A Guest Appearance from Ella Wilson

Greetings to all Toads, near and far! Today it is my great pleasure to introduce as our prompt host, none other than Ella Wilson, one of the founding members of The Imaginary Garden With Real Toads!

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

THE FEATHER DECK

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.

Collaboration with Peggy and Ella

Peggy and I share a love of the arts: poetry and photography. Peggy also paints and I used to. After seeing Peggy's work I am tempted to try again. I do mainly mixed media. For our challenge I took Peggy's art and one of mine and blurred the lines. We thought it would inspire an intriguing poetry.

Peggy painted Morro Rock, which sits on the coast of Central California. It was formed 23 million years ago the hardened lava plug of a now long-gone volcano. It is one of a string of such plugs called the Nine Sisters. Several seas birds as well as peregrine falcons next on its rocky crown.  Visitors are not allowed to climb the rock, but two California Indian tribes are allowed to climb it for sacred ceremonies.  The rock has been a sacred place for these tribes since before the arrival of the Spanish.

My art represents a woman as a spiritual guide. So we combined the rock and Native American influence to bring our poem to life.

Spirit of the Rock

Fiery forces in for ancient youth

molten mountain mover

now cold and silent,

what eons' stories you could tell.

Eldest of nine sisters in a spirit chain,

Morro remembers

ceremony of our dance

stopped by Thunderbird.

Eternal flame hidden by 

thick rolling gray cloud cloak,

winged serpent's flaming beak appears

White Owl Woman warned

Mother Sky and Father Sun

our birth may be early.

Liquid fingers hold every sinew

orange and scarlet ripple

pulsating fears

as shadows roll

darkness appears.

Mother's crown of stars tilted

Father lulls and soothes her

White Owl Woman

cuts blazing vision with

opaque eyes.

Mother pants and groans

our births hover and breathe out

black smoke

until we erupt.

Mother's salty tears flow

Father fetches white cap.

This morning on Father's glassy bay

otters, sailboats, falcons cry and play.

On your starry crown I 

see your wrinkles and crevices

seeming as if they have always been

and always will be.

Ella's Post

                                Dickens' writing style is florid and poetic, with a strong comic touch.


Did you know Charles Dickens developed his characters, by using symbols. Yes, he shared many details of a character's humble abode.  In these details, he developed his character's personality and traits.  Miss Havisham of "Great Expectations"  comes to mind.

When, I think of Miss Havisham, I can see wild grown weeds, her lavish home, and how her home was in disarray.   Dickens show us with hints:  "Miss Havisham's house, which was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great many iron bar to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of those that remained, all the lower were rustily barred. There was a courtyard in front, and that was barred, so we had to wait, after ringing the bell, until some one should come to open it....    We went into the house by a side door, the great front entrance had two chains across it outside,-and the first thing I noticed was, the passages were all dark, and that she had left a candle burning there.... But I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago, and had lost its lustre and was faded and yellow."    

I think of her perhaps having a split personality and being socially withdrawn.   Dickens'  style was noted by a term called  Dickensian. 

I want you to write a Dickens inspired poem. If you want to follow through in English form, then by all means write a sonnet.   I would be thrilled, but it is not required.


Please make your character vivid and share a lot of details about their home, what it looks like, sounds like, smells like, etc.   And here is the twist, yes an Oliver Twist, lol.   You will write a poem about the home of another Toad!  Let's try to highlight key elements that we love about this Toad member. Where do you imagine this poet lives?!   I do not what you to share, until the following morning who you have written about.   Let's have fun visiting each others' homes and guessing who the Toad is!   I know you can do florid and poetic, but let's also add a bit of comedy~   Yes, do several and have fun!  If anyone feels left out-email me. I plan on writing more than three.  ;D   It will be a marathon day for me. I have a post at Poets United, here and also am part of IWSG=Insecure Writer's Support Group!   Yes, I will be playing Leap Frog, lol.   I have great expectations and look forward to your poems~