Hello Toads! Kerry and I reconnected this spring when I discovered her beautiful tarot card images on Instagram. She is so, talented! I took a leap of faith and was doing a tarot challenge. She nudged me to participate in #NaPoWriMo2019, in April and I did. Kerry mentioned perhaps sharing Tarot in the Imaginary Garden and invited me to stop by and share this prompt. Thank you, Kerry~
Tarot came into my life when my mom bought me a mystical game for Christmas. I found the game on Ebay and discovered the cards associated with the roulette wheel and glow in the dark marble were Tarot cards. My mother’s inquisitive nature set me on this path. I believe we all have the sixth sense. Tarot for me is part history, mystery, mythology, and a language of visual symbols. I read intuitively and I hope today’s prompt will encourage you to pen a poem using your sixth sense.
We are all familiar with the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words. “ -Fred R. Barnard
As poets we know, “…..a word may well be worth a thousand pictures.” -Wald Amberstone
I believe Tarot can be used as a life map. Let’s dive in…
There are 22 Major Arcana cards and these have the strongest messages. We began with The Fool, a young adult setting off to discover the world-not fully aware of his/her surroundings, who meets people who advise him/her and he/she learns lessons along life’s path. The last card is The World where we feel we have accomplished a goal. When we decide to set another goal, we will set off again on another adventure as The Fool.
There are 78 cards in the Tarot, 22 of these cards are the Major Arcana - they have Roman numerals on them. Sixteen Court cards which include Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings which correlate with the 16 personalities in the Myers Briggs. Click for a graphic display!
The other 40 cards as well as the court cards are aligned with four suits with cards Ace thru Ten.
Wands = creativity and align with the Fire signs in the Zodiac: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Swords = thoughts/ideas and align with the Air signs: Aquarius, Gemini, Libra
Cups = emotions based on the Water signs: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
Pentacles = abundance and represent the Earth signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo
OUR CHALLENGE
Here are three decks - select the symbol (feather, shell, peacock ore) or deck you feel most drawn to. I will show you three cards from each deck for you to use to inspire your poem. The key is to pick out symbols that stand out to you. When I read, I pick out symbols that catch my eye. For example, the Death card, in most situations, is about transformation, not death.
STEP ONE: SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SETS OF CARDS.
STEP TWO: WRITE A POEM BASED ON YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE CARDS
PLEASE NOTE:
YOUR INTERPRETATION DOES NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THE TRADITIONAL READING OF TAROT, BUT MAY BE AS MAGICAL AS YOUR OWN IMAGINATION.
ELLA HAS ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE CARDS COULD REPRESENT PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE AS SEEN FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.
THE SHELL DECK
 |
| Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot Fair Use Principles |
 |
| (MAGNETISM) THE EMPEROR 5 OF CUPS 7 OF SWORDS |
 |
| Vision Quest Tarot Created by Gayan Sylvie Winter, Jo Dose Fair Use Principles |
 |
| (MOTION) BALANCE INTEGRITY SPIRIT GUIDE |
PEACOCK ORE DECK
 |
| The Smith-Waite Centennial Deck Fair use Principles |
 |
| (PERCEPTION) 3 of PENTACLES 2 of WANDS THE MOON |
You can find Ella on Instagram @ellasedge and read her work in Bella Grace Magazine: spring and summer editions.
If you use Ella's photos, either on your blog or on Instagram, please credit/tag Ella's Edge.
All photos displayed in this post are copyright of Ella Wilson, and Used With Permission.
16 comments:
Fascinating prompt Kerry, thank you! The 3 cards of “Motion” caught my fancy, so they were my inspiration.
I am really looking forward to reading all the responses to this challenge! Many many thanks to Ella for her enthusiasm and generosity in putting it together for us.
I did my own reading--I know you aren't supposed to, but i did. I got 3's of coins and swords, and 11 of pentacles. But there was an odd twist. I accidentally drew a 4th card, an upside-down Star. Hmm. Ellen?
Ellie, what a delightful surprise to find you here! And a most interesting prompt. I will be back to ponder and write. I have a cake to bake this morning, an event that rarely happens any more. LOL. A creative challenge all on its own.
Thank you so much Kerry and Ella for a most stimulating prompt!❤️ I enjoyed writing to it. Happy Thursday, everyone☕
Thank you Ella forsuch a fascinating prompt! The magnetism cards drew me in; I was fascinated by the illustrations.
Lol. I got no response to my choosing the shell deck. No cards. What can I say?
Rob-Thank you, so much for your lovely intuitive sight! I enjoyed your poem~
Kerry-I felt like you were a poetic psychic today, when you shared your spirit guide and took me on a journey of the tender heart~ Thank you, for inviting me!! Your poem gave me chills up my spine~
Fireblossom aka Queen of Wands-I loved that you wrote about The Star card! It is my favorite card in the tarot and you brought it! I knew the Queen in your would bring it~ It is always a wondrous venture to read your visions~
Sanaa-I love the tenderness in your poems! You capture romance and gestures and outlines like constellations in the sky~ So, real and vivid!!
Linda-So, fun to see you here after us and our FB encounter! I loved how fragile and delicate you were than you blurted the truth~ The azure sky, the pink fish-love is such a balancing act! The balance of the soothing allure and then the prickly edges~ Wow
Sherry-You and Mother Nature are sisters!! I always feel like I am walking with you, and seeing through your poetic eyes the fragile beauty so many discount and don't see. Your gift of sight nurtures all of those who read your visions! Bravo!!
I am in awe of all of the talent and insight of your prophetic poetic sight!
Grape-M I adore your love letter to the world-so intimate and glorious to read!!!
Thank you, poets~ Today was a gift to be here and read your energy!! Thank you, Kerry for graciously inviting me~ Cheers to all of you!
Nice. This can really keep the imagination going
Thank you so much Ella for being our guest host and your beautiful inspiration.
Thank you, Ella. I have always enjoyed writing for you, today is like old times. I came to the Toads late, probably in 2012, could be earlier but mostly I was first with OSI. The last seems to be July 15, 2015. Your request was popular, "pen a poem about what you will never outgrow - what will delight, inspire, and amaze you."
This one is great too though I won't totally understand Tarot and Zodiac, ever.
..
Jim, I always enjoyed your poetry and willingness to dive in to the prompts! Your energy and poetry was always inspiring! Wow, you remember-I am honored! I remember that one, too~ For me, keeping my inner child alive is willing to be playful and continuing to find joy~
Jim, the subject matter is huge~ I had a difficult time narrowing it down. I have heard you can study astrology for ten years and never know all of the lines, trines, squares, nodes, and so on. I am excited to go read the rest of the poems. I will be by soon and visit you! Thank you, Jim!
Hello, Ella! So glad to see your creative self here in the Garden again! I am almost done with school - my 5th grader had a few assignments he had to turn in at last minute (I am so looking forward to summer - we are making up snow days :( Anyway I am off now at 10 pm to attempt a poem - I love love love the artistry of the cards - don't know much about them but I will try and do something creative ... Thank you and I will be submitting late.
It has been so wonderful to have your energy in the garden again, Ella. I feel like our poetic journey is so much more than just writing poems together, all of us share so much.
Margaret-I loved the delicate dance of your poem~ I grew up by the Penobscot Bay in Maine and you took me home~ Thank you, so much! I hope you and yours have a wonderful summer!
Kerry-I so, enjoyed where poetry took me and visiting all of you and your lovely insight~ I woke and felt inspired to attempt the challenge, myself. I have been wanting to blog again and thought now is the time. Thank you, Kerry for this gracious poetic invite! Being creative is a journey and I am finding the things I use to love are nudging at me once again-Thank you, so much for this gift! For me, poetry is a sacred language of the soul~ Thank you, for sharing your soul's voices with me!
I would love to comment on your blog Kerry, but your “who can comment” settings block me because it doesn’t allow me to verify my comment using my name and URL address. Seems a lot of poets on Blogger have their “who can comment” settings set very narrow, so there are a lot of Blogger poets I would like to vompliment with my comments - but I am blocked. ;-(
Post a Comment