Creative Draw of the Day: The Hermit

Yes, this is the card made famous by the inside of the Led Zeppelin IV album. I've strayed from the Universal Waite Tarot deck because that album is where I first encountered the Hermit--and where I first encountered the Tarot.

The Hermit is the ninth card of the Major Arcana, falling between (in most decks) Strength and the Wheel of Fortune. So say your character has just had a traumatic experience that helped him discover his inner strength. He's still not ready for the ups and downs of the Wheel, or for the rest of the torture--er, conflict--you have in store for him. He'll need to seek out the Hermit's advice first.

The Hermit himself seems like the Obi Wan type, doesn't he? But he doesn't need to be that obvious. To me, this card represents any secondary character who is detached enough from your main guy to give him sound advice--advice your main guy will probably ignore, but that's another issue.

In Not So Safe, for example, Scott Edmund will perform this service for Zev. Scott is a ruthless bastard, not an enlightened Jedi! He just happens to have a soft spot for Zev, whom he views as a little brother. And since he's not immediately involved in Zev's drama, he has a better idea of Zev's situation than Zev himself.

Creative Draw of the Day: Two of Swords

"Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them."

~Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars

Ah, as you might have noticed, I failed to draw a card yesterday. My apologies! I was occuppied with a new RPG (role-playing game) system that my group was trying out for the first time. More on that later--I think it has some bearing on creating characters.

Meanwhile, here's my draw for today: the Two of Swords. The traditional interpretation of this card suggests stalemate--a person trying to make a decision, but flustered and confused and unable to view all her (or his) options.

I don't agree. To begin with, I don't think the blindfold means this figure is flustered or confused. I think she put it on deliberately, just as Luke (with Obi Wan's help) put on the blinding helmet in Star Wars for light saber practice--letting go of his conscious control in order to allow the Force to work through him. Likewise, I think this figure has blindfolded herself so that she can better follow her gut and intuition.

I'm not even sure she's trying to make a choice--those two swords seem well balanced. In fact, balance-rather-than-choosing will be a theme of my NaNo novel, Not So Safe. The goal of my main character, Zev, is to convince Marc that he doesn't have to choose between Zev and Sean. They can both have a relatinship with him, without any pesky jealousy.

How well this will work out for Zev remains to be seen, but that's the direction he's going. And I think he's got enough chutzpah and determination to make a polyamorous relationship work . . .