Inspirations: Deviant Moon Tarot

You heard that right, I sometimes use a tarot card deck for story inspiration. I don't do readings or anything like that, more like I select a card at random and pick something from that card to kick start my muse.

To that end, I picked up a copy of the Deviant Moon deck from Amazon. Unlike the ubiquitous and familiar Rider/Waite deck imagery, the DM cards don't invoke a desire to devine my life, but to tell a tale. What strikes me in reflection is how that feeling was with me, instantly and with strength, it's almost enough to make me wonder...

I went through a fair amount of research on tarot decks before deciding on one, and a website that I found very helpful was JanetBoyer.com. Her review section on dozens of different decks was illuminating, although to be honest I was less concerned with the reading potential of a deck than the illustrations, and her inclusion of a large number of sample cards from each deck (at a size large enough to be useful) was most appreciated. There are several more decks I may pick up in the future.

Amazon also has a book for writers seeking inspiration from the Tarot. I don't own it, but it's on my wish list.

This is the first in a series I'm going to call "Inspirations". It'll be about techniques and things I use to get into a creative frame of mind. Don't expect life-altering concepts here, more like little tricks you may not have considered in your own life. If you have favorite ways of your own, leave 'em in the comments. Thanks.