Tag: tarot prompts

XVII the star, reversed

©2023 michael raven

trials mirrored in the slow
flowing waters of the day
an ambling movement towards
nothing much at all
poison washing out
leaving the body drained

was this what was wanted?

scrubbing the drained vessel
with prairie sage to prepare
for reclamation
tomorrow will be a reckoning
wrapped in the cloak of rest
Photo by Fabio Partenheimer on Pexels.com

five of bows [wildwood]

©2023 michael raven

as cerne bends the bow
so do i, my focus
drawn taut before
release

agency
i stab northward
flint & alder piercing
shadowed veils
writhing mists
a hunter stalking
stone

The deck used for this tarot-based writing prompt is the nonstandard Wildwood deck, which may have different interpretations of the cards than those found in the more common Rider-Waite deck.

XI justice

©2023 michael raven

truth internal
a truce within
all shades grey
surrender to
shadow & sun
beheading medusa
with eyes in ice
& mirrors turned
stone, alone & 
waiting in the
last of winter cold

truth internal
carving cruel lies
whispered in
the nadir night
rejecting dagger
drawn spite
spilling lifeblood
on desert sands
that drink dry
poison from self-
inflicted wounds

here is the truth
borne like bone
in waiting for
grass to grow

five, the ancestor [wildwood]

©2023 michael raven

birch & newborn
trails leading to
wild places in
the melting snow

i let forest spirits
guide my blind body
down tangled paths
weary of pretending

i cannot hear the
word of ancestors
& their songs of
the wood

The Wildwood Tarot is a nonstandard tarot deck. I don’t take issue with their deviations, and the authors have some interesting interpretations of the cards, with serious thought given to more nature-based, non-patriarchal meanings — if I have any complaint, the cards definitions can get a little on the eco-preachy side at times, which can have the same effect as someone breaking the fourth wall. That preachiness is a bit of a distraction as a result.

Image description: antlered feminine figure standing within a cluster of birches in the snow; human hands hold a branch and a frame drum similar to a bodhran. Footprints in the snow approach the figure, backdrop are more birch leading up to a silhouette of a dense forest under a crescent moon.

Exploring Cartomancy; Suit Themes

©2023 michael raven

Oh! Hai!

You decided to pop by the imaginary pub I have erected in the middle of etherspace?

Pull up a chair, grab your favorite beverage and sit down at what appears to be, erm, a very sticky table in a dimly lit corner of the friendly neighborhood dive bar. Hell, two-fist your favorite beverage! I assure you that my posts along these lines get more entertaining when your blood-alcohol level increases. I’ve got a deal with the bartender here — he won’t, under any circumstance, cut you off. [Waves down bartender. “Hey,” I say, “I thought we agreed you’d wipe this down before the guests arrived.” He gives a surly nod and I regret making a scene because the bar towel might just be a wee bit more seedy that the table he is wiping.]

[Cough, cough. Nervous tittering.]

Ahem… I want to dig into the next topic to consider: suit themes.

Continue reading “Exploring Cartomancy; Suit Themes” →