Tarot for Writing Day 4: Yemana

Dear Writer,

Did you know that there is a companion app to The Goddess Tarot by Kris Waldherr? I’ve owned it for years. I love it. Here’s a link to the iOS and Android versions. The apps are a little old, but it still works for me on the latest iPhone, so hopefully they all work!

But at least we know the traditional deck definitely works!

I’m not making anything off these links, btw. This is not an ad. I just have been using this deck forever and I love Waldherr’s work.

Today, I pulled Yemana, reversed. (Of course! Why is everything reversed for me this week?) Traditional card map: Temperance.

Waldherr writes:

Yemana, a Santeria goddess of the ocean, is associated with Balance. Yemana is often called upon to provide rain, water that nourishes all of life. The Balance card reversed can signify an imbalance within ourselves—a situation that creates discomfort. This can lead to the inability to find peace within or with others.

Okay. I’m gonna try not to make that about me. This is about writing!

But can’t that search for peace at the heart of a character’s motivation to chase whatever their goal is? Remember with goals, you want them to be active, specific, personal and achievable and “search for peace” is a little vague, but it can inspire a goal that meets those criteria. What if a character believes that the only way to get peace is to get vengeance on the person who denied them justice? (Which ties in nicely with some other cards we’ve been looking at this week.) Sometimes, a character who wants something that is, in the end, destructive can provide a wonderful opportunity to arc them. And remember; what’s important for a narrative to be complete is not that your protagonist necessarily wins, but simply that someone wins. Sometimes, a protagonist needs to lose, and that is absolutely okay.

Isn’t this fun? I told you.

Everything,

L