A Way to Get Advice

In Bringing the Tarot to Life, Scott Martin adapts activities that actors use to prepare for performing to tarot. Because tarot is often used for advice, I thought this example might be a good one to peak your interest in this really fun and useful book.

A Piece of Advice

In this exercise you are writing a letter requesting advice about a personal matter. Before you write the letter, make the following decisions:

What is the specific nature of the issue about which you are seeing advice?

Select a card that represents the person you think is in the best position to give you advice, and explain why.

Give this person a real name, other than its tarot name.

What is your relationship with this person? advice columnist? relative? friend? partner? therapist? other?

Now that you have articulated the nature of the problem and the kind of advice you are seeking, write the letter in the first person using a traditional letter format.

It is time now to switch roles. You are the personification of the card to whom the letter was written. Write a response, again in the first person, giving your advice from the card’s point of view.

How can letter writing be a more intimate way to communicative when you are sharing a personal concern? Energy both letters in your journal. Repeat this exercise from time to time with a different tarot card.