The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life

Product Information

We give things meaning by paying attention to them, and so moving your attention from one thing to another can absolutely change your future. Exactly who or what is doing the work here—whether fate is choosing the card, or your unconscious, or random chance—doesn’t matter as much as the act of seeing, sensing, and paying attention. JESSA: I think the story is that he was an amateur and he saw somebody at a café laying out the cards and became immediately entranced overhearing the story the reader was telling the client. He thought, “Oh, I can do that.” Not in the sense of, “I’m smarter than this person,” but in the sense of, “I understand what this person is doing, and I can do that in a book.” And he did and it’s a remarkable, weird little book.

From a psychologist’s perspective, Dayal’s observation is spot-on. Constraints, Kaufman noted, typically result in heightened creativity. “It’s part of the reason I hate the expression ‘thinking outside the box,’” he said. “So often, it’s thinking inside the box—figuring out how to maneuver inside the box instead.”Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your natal chart, being attuned to the insights that Tarot can provide, and trusting your intuition are the tools you need to master any situation and create success on your terms. TWIST YOUR FATE will show you how to find your best path and maximize your talents. I usually hate half stars (and am glad Goodreads doesn't seem to have them) but I would give this one 2.5 if I could, because 2 seems too harsh but 3 too generous. Tarot beginners, rejoice! Truly Easy Tarotwill teach you how to use tarot cards through a practical, accessible framework, including an escalating progression of card spreads, from simple one-card readings to elaborate multi-card spreads. Honoring traditional tarot meanings while also interpreting their contemporary definitions, this tarot book for the modern age will guide you in your own tarot journey.

In The Creative Tarot, Jessa Crispin provides a card-by-card guide for writers, filmmakers, painters, dancers, sculptors, and anyone else making tough creative decisions. Instead of thinking of yourself as a godlike creator, Crispin advises, think of yourself as a conduit: channeling the inspiration of a muse, be it some higher power or the random collision of atoms, the art of divination or the unpredictable draw of a card. The tarot is most useful when you ask a specific question, but one that doesn’t have a yes or no answer. “What is missing in this scene?” is a much more useful question, for example, than “Is this scene working?” We’ll discuss examples of questions for particular situations below. After that, I was hooked. I began the slow process of studying the meaning of the tarot and understanding its uses. At the time I worked mostly as a book critic, and I was intrigued by the way the cards could be used as a tool for storytelling. Each reading is, essentially, a story. It begins here, at the center. One card represents you and tells you who you are as the protagonist; others say what’s happening to you, what did happen to you, what will happen. Other cards show up as people wandering into your story; others create plot and action.Tarot cards are nonsense… a cheap scam that fortune tellers use to prey upon the desperate and the gullible, like palm readings and daily horoscopes.” That’s what I would’ve said two weeks ago, in ignorance, before reading Jessa Crispin‘s new book, The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life. Sometimes we become so focused on the nitty-gritty technical aspects of writing and publishing that we forget the power of the unconscious mind, the part that understands story at a fundamental level. Caroline Donahue is an American writer, writing coach, and literary tarot reader living in Berlin. She is the host of the Secret Library Podcast and the co-editor of the anthology I Wrote it Anyway. She is currently working on a novel. Her next book, Story Arcana: Writing with Tarot, will be out in early 2019. BRIGIT: I haven’t heard of that book before. We’ll make sure to get link it in the show notes because I’m sure people will be fascinated to read it. So, the author literally laid out all the cards, and that was the story, and he wrote it?

Crispin's approach, however, had me hooked. She does mainly focus on the Tarot for creative purposes - the likes of Italo Calvino and Alejandro Jodorowsky have e.g. often integrated it into their books or movies - but it can also be read by anyone who just wants to learn about reading the cards in general. What particularly fascinated me is that she connects certain cards with works of art, music and literature making it much easier to anchor connections between the images and what they represent. In addition to the psychological mechanisms behind tarot reading, it is also important to consider the cultural and spiritual context in which it is practiced. Tarot has a long and complex history that is rooted in a variety of spiritual and cultural traditions, and it is important to approach it with respect and openness. Interpreting card meanings is the most exciting aspect of reading tarot. However, it is also the most challenging, especially if you are new to the art. For example, basic tarot interpretation would have you understand that The Lovers card has to do with relationships—but what if your question had to do with career or health? How are you left to interpret the meaning?

The tone in The Creative Tarot is very friendly and conversational, as if you asked your best friend to teach you a little bit about her favorite hobby- tarot cards. Highly recommended for artists, dreamers, and aspiring tarot card readers.

That said, it’s important to remember there is no right or wrong way to interpret a card. I have been studying tarot for a long time, but I am constantly surprised and learning more. This book is not meant to be the last word on the tarot. Consider it one step in the process, or a friend to help you along the way. JESSA: The Tarot came as a derailment for me. I got into Tarot about ten years ago. At that point, I’d already been a writer and editor of a literary magazine. So when I got into Tarot, it felt like a little embarrassing. Intellectuals are not supposed to be Tarot card readers, right? So that was a problem, and I kept it very hidden. Intellectuals are not supposed to be into the “mystical woo-woo” stuff. But I loved it, and I was passionate about it. So eventually I started doing Tarot card readings specifically for writers. I made a big announcement thinking, “My career’s going to be over, and no one will ever ask me to write anything important ever again.” But I was surprised that a ton of writers really wanted Tarot readers that knew about writing. So that’s how the creative Tarot came to be.

Join Our Tarot Newsletter!

Find precise answers to your urgent questions —The Big Book of Tarot Meanings takes you beyond typical, generic card meanings by breaking each card down into eight interpretation categories among tarot books. Thankfully, Crispin's interpretations are simple and clear. This is a book that will see some use, not become another expensive paperweight. I believe that too. But, if you can't explain the system in a way that makes sense, then what's the point of writing a beginner's manual. There can be no "elevation of the soul" if the beginners can't understand the first thing about reading tarot cards.