(Tarot Prompts for Writers)
Keep the image and meaning of Temperance in mind as you develop a story. But go beyond the card — don’t stress about any aspects you “should” include. The card is just a tool to prompt ideas. You can take it anywhere. Write a flowing tale.
First line prompts
- You know what they’ll do to you if you spill one drop.
- The bottle called to him in his mother’s voice.
- The waters of the inland sea were a curious shade of red.
Continue the scene for another 500 words, in any direction you wish to take it. Change to third or first person or switch genders as you see fit. Make this an opening to a longer work or a complete flash fiction.
Object Prompt
A pitcher or some other vessel meant to be filled with liquid.
This pitcher can look like Temperance‘s — there might be two identical vessels filled with the waters of life — but it doesn’t have to. Imagine any pitcher that could start a scene.
A pitcher of beer at a pub after a losing game. A pitcher of lemonade at a birthday party where tragedy strikes. A pitcher filled with quarters someone’s been saving for years. A pitcher of water on a table for two where someone waits alone. A broken shard from an ancient clay pitcher under an archaeologist’s magnifying lens.
Picture a pitcher and build a scene around it. What does it look like? What size is it? What’s it made of? Is it new or old? What’s inside it? Where is it? What else is there? Who’s using it? What’s the occasion?
Write a scene where a character picks up your pitcher and says a few words.
Maxim Prompt
- Moderation in all things — including moderation.
- There is no difference between knowledge and temperance; for he who knows what is good and embraces it, who knows what is bad and avoids it, is learned and temperate.
- Agitate – educate – legislate.
Freewrite for five minutes on any of these sayings. Go wild, give in to whatever strange notions grab you — don’t try to be temperate about it.
Happy writing!
Images on this page are by the following artists: Banner, left to right: Marseilles deck engraved by Nicolas Conver; Dragon Tarot illustrated by Roger and Linda Garland; Tarot Balbi by Domenico Balbi; Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti; Radiant Rider-Waite deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith; Druid Craft deck illustrated by Will Worthington.
Catherine Austen 