Thursday, June 28, 2007

Adventures in Playwriting: The First Reading

TODAY, I DROVE TO EAST POINT to obtain a Tarot reading - not for myself, as one might expect for someone in my precarious situation. Rather, I got a reading for Nigel and Asha, two characters in my first play.

This might seem a rather odd practice - that one would seek a Tarot reader to get a reading for two fictional characters - but they're not fictional g*ddamit - I talk to them everyday!

The reading began with _a_u asking the purpose for the reading.

"Nigel and Asha have received a small inheritance - a very small inheritance from Nigel's Great Aunt," I said. "They're seeking advice on how to proceed."

_a_u whispered into his deck, shuffled his cards, and gave the couple a 5-card Crossroads spread:

which is used when the client is at a crossroads in life and is contemplating a change. The five cards tell you what happens/happened in the 1) Past, 2) Present, 3) Future, 4) Visible World, and 5) Invisible World.
Here is what the reading revealed:



1) PAST

CARD: SANTERIA-OGUN

CONTEMPLATION: An iron gun, old yet capable of firing a lethal bullet. This gun was not made for target practice or the hunting of food. It has but one purpose. It has but one target.

INTERPRETATION: There has been violence and/or a possible conflict with the law in either Nigel or Asha's past.

2) PRESENT

CARD: SANTERIA-YEMAYA

CONTEMPLATION: Honey flows freely from Our Lady's gracious bounty.

INTERPRETATION: This card shows Yemaya as a beautiful pregnant orisha standing in the foaming sea. She is about to give birth. This means that either one is literally pregnant with a child or metaphorically pregnant with an idea. It also means abundance and wealth.




3) FUTURE



CARD: CONGO-WATER-GRANBOIS

CONTEMPLATION: Favorable outcome when last words are said and last things done.

INTERPRETATION: Keep quiet about your inheritance and you should have no difficulty.




4) VISIBLE WORLD

CARD: PETRO-FIRE-ERZUILE

CONTEMPLATION: Rage and hate binds you to your object as closely as does great love. Hate and love are both sides of the same coin whose denomination is union. Will is the name of the Hand that distributes these coins.

INTERPRETATION: Not all will be easy in the transference of this inheritance. There is jealousy, anger, and hatred - perhaps from family, perhaps from elsewhere.

5) INVISIBLE WORLD

CARD: SANTERIA-OLODUMARE

CONTEMPLATION: Accepting one's personal failures. Embracing one's sadness. Usg these sadnesses and failures to build a house of peace and purity, an impregnable abode fit for the indwelling of Obatala (God).

INTERPRETATION: Whatever material goals you are seeking, God will provide them.

Oddly enough, or perhaps not, the reading is pretty in-line with the plot I've envisioned. The most surprising piece of information was that _a_u correctly read that Asha is pregnant.

In fact, she is and has not yet told her boyfriend, Nigel.

If _a_u can see into the world of fiction, maybe I should ask _a_u for tonight's Cash 3 numbers... Maybe not.

Since I've got nothing better to do, I may as well write a play. ;-) Thirteen pages and counting...

6 comments:

BLUE said...

i love it!

you know Rachel Pollack uses Tarot cards to generate writing exercises and to get students to ask questions of characters, too. she would love this post. glad you're being creative, soldier.

light!
~blue

Collin Kelley said...

Don't make me send Miss Cleo after your ass, Ayo. Get back to blogging. And if Miss Cleo isn't available, I'll send Lauryn...apparently she needs work.

Rich Fitzgerald said...

That was interesting. My Christian upbringing has always made me leary of fortune tellers and the like, but I must admit I have always been curious. If one of them can help me to win some money, I would indeed heed their words.

Literary Felonies said...

Ayo, thank you for giving a sometimes aspiringly lethargic writer an interesting avenue for character development. Like Mega Rich, I, too, have been brought up Christian, followed by years of biblical training, which makes it difficult to pursue other mediums sans hefty guilt (not to mention the endless tirade of witchcraft accusations one'll have to duck once the Christian cronies get wind). Bravo! My hat's off to you. Not only for seeing outside of the box, but for stepping out of it, too!

AlterEgo said...

Wow. you are amazing. I would never have imagined spitting life into a character so real that a tarot reading would be fitting. But as I think about it, it makes absolute sense...

Issa said...

Miss you much.

xoxoxox

and yes, I actually blog now. So you can catch up with me electronically, or with a good old-fashioned phone call. ;)

And is it on purpose that the word verification that I'm supposed to type in to post this comment reads, "ohusuck"? If so, how might I acquire such jocund and jaunty gimmicks?