by Jean Huets
Members of an uninhibited group can act out the scenario themselves, or the group can use the cards as puppets. People may be shy or uncertain in the beginning; the leader should try to make sure everyone is included in the Improvisation, and that no one person dominates.
With time, the group will warm up and gain confidence, and the improvisations will become more interesting.
An example of an Improvisation is:
Scenario: III The Empress - A wealthy woman is sitting in her garden, where a party is taking place, and a bird flies up to her with a ruby in its beak.
Character 1: Eight of swords - A woman who feels trapped in an unhappy marriage perceives the Empress as someone who's always had everything handed to her on a silver platter. The ruby confirms this feeling.
Character 2: Queen of pentacles - She claims the ruby is hers.
Character 3: Two of wands - This gentleman is courting the Empress. The woman on the eight of swords is smitten with him.
Character 4: Wheel of Fortune - He is a compulsive gambler with some heavy debts to pay. The ruby could help him out.
The Cosmic Chain
The Cosmic Chain is similar to An Improvisation in that it is a creative group activity, and an amusing game. It is based on the genre of chain poetry, in which a poem is written by a group, with each person writing a line. Four or five people comprise the ideal group for the Cosmic Chain. You will need a pad of paper and a pen, in addition to the deck.
Everyone should sit in a circle, with the deck in the center. The deck is shuffled well, and the first person (chosen by lot or consensus) draws a card. He or she writes a line of poetry based on the image on the card. The card is placed face up to the right of the deck.
The pad and pen are passed to the next person, who draws another card from the deck, writes a line of poetry, and places the drawn card to the right of the other face-up card—and so on, around the circle.
Pass the paper and pen around until the poem reaches about twenty-five lines. Everyone should write an equal number of lines.
The last person to draw will read the poem aloud, holding up for everyone to see the card that corresponds to each line.
The poem does not have to be deep and clever, nor does it have to rhyme. It will likely range from hilarious to contemplative.
An interesting experiment is to have each person write blind, that is, without seeing what anyone else has written, working only from the laid-out cards. Also, you can write a story or drama instead of a poem, or you can focus the work on a certain subject. Like An Improvisation, the Cosmic Chain can be helpful to a tarot class, or to any group of people who want fresh ideas on the tarot, or any other subject.
- The Cosmic Cinema -
Several of the Cosmic Tarot people are based on movie stars. Here's a list of them:
II High Priestess / Greta Garbo
King of Wands / Sean Connery
Queen of Wands / Liz Taylor
Prince of Wands / Tom Cruise
Queen of Cups / Greta Garbo
Prince of Cups / Alain Delon
Princess of Cups / Greta Garbo
Two of Cups / Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergmann
Queen of Swords / Ingrid Bergmann
King of Pentacles / Gregory Peck
Prince of Pentacles / Charles Bronson
Nine of Pentacles / Rita Hayworth
Two of Pentacles / Fred Astaire