New Ways to Play with the Tarot: Tarot for Two Podcast and Tarot Coloring

I feel like a tuning fork lately vibrating to the collective energy of the times, especially here on US Election Day. Tarot coloring is one way I stay connected to love and joy. I find color play soothing for the soul. Focusing on the tarot in this class in order to improvise gives us a way to converse with the decks of tarot across time and connect to our personal symbols that match the energy behind each card. You bring yourself, your art supplies of choice, your tarot deck if you have one (though I provide tarot images), and we create together in community. Here's my Ace of Windmills, my personal take on the Ace of Swords, created with my tarot students in 2016. Since then I have continued to tarot color and I'm so delighted to bring the process forward in class. 

I'll give a brief introduction to the card of the week and we will break in the middle of the hour to share process, and again at the end. Today we color to the Queen of Pentacles. We meet over zoom; use my contact form on this site to email me for the zoom invite and payment information. Here's a link to a longer description of the class on my main website, Tarot Coloring: A Heart's Compass Approach. Tarot coloring moves in sync with my Tarot Journaling class on Mondays, so come write to the card on Mondays, and tarot color to the same card on Tuesdays if you like. 

Or if you want another type of non-election related distraction, check out Tarot for Two's latest podcast, New Ways to Play with the Tarot Daily. I am elated to converse with my long time tarot buddy Mary Allen, breaking our tarot silence after about three years here (podcast silence, that is, and you can read our blogposts about our cards of the month here at Tarot for Two). Our next podcast will feature us talking about both of our specific six-card readings from a particular day so you'll have the chance to see the layout and interpretations in action.

September Sun Rays: Tarot for Transition

Can you see the sun from where you stand in the world? Of late our California skies are hazy, if not outright sun-blocked, so much of the west coast sorrowfully ablaze. We are aswirl with so many challenges and transitions, inner and outer. Zoom school in session, a child in every room of the house. Back in midsummer, tarot coloring this sun gave me some grounding joy. Though the image did not make it into my Heart’s Compass Tarot Workbook (which is winnowed, with the copy editor, and due out in February 2021), I share it in the spirit of process and with gratitude for the soothe of colors. 

One of the sweetest gifts of using tarot is the way it can provide a mirror and encourage a deeper conversation with the self in the service of joy. I’d love to connect, engage, and explore the timeless tool of the tarot with you through Antioch University and San Diego Writers, Ink. I also give away a tarot journaling writing prompt in my monthly newsletter; sign up for it here (September’s writing prompt focuses on the ten of swords).

 

Tarot Webinars at Antioch University

 

From Fear to Love: The Tower and Tarot’s Lover. How do static images on a card support inner personal growth and outward change? Join this webinar for a close look at the way Major Arcana (Big Secret) soul cards like the Tower and the Lovers can help us move from fear to love. To explore the archetypal energy behind both cards, we will look at a number of versions of both the Tower and the Lovers card. You’ll be introduced to some accessible but potent tarot journaling methods. No prior knowledge of the tarot necessary. Saturday October 3: 10 am PST / 1 pm Eastern Time. Cost: $25. For full details and to sign up visit: From Fear to Love

 

Tarot for Transition: Tarot Journaling for Joy. During times of transition and uncertainty, we can lose our connection to our inner compass and find ourselves feeling overwhelmed. In this four part webinar series, we will explore just one aspect of our lives at a time in relation to the transitions we are facing, using the lens of the four tarot aces: The Heart (love and dreams: Ace of Cups), The Hands (wealth and manifestation: Ace of Disks), The Will (inspiration and direction: Ace of Wands), and The Mind (vision and knowledge: Ace of Swords). We will walk through some simple tools for daily connection to the tarot through journaling, taking our “tarot eyes” into our surroundings, and celebrating the path forward as inspired by the energy of the four elements. No prior knowledge of the tarot is necessary. We meet four consecutive Saturdays. Cost for this 4 Part Webinar Series: $99.

 

Saturday October 17: 10 am PST / 1:00 pm ET
Saturday October 24: 10 am PST  / 1:00 pm ET
Saturday October 31: 10 am PST  / 1:00 pm ET (Halloween)
Saturday November 7th: 10 am PST  / 1:00 pm ET

 

For full details and to sign up visit Tarot for Transition.

 

Writing Classes at San Diego Writers, Ink

Tarot Journaling: A Heart's Compass Approach: This class meets Mondays over zoom and is a drop-in class so come and go as you please, we have a beautiful core group meeting at present. I made a commitment to journal through the entire deck, so we will be at this for seventy-eight weeks total. This coming Monday, September 21, we will dive into the eight of pentacles. Cost is $10 a session. Sign up here for Tarot Journaling. 

Saturday Poetry Read and Critique meets next on October 10, from 10 am to noon PST over zoom (we meet every second Saturday of the month). We are a heart-committed and lively group of poets with room for a few more faces. Offered through San Diego Writers, Ink. Sign up here for Second Saturday Poetry; fee is $30 for SDWI members, $36 for non-members. 

Additional links of interest:

My long term tarot buddy Mary Allen converses with me on our Tarot for Two podcast here; we have recorded five so far: 

How does the tarot work?

What do we do with the bad cards?

Is it just a deck of cards?

The Hanged One

The Empress.

You can access them all here:

Tarot for Two Podcasts

 

Tarot Inspired Coloring, Journaling, and Love Poems

Tarot Color Together 

Here’s a tarot-yoga improvisation based on a beautiful chakra meditation lead by one of Yoga with Shawna’s instructors, Isaac. My husband and I have been going to Isaac’s Sunday chakra meditations in IB for about a year (held over zoom now). Here’s my take on one of his meditation images he gave us of ascending over the Earth in a hot air balloon, releasing roses of every imaginable color to help heal the planet and all living things. I’m playing on Instagram (hearts compass tarot) as described on my main site: Tarot Improvisation: Creating Your Own Tarot Inspired Art. I hope you’ll color with me and use the hashtag #tarotimprovisation so I can see your artwork too.

Free Tarot & Poetry Classes

Tomorrow, Saturday April 25: Use the Tarot to Establish Your Journaling Practice: Power of the One-card Draw, a webinar at 10 am PST offered through Antioch University’s Inspiration to Publication program. This free introductory webinar covers an overview of the tarot’s structure and walks you through the tarot journaling process.

Tuesday, April 28: Images of Hope: Celebrating National Poetry Month, a free two-hour zoom workshop offered from 10 a.m. to noon PST through Coronado Public Library. I’ve gathered some poems about hope amid the pandemic (written by local San Diego poets) for our worksheet. Come write your own poem with me.

Donation-based Tarot Poetry Class 

Friday, May 1: Using Tarot Imagery to Write Love Poems is a two-hour zoom class (noon to 2 p.m. PST). We will explore the ways we can draw on tarot cards for inspiration as poets. I'll share a number of versions of the Lovers card and then we will draft our own poems. All proceeds from this class go to San Diego Writers, Ink. SDWI continues to be such a dynamic community hub for so many writers in San Diego; pay what you can. We miss everyone! Come connect over zoom.

Deepen Your Study of Tarot (fee-based courses)

Starts May 11: Join my six-week online course, Using Tarot to Mine Your Life for Writing Material: Tarot Journaling to Know Yourself, The Four Aces. This class offers a deep dive into the four Aces, represented by the four elements, a foundational structure of the tarot deck. You will learn how to tarot journal in order to connect your lived experiences to the cards, how to use a tarot timeline, and select work to revise with an eye towards publication. 

Ongoing: Join my weekly drop-in Tarot Journaling: A Heart's Compass Approach class offered through San Diego Writers, Ink.We are journaling our way through the entire tarot deck, one card per week. 

Tarot, Teens, and Tarot Journaling Classes

We live across the street from the ocean; our mind-centering activity this past week as we hunkered down (all of California on shelter in place)  has been to walk in the late afternoon and clear the beach of trash washed ashore—with care of course—picking up the sun-worn and wind-bedraggled detritus in the dunes. It is one tiny act that gives us a little agency. How are you coping?

Oxnard High School Writers Festival 2020

Tarot and Teens

Just last month (worlds ago, I’ve been saying lately), I had a beautiful time working with teen writers at the 2020 Oxnard High School Festival of Writers. Organized by wildly talented fiction writer and visual artist Sandra Hunter, the festival gave students and the community the chance to work with a variety of forms from songwriting, to poetry, to performance arts and more, as well as a chance to share at open mic. See my post, Using Tarot to Ask and Answer What Kind of Writer or Artist am I for the specific layout and steps for the three-card draws we did based on exploring our identity as writers and creatives. The post includes an example of an art synchronicity (an "angel of grief" sculpture) that visited a reading I conducted for my son about his identity as a musician.

Heart's Compass by Tania Pryputniewicz

Heart’s Compass Tarot Workbook and Classes Update

I am proud to announce that the official publication date for my Heart’s Compass Tarot Workbook will be  December 21, 2020. Grig Hill Books, a new imprint of Saddle Road Press, will publish the workbook. We are finalizing the manuscript as we speak. I’ll be teaching tarot related writing courses through Antioch University’s Online program from Inspiration to Publication again in May. Here's a link to Using the Tarot to Mine Your Life for Writing Material. We hosted my first ever tarot webinar this morning and will shortly announce additional free webinars to be held in the month of April on a variety of topics.

Luna sitting on the Tarot Journal

My locally based San Diego Writers, Ink, class “Tarot Journaling: A Heart’s Compass Approach” has moved from in-person to meeting over Zoom on Mondays from Noon PST to 1 p.m.  We are journaling our way through the entire tarot deck one card per week. I send out tarot images for you to reference (or you can use your own deck). This is a weekly drop-in, show up, write, and share format. It is a beautiful way to stay heart-connected during these times of isolation. This coming Monday we are writing to the Four of Cups; come join us! Stay for the second hour if you are interested in also writing your way towards tarot card creation. Full course description and sign-up link for hour 1 and hour 2 of class is here: Tarot Journaling: A Heart’s Compass Approach.

And finally, my long-standing Second Saturday Poetry Read and Critique class has also moved to Zoom (due to the coronavirus).  We meet next on April 11. We are a warm-hearted and poetry passionate group. We'd love to have you join us. Here's the link where you can sign up: 2nd Saturdays: Poetry Read and Critique.

Stay connected (through alternate means), stay safe, healthy, and hopeful. Please write to me through my contact form on this site if I can be of service to you in any way.

Related Links:

Visit Circle Circle dot dot to listen to a Facebook Live "Two of Cups" reading by Thelma Virata de Castro along with others also chosen; I'm blessed to have her in Tarot Journaling class where she wrote a Two of Cups entry that was chosen to be featured Sunday, March 22, 2020 at 2 p.m. 

Check out Dr. Plastic Picker; she is responsible for inspiring our family to be more aware of trash on our beaches (we joined her Imperial Beach Clean up in February). I'm looking forward to working with her in the future to bring awareness to environmental cleanliness, including offering writing workshops related to the topic. She has not only been our family pediatrician for years, but a beautiful, bright, visionary helper.

Brendan Constantine blew us all away with a beautiful reading of his poem, The Opposites Game at the Oxnard High School Writers Festival. Read it here, or watch the beautifully crafted You Tube version of The Opposites Game.

Using Tarot to Mine Your Life for Writing Material

Tarot gives us a beautiful way to explore our lives as we are living them and as we have lived them. In Using the Tarot to Mine Your Life for Writing Material: Tarot Journaling to Know Yourself we will journal to gentle questions about the four building blocks of the tarot deck: the four Aces based on the four elements. All of us are born onto the planet with a body and a pair of hands to use (earth), a heart with which to love (water), a drive and passion to direct our choices (fire), and a mind with which to dream, to think, and to write (air). How we use these four Aces, or how we are challenged or blocked from using them ends up shaping the very story of our lives. 

In this online class, you'll journal to gentle questions and learn tools to connect your experiences to the imagery in the tarot deck. You'll come away with a deeper understanding of yourself, the tarot, and your writing process. This class is offered through Antioch University's online program, Inspiration to Publication.

*New start date: We start March 30, 2020. We will start in May due to the coronavirus crisis. Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions.  Here is the full course description:

Using Tarot to Mine Your Life for Writing Material: Tarot Journaling to Know Yourself—The Four Aces. 

Visit Tarot for Two, where I co-blog with Mary Allen for examples of the ways we connect lived experiences to the tarot cards.

In Person Poetry Class

If you are local, you can always drop in to my Second Saturday Poetry Read and Critique class; we meet from 10-12….you guessed it…every second Saturday of the month. We are an earnest, heart-based group of writers…don’t let our compassion or kindness fool you—we have your best writer self in mind and will encourage the fullest expression of your poet self.

Upcoming Events

I'm blessed to be taking part in Oxnard High School's Writing Festival where I'll be giving readings for literary questions. March 6, 2020 from 8:45-2:15. Details here.

The San Diego Writing Festival will be held this year at the Coronado Public Library. I'll be teaching a class about how to use the Tarot to Write Poetry. This free festival brings fabulous classes, panels, speakers, readings to our community to celebrate the power of storytelling and writing. More details soon. Put in on your calendar: April 4th. 

Upcoming Poetry Publication News:

“Couch Burning,” in Climbing Lightly Through Trees, an anthology honoring Ursula K. Le Guin (Aqueduct Press, 2020)

“Cookies,” in an anthology of poems and artwork based on tarot cards, 78