Mixed Bag: Literary Pilgrimage, Tarot/Oracle Cards for Writer's Block & Haunted Poetry Challenge
Counting down to Halloween!
The Real Writer newsletter is for relaxed writers who love to write and savor the craft through play, adventure, and community.
In my second year on Substack I’m making some changes, expanding my offerings, and will go live in October with paid subscriptions for those who want to join private community chats, meet 1:1 or in groups with me with my editing hat on (seriously, there’s a hat—you can wear one too), and participate in Real Writing in the World sessions. Free subscribers will also have the option to participate in these offerings.
Upcoming literary pilgrimage
I am SO excited about a literary pilgrimage I’ll be taking in October to the home of a (VIP) Very Important Poet, and where I’ll also be spending time writing.
It’s been a while since I went on a trip like this: to visit a writer’s house or the setting of a novel because I believe in immersing yourself in the world of your favorite writers and stories to learn what they can teach you and discover more about your abilities through that filter.
A few of my favorites were the Eudora Welty House and Garden in Jackson, Mississippi (there was a little shed like structure in the back of her beautiful garden that I would have loved to move into); Robert Frost’s cabin in Ripton, Vermont when I was at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (I really hated that 11-day conference--8 days too long, too hierarchical, a bit of a sexfest, but the blackberry pie was fabulous); the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, England (and the farmhouse that supposedly inspired the Earnshaw home in Wuthering Heights—a six mile hike across the glorious moors that almost destroyed my cheap Tom’s knockoffs because I forgot to wear walking shoes, but it was worth it!).
When I visited the Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England I took a half-day class with her great-great-great-great-great niece the writer Rebecca Smith, and spent time writing in the Austen garden.
Go in the spirit of adventure and magic. Go to commune with your favorite writer or book. Go to take your writing practice out into the real world. Go to get away from your regular self and life!
I can’t wait to share it with you as Real Writing in the World #10, but am keeping it to myself until then so I don’t curate the visit instead of experience it.
Tarot/Oracle Cards for Writer’s Block (or for Fun!)
First, don’t pshaw the idea (do people still pshaw? Or harrumph? Or sheesh?).
Resistance is what creates writer’s block. There is always a direction, an option, a choice, but the writer doesn’t take action on it, and the not taking action becomes paralyzing.
You wouldn’t walk into a store and pull something that should be your size off the rack and just pay and go home, would you?
It’s the same with writing. You have to try different things to hit the thing for your piece.
We want to make the most of our precious writing time and not ruin the piece by taking risks we aren’t comfortable with (is there ever a comfort level with risk, though?).
But that’s where the action is, and why it’s called a “writing practice,” my friends, so the best way to deal with it is to get comfortable with taking risks and with being uncomfortable. Let the writing take the time and direction it needs—even if that’s the long way around.
Tarot or oracle cards can break writer’s block.
They have built in imagery, symbols, metaphors, mythology, etc., which we’ve all absorbed in one way or another since the dawn of time and can recognize and respond to. Stories are built on these. And our lives are stories.
Plus engaging with these cards is fun and out of the box (of your conscious mind) thinking, and a dive into the subconscious. These decks are fantastic windows into your imagination and intuition. And, I would argue, include some magic.
Tarot or oracle cards take the pressure off of you to figure out how to move forward.
If you don’t have any decks you can find online decks to choose cards from right now (links below), or go to a metaphysical store and buy one. You can visit good old Barnes & Noble—lots of decks there—usually around the self-help section. Decks are often mixed in with books.
Tarot has a complex system but don’t worry about that (sorry tarot experts!). Oracle cards are usually more straightforward without hierarchies and suits and have so much variety. And in this exercise, you’re not going to look at the booklet that comes with them. (You can, but I advise not to so the interpretation is all yours.)
You can dig into the structure on the Interwebs if you like but I won’t do that here.
You are free to ignore whatever system the decks employ, pull a card or cards, and just go with:
a) what pops into your head, b) what jumps out at you from the image, c) what you feel, d) what any key words on the card bring up for you.
If you feel ready to dig deeper, pull cards and set an intention for the piece you’re working on:
Card 1 - protagonist’s current state (physical, mental, or emotional)
Card 2 - their conflict
Card 3 - their goal
Card 4 - what or who is in their way
Card 5 - what next action should they take
If you’re writing a poem, even pulling just one card does the trick for you to respond to, but you might also try this ekphrastic poetry exercise in Real Writing in the World #3 (works for prose too!).
Ask questions about who you are as a writer. What are your strengths and weaknesses. What are your stories to tell. Who is your audience.
Ask what you should write next and use the cards to guide you throughout the whole process of writing the piece.
I’m a big believer in just reacting to the cards. There is no right or wrong way to do it.
Write a response from the characters’ perspective, take that scene in the suggested, or opposite direction. What do the images, colors, numbers, words, seasons, animals, clothes, food, etc. in the card bring up for you? Could they be a clue into your characters, plot, theme, conflict?
The key is not to resist. Resisting keeps you stuck.
Deck resources for free online readings
Lotus Tarot offers free 6-card readings. Free sample 3-card tarot reading when you click on any deck here. And Single card free tarot readings on the Labyrinthos site.
Two queens of oracle decks are Alana Fairchild and Colette Baron Reid. Follow the links for free multiple card readings from their many decks.
If you search for a deck on Amazon, choose with your genre in mind (there’s a deck for everything!), then search for an unboxing video on YouTube to see all of the cards and make sure they resonate with you.
You don’t have to follow the advice in the cards for real, but I encourage you to be open to what you find.
Haunted Poetry Challenge
As far as I’m concerned, once we hit September 1st, summer is over (it’s in the 90s this week but I don’t care). I’m starting the countdown to Halloween.
I’d like to write a haunted poem (my term—also called scary poetry, horror poetry, Halloween poetry) and I challenge you to join me. I’ll post mine in the Sunday Poetry Circle when it’s finished and will invite you to share yours.
Pretend your poem is a haunted house (literally or figuratively). Here are some Halloween poems to get you in the mood.
Here’s the last bit of one of my favorite poems by Louise Glück—that last line!!
This is the barrenness of harvest or pestilence. And the wife leaning out the window with her hand extended, as in payment, and the seeds distinct, gold, calling Come here Come here, little one And the soul creeps out of the tree. "All Hallows" from The First Four Books of Poems by Louise Gluck (The Ecco Press, 1995)
A few ways to participate in the Real Writer community this week:
Jump into the comments and share what you’re stuck on in your writing, the deck you used to engage with it, and how the process worked for you.
Pick one of the cards pictured here and either free write or apply it to your current project, then share a bit of what you wrote in the comments.
Check out the poem in the Sunday Poetry Circle chat and share your thoughts, or some lines you love, including your own!
(Deck details below.)
Know thyself,
Chris
Tarot & Oracle Cards (In some cases, the author is also the artist) The Literary Witches Oracle - Taisia Kitaiskaia & Katy Horan The Wildwood Tarot - Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Will Worthington A Jane Austen Tarot Deck - Jacqui Oakley The Poe Tarot - Trisha Leigh Shufelt The Good Karma Tarot - Kerry Ward and Amy Blackwell Work Your Light Oracle - Rebecca Campbell and Danielle Noel Wisdom of the Oracle - Colette Baron Reid and Jena DellaGrottaglia Secrets of the Mystic Grove Oracle - Arwen Lynch and Mary Alayne Thomas Earthcraft Oracle - Juliet Diaz, Lorriane Anderson, Daniell Boodoo-Fortuné Cosmic Journey Oracle - Yanik Silver