Boy

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Pull up to three cards use them as the inspiration to describe a ghost
as well as where (or who) the ghost is haunting.

Terror TarotGordie spent his life so wrapped up in his addictions (The Devil) to the point that he no longer had any control over his life or his surroundings (The Emperor Rx).  He fell into one habit and addiction after another, lead astray by other’s whims and his own temptations again and again until one day his body decided that it had had enough and he died.

When he passed, his mother’s (The Empress) grief was so great that Gordie worried she might never recover.  He felt such huge guilt over his failures in life and having disappointed her so much, that he decided to stay with her (The Fool) instead of allowing the light that tried to pull him away from this earthly plane (The World).

Choosing to stay for his mother, he followed her around, trailing after her like a lost puppy (The Fool again).  Sooner or lather, though, she will pass as well.  And Gordie, having made his choice to remain, will then be all alone (The Hermit) with a solitary future stretching out before him.

DECK USED: TERROR TAROT

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Three Themes

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From your deck of choice, select one card for each of the themes listed below:
1) A Wander in the Autumn Woods
2) Guidance from the Past
3) The Beginning of the End
Post the cards you chose here, and share with us how you made the connections that you did with the prompts above.

Halloween Ephemera DeckA Wander in the Autumn Woods
The Hermit

When I need time alone, it is to the woods that I go.  When I need to allow silence and stillness to wash over me, it is to the woods I go. When there is restlessness and chaos in my heart?  It is to the woods I go.  Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is a real thing, and even when I do not hike, I will wander in the woods, taking in the scents and the sounds and the flavor of the air. I will lie on the forest floor and soak in the sense of moisture and life.  I will seek out the stillness and cool wet of the rainforest, and it will be a balm upon my soul.  The Hermit seeks this peace and inner reflection, he seeks solitude and silence to delve inward and explore his soul.  I seek the same in the woods.

Guidance from the Past
The Hanged Man

Just the other day I did a reading where the Hanged Man came up along with the Six of Cups, and I was asked from these cards to reframe how I relate to my spirit guides, and to acknowledge that these guides have been with me all of my life.  Some of them among the living in my past, others always in the ethereal.  The thing is?  They’ve always been there though, and they have always tried to guide me the best that they could.  This shift in perspective helps me in understanding that even our guides are fallible, but they are doing the best they can… just as I am. New realizations like this and changes in perspective are what the Hanged Man is all about.

The Beginning of the End
The Devil

As someone with a highly addictive personality, anything that brings me enjoyment or pleasure has the risk of becoming an addiction.  This isn’t limited just to drugs but also different foods, hobbies and activities, behavior that wins praise or admiration, purchasing things that bring me pleasure such as books and decks, bringing home plants to nurse back to health.   All of these things are innocuous on their own, but through pleasure and temptation can be allowed to turn the tables and become harmful… even disastrous, if not kept in check.  You become a prisoner of your own making, and a slave to those things that you allow to take over. This is the pattern of behavior that the Devil card is all about.

DECK USED: HALLOWEEN EPHEMERA CARDS

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Cookies

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Pull (at least) three cards use them to tell a story about a child that befriends the monster under their bed.

Emanuelle Tomato Mini Tarot 2020Daddy always told me that there’s no such thing as monsters under the bed.  He said that I’m a big boy and I should act like it, and that it’s all in my imagination.  That if I’m determined enough, I’ll forget about the monsters and they’ll just go away.  (Strength atop The Chariot)

I really did try.  You see I even started sleeping with the light on, and put bells on the floor under the edge of the bed, and had teddy guard me from the chair beside the bed and everything.  All these changes should have made the monster go away. (Death)

You see… the thing is tho? My monsters don’t stay under the bed. They come out and wander around the room!  They growl and slobber and their glowing red eyes always feel angry, their sharp tipped fingers like daggers and just as dangerous! (Emperor and The World)

Momma had a different idea.  She said that instead of working to kill the monsters like Daddy said I should?  I should be kind to them.  She told me to think of how horrible it must feel for all the children in the world to be so scared of them all the time, and how lonely it must be.  (Adjustment and The Empress)

She told me to take a chance, and be nice to the monsters. That sometimes?  Even the most horrible people just need to be given a chance to show that they have another side, but that it takes someone special to see beyond the scary parts and bring that other side out in them. (Fortune)

So I got some cookies and I waited up one night, worried and trembling in my bed until the monster crawled out of the dark space beneath my bed and started shuffling around.  Then I sat up in bed and said hi!  I offered the monster a cookie. The monster was so surprised and happy! Now each night I stay up just a little bit past bed time so that we can visit. (Aeon)

It turns out that the monster’s not so bad after all, and his sharp long fingers are really handy!  He can pick up berries with them!  And he even picked the lock on my treasure box that I’d lost the key to!  I’m not scared of the monster under my bed anymore… now?  We’re friends, and I feel safe because I know he’s watching over me while I sleep. (Art)

DECK USED:  EMANUELLE TOMATO MINI TAROT 2020