For a little fun, I decided to work on a writing prompt posted in Cat ‘n Owl’s excellent site (Hi, Jen and Irini!). This prompt uses the Legend the Arthurian tarot and can be found here.
The Magician from Legend the Arthurian Tarot
This the card and here is the prompt: “…place yourself in Merlin’s position. See things from his perspective. Why has he stopped to look back? What is he looking at? Try to focus on the senses as you write this one. What does the air smell like? What does his cloak feel like? Does looking things from his perspective change your impression of the card? If yes, how so?”
Okay, I am going to relax and just look at this card for a little while with these questions in mind.
Here goes!
The air that surrounds me is cool and refreshing. The metallic and earthly smell of rocks and water makes me feel a little light-headed. It is not sunny, but the sky is bright and makes the colors more striking and vivid. I can hear the sounds of babbling water, birds chirping and the feathers on my cloak rustling by my ears. It is warm under my cloak, but the cool air does creep in from time to time, reminding my body that there is nothing but a thin layer between my skin and the world that surrounds me.
I sense something move behind me and my dog (wolf??) friend turns to look behind us. My head follows his gaze. Both my animal companion and I know that we are being watched, but by who? And why? A watcher in the woods might make some nervous, but I am waiting for him/her to come out into the open. I wonder if they are frightened. I know that even if their intentions are not good, they are still frightened. As I think about this, I realize that anyone who hides is frightened, even if they don’t know it. I smile because they have nothing to fear from me.
If they come to me and say, “Hello,” I will help them. I have wisdom that I am happy to share with everyone. I find that sharing is a talent of mine and I am only truly happy when I am teaching or telling stories about my many experiences. It makes me sad when people do not want to listen, which they often don’t. Then there are those that do, but are too afraid to ask. I would approach them, but find it is better when they come to me. If they only knew that half of the lesson I have to teach is learned when they just ask!
I can feel the person so close to me that I want to laugh. I want to tell them that it is okay and they can come out now, but I worry that they’ll feel embarrassed that I’ve seen through their ruse. I am going to continue along my way and see what else I can find on this woodland path. I know the hiding person will find their answer even if they don’t ask me; as long as they keep looking. I feel that my hiding friend will follow me for a while. I hope that they can get up their courage and we might meet!
…Very interesting! I was not expecting the card to take this turn and I certainly have never viewed the magician in this light before! I normally think of him as a person who is a great manifestor, who is in control of everything and does not have time for anyone else in his life.
This exercise has definitely brought a new element into the picture. Here, the magician, instead of being this unapproachable, otherworldly man, is someone who wants to be approached and who wants to share. I can see elements of myself in both Merlin and the person who is watching him. Like Merlin, I also love teaching and talking about my own experiences. Like the watcher, I often feel intimidated by people who seem to have a great amount of knowledge and I feel as though they don’t have the time for me. I was dazzled by the warmth of this magician and I’ve never experienced that warmth from this card before.
I also find this very interesting because magicians in our culture are all about keeping secrets. I forget what it’s called (if it has a name) but there is some kind of code where a magician never reveals his secrets. As a result, I have always hated–HATED–magicians*… I dislike them so much that even watching a movie like “The Prestige,” makes me really angry!
How much better a magician this Merlin is! How much more beloved and helpful a magician who wants to share! I like this new element in the Magician card very much.
Well, this was really a nice surprise. I’ve done creative writing exercises where I’ve written a fariy tale about a tarot card, but found it too rambling and I was not able make heads or tails out of any new elements in the card. This writing prompt was not too open-ended and guided me enough that I was able to do the exercise fairly quickly and I gained a lot insight from it. I think I’ve underestimated the power of creative writing in using the tarot!!
*I apologize to any magicians who may be reading this and hope I don’t offend too, too much (at least no more than your “code” offends me). I realize that hate is a strong word and there are some people who have omitted it, altogether, from their vocabularies. I, on the other hand, am an advocate for the word and, since this is a footnote where I can digress all I like, I’ll tell you why. Hate and love are two sides of the same coin–not love and dislike or love and disapprove. This is because both love and hate have the same amount of passion in them. As a result, hate can be turned into love with a little flip and vice versa. I use the word hate to describe my feeling for magicians because there is also the potential for love, if circumstances and their attitudes were different. If, say, they were more like the lovely old Merlin in this card and less like show-off, I’ve-got-a-secret-and-you-can’t-have-it magicians. So, when I use the word hate, there is a little seed of a compliment in there because I am also saying that there is a potential for passionate love, too. I realize my feeling towards magician’s may show a strong sense of entitlement on my part (and probably a host of other personal issues surrounding control, etc., etc.) and at that all I can do is shrug. I’m only human!
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I love this! I never thought of the Magician in that way either. So that puts a new spin on it for me too.
You should totally come up with some tarot writing prompts. They are fun.
This was a lot of fun! I am going to make sure that I do the ones you post on your site from now on! As I said before, I never really experienced any writing exercises to help with the interpretation of a card… looks like I’ve been doing the wrong exercises! I may try to write a prompt at some point, but for now, I’m looking to you for inspiration!!!
-Cathy
Ooh…pressure.
Hee hee.