Welcome to Day One of the Tarot Randomizer Group Creativity Experiment! The premise is simple: I draw a card, and you use it to trigger some new creation.
I included video of me shuffling and picking the card, so that you can participate virtually in the card selection. I promise, no Penn and Teller-style slight of hand. This is obvious when I attempt to shuffle the deck.
The video isn’t mandatory. You can just scroll down to see the first card.
Again, the rules are simple:
1) I draw a tarot card at random and post it here.
2) You use the card as a spark for any creative activity, as long as you send me a link to it (or a picture/recording of it) by the end of today. If you tweet your links/work with the hashtag #MoFcGe that Galen suggested, I’ll catch it. Or you can just submit your work via the comments for this post.
3) I will post links to or excerpts of everyone’s work in tomorrow’s post, which will also include tomorrow’s card.
So, enough dallying. Here’s the card (the Rider-Waite version, for you purists):
You don’t have to work off the symbolism, but it may help with the creative spurring, so here’s a bit of info. You can check out a quick description of the symbolism behind the Knight of Swords at Joan Bunning’s excellent (and free!) site.
Bunning says this about the suit of Swords:
“The Swords are the suit of intellect, thought and reason. They are concerned with justice, truth and ethical principles. Swords are associated with the element Air. A cloudless sky, open and light-filled, is a symbol of the mental clarity that is the Swords ideal.”
And about knights in general:
“A Knight is an immature teenager. He cannot express himself with balance. He swings wildly from one extreme to another as he tries to relate successfully to his world. A Knight is prone to excess, but he is also eager and sincere, and these qualities redeem him in our eyes.”
Thanks again, everyone, for being so willing to experiment. I’m excited to see what you all come up with! Good luck!
