Theme and Action: a tarot method for brainstorming plots, setting, and characters
I find a lot of story brainstorming spreads to be clunky and rigid, so I did a little experimenting and came up with a method I like a lot. I haven't done a ton of testing yet but I thought I'd share what I have.
Basically, it's a two card draw from a deck split into majors and minors. Each draw always has one major card (theme) and one minor card (action).
When you have a question, like:
What are some ideas for the next scene?
Why would that character behave that way?
What's the defining characteristic of this vampire clan?
What do the people in this society fear most?
Why is this scene dragging?
What does this character need to feel more real?
You would draw one major card and one minor card!
Themes and Action; what it's about vs how it manifests
We could call these cards a bunch of different things depending on exactly how the question is framed, but Themes and Action are good enough.
Basically, the major arcana card gives subtext or context, and the minor arcana card provides specific incidents. Like this!:
"In my vampire setting, what is the most important thing in vampire culture?"
Theme: Death
Action: 10/Pentacles
Interpretation: (Theme) The most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) This has resulted in cultural rituals where death is treated as a sacred adoption or initiation into a new family/estate.
(I really drew this test spread and it really was death lol)
We can swap out the Action card to see a different outcome:
Theme: Death
Action: 5/Swords
Interpretation: (Theme) the most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) the horror of death and loss has never been overcome in this society, and it must be dealt with as an individual - because vampires process the pain of their own deaths by taking it out on each other.
Here's a different example. In an urban fantasy book where a witch solves ghost mysteries, pacing is dragging and we need our next scene to be exciting. But despite a foot chase after a suspected ghost poacher, the scene doesn't feel fast paced or exciting. The question is, "how do we spice this up?"
Theme: Hermit
Action: King of Cups
Interpretation: (Theme) instead of a crowded street, the character will be isolated and without normal support. (Action) she'll be trapped in a closed space with the story's main villain, who most closely connects with the King of Cups
Another swap, this time switching out the theme card:
Theme: Empress
Action: King of Cups
Interpretation: (Theme) the scene feels boring because it's action without development. Show the main character's personal development and give her a 'level up' moment. (Action) have the ghost poacher lead her to a premature showdown with the main villain, whom she faces bravely for the first time.
This is already long so I'm not going to go on and on with examples but so far I've found this method to be pretty versatile.
Try interpreting Theme and Action as literally as you can within the context of the story!
If you're writing a story about a flower princess who sleeps on a dewdrop in the mystical Gnarlwood Forest, the Sun card will mean one thing.
If you're writing a story about vampires, the Sun card probably means something very different.
Major arcanas can be literary themes, like the moon representing deceit within society, but they can also be literal; in a werewolf story, the Moon card might represent the celestial body that controls the lives of certain people.
The most important thing for me is to avoid interpreting the cards in a general self-help sense.
The cheerful villagers of prosperous Splitsky Castle are waiting for you to invent a festival so a mysterious stranger can come to town and get the plot going.
The question is, "what kind of festival gives me the right setup to pull off the plot point I want?"
The theme card is the Magician, so ideas for the festival could be:
A festival honoring magic users (if they exist in your setting)
A festival honoring the resourcefulness of the villagers
A festival of stage magic and trickery
The action card is the 6/Cups.
Probably, the festival is not about healing your inner child with Jungian shadow work. More contextual ideas might include:
A festival where children are chosen to be trained in magic
A festival celebrating teaching the next generation important skills
A festival meant to delight and entertain children with stage magic
Developing related factions or foils
Draw a major arcana card to identify a certain Theme, maybe along the lines of:
What do they hold to be sacred?
What do they not care about, or hate?
What is their most cherished virtue?
What is the defining feature of leadership?
When they sing about home, what is in their songs?
This theme will be the same for both entities.
Draw different minor arcana cards to show how each entity expresses that theme.
Conversely, work in the opposite direction: keep the minor arcana card for both entities, and swap out the theme card.
Finding Action cards when you know the Theme
Holding the deck so that it's facing you, thumb through the cards until you find the major arcana card that describes your theme. The most recent minor arcana card that was on top of it, even if separated by other majors, is the action card.
Reversals
I tend to read both cards as upright and reversed, and just apply whatever meanings are most relevant. In my experiments using reversals ended up being too finicky and specific, and limited my creativity.
Complex Concepts and Plots
For a complex reading, like plotting an entire novel or building an entire character, I have found more utility in doing many pair readings rather than doing one large spread with many pairs.
My tests so far have suggested that the most creative freedom is found in asking specific questions, like "what is this character's driving motivation," and "what is her quirky hobby," and "what makes her put up with her annoying best friend," rather than trying to build a giant spread that includes all of these things at once.
As a caveat, in plot spreads, I will sometimes put pairs down without returning them to the deck, and then connect Theme/Action pairs with single action cards to suggest events that connect the dots.
