If something can tell a story, chances are that it can tell your story

July 8, 2024 11:18 AM

“You must not talk about the future. The future is a con. The tarot is a language that talks about the present. If you use it to see the future, you become a conman,” says Alejandro Jodorowsky, maker of cult films El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre, and the unmade psychedelic Dune; writer of the legendary graphic novel series The Incal; and practitioner of the tarot. from Untold Fortunes: A Reading List on the Creative Uses of the Tarot [Longreads]

Your card is ... The Previously

posted by chavenet (13 comments total)

wild cards
posted by HearHere at 12:26 PM on July 8 [1 favorite]

You are going on a long journey and will meet a tall, dark, and handsome man...
posted by Czjewel at 12:35 PM on July 8 [1 favorite]

The tarot is an interesting tool for self-reflection and exploration. The symbology is vague enough and Jungianly universal enough to lay over just about any fears and concerns you have. A self-controlled mirror isn't a bad thing.

Oddly, I was just repacking my books to a new bookcase the other day and ran across my old copy of Nova by Samuel Delany. Should re-read because in that I know the Tarot is considered to be supremely accurate and important to running the affairs of the world.
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:40 PM on July 8 [3 favorites]

Now I kinda want to start mapping out how tvtropes pages correspond to all the upright and reversed interpretations of cards.
posted by Avelwood at 12:53 PM on July 8 [7 favorites]

I can recommend Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore, a licensed social worker and Tarot reader. I'd especially recommend it for the Tarot-curious that would like to avoid possible "woo."

I pull a card every morning--or roughly so--and just ask, "What energy or vibes am I working with today?", or "It's gonna be a stressful day; what should I remember when I get overwhelmed?" I do larger spreads on New or Full Moons, solstices and equinoxes, but everything doesn't center around divination. I mean, I did a spread recently while focusing on the tumult in my family right now, and damn if the cards pulled weren't more or less of "yeah, hold steady, it will even out" variety. (Lotsa cups, y'all.) Even if it's just my brain saying that, the cards help me emotionally by seeing it spread out.

Anyway: this month's deck is the Not So Mystical Tarot.
posted by Kitteh at 1:18 PM on July 8 [9 favorites]

I've got Calvino's Castle of Crossed Destinies, mentioned in the article. It's actually two different works (Castle and Tavern of Crossed Destinies) both using the same conceit. The characters aren't just picking up cards and showing them around to tell their stories. They're laying them out in a grid, and each row or column represents a different character's story, so characters coming along later have to make use of cards already laid out by other characters and adapt the meanings to their own purposes. I'm pretty sure that Calvino's process for both was to deal out the cards into the grid, and then try to work out what stories they could be telling.

Does it work? Eh, sometimes, sometimes not so much. But it's an interesting idea, very in keeping with the Oulipo stuff that Calvino was into.
posted by Naberius at 1:45 PM on July 8 [3 favorites]

The post title (a quotation from GennaRose Nethercott) is amazing. It's like the Church–Turing thesis for human imagination.
posted by aws17576 at 2:20 PM on July 8 [1 favorite]

Jodorowsky based the plot (such as it is) of his film The Holy Mountain on the cards of the major arcana, starting with The Fool and ending with The World. (This is pretty much the same progression found in the graphic novel The Incal.) He also made a great short film about the major arcana (in support of the film) which you can watch here [slyt].
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:21 PM on July 8 [1 favorite]

I actually just finished illustrating my second deck. It's themed around cryptids doing fiber crafts like knitting and weaving. I've never been into "woo" but doing a tarot reading is more like improv storytelling. You don't want to take it too seriously, but on the other hand, when it really resonates it's almost spooky.
posted by rikschell at 4:36 PM on July 8 [4 favorites]

I just attended a six week class on tarot for creatives by Danielle Tegeder, which involved a number of guest speakers including Jessa Crispin who is as incisive and witty in real life (well: via Zoom) as she is in her writing. Lot of cool insights from many artists and writers. My favorite thing was the suggestion to carry around a deck and just start asking it about anything that happens or you encounter. Saw an interesting bird? Draw a card. Go for a run and draw a card about it. Draw a card about this plant you saw. Etc. I think it’s a really cool way to put the brain in creative, storytelling or art-making mode when one is predisposed to rush around not doing that. A mindfulness practice I can get behind. I need to get a deck I’m not too precious about losing, though. I have one mediocre deck but it’s my deck for at work (I draw a card when I’m overwhelmed with tasks to decide what to do next).
posted by brook horse at 5:11 PM on July 8

Leonora Carrington taught Jodorowsky the tarot?!?! I LOVE THIS
posted by queensissy at 5:26 PM on July 8

including Jessa Crispin who is as incisive and witty in real life (well: via Zoom) as she is in her writing.

I'm so sorry I slept on Jessa Crispin and Jen May's The Spolia Tarot deck.
posted by Kitteh at 5:34 PM on July 8

I've been following updates on The Conqueror Worm, a tarot-based RPG by Josh Mcroo for a while, and it's supposed to come out this summer. It replaces dice rolls with drawing from a tarot deck, and uses the suits as an overarching framework for character actions and development. Even though I doubt I'll ever have a chance to actually play it, I'm hoping to pick up a copy when it comes out.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:35 PM on July 8