June 2022: Tarot Cards for Writing Inspiration

It’s summer here in this corner of the globe, and even though the world may not be fully opening up to travel, one can still have virtual adventures! Many museums and historic sites offer virtual tours, and there’s always camping expeditions in remote locations. But, for this reading, which is only limited by the imagination, I decided to take us off-planet—into the deep reaches of space!

 Character(s): Queen of Swords, accompanied by Ace of Swords and Ten of Rods. A shrewd businesswoman (woman-identified) has launched an initiative to take her business to the stars. She’s invested in a cutting-edge project to build the first ever residential-style, automated, self-sufficient vacation resort in space—a station that will become prime galactic real estate as the world is facing increased resource depletion, environmental destruction, and continued overpopulation. She has her critics, because the future residents are chosen by lottery, not income or any other demarcations, and the selected can bring any family members they wish. But there’s a contract, because she’s not hoping to make a profit—yet—but make this first colony an experimental focus group for the vision she has for a better world, and a better society. If it’s successful, she can continue building outwards, and that’s where her profit margin will lie, as residential station after station is added. At worst, she’ll have an entire luxury compound practically to herself if it fails. Herself, and an extensive archive of DNA from as many plants and animals her hired scientists could collect. It’s still a heavy burden for anyone, even a highly experienced business leader and self-made trillionaire, but if she could climb out of the machine factory, she could certainly pull this off.

Setting: Five of Swords, Ten of Swords, and The Sun. Like any big initiative, the building of the space station runs into problems. Even though her core staff has been carefully vetted, the project seems to be plagued with a mysterious saboteur. She’s capable of handling it, of course, but the little fires breaking out across the station cause problems she runs the risk of not being able to replace. All her funds can’t buy materials that aren’t there, but she sets her team of scientists and engineers to creating sturdy building materials out of reclaimed material from the embattled planet below. However, she needs to increase the number of security officers to accompany the scouting team, leaving her a little vulnerable with a skeleton crew. Luckily, she’s protected by the fact that many on the planet below lack the technology to reach her station, and it’s nearly complete. She could have opened its doors within a few days, and  but as she’s planning this to be a home not just for her lifespan, but for generations to come, she can’t cut the corners she would in one of her construction projects back home.

Development & Conflict: The Hierophant and Four of Swords. This wealthy businesswoman discovers she enjoys the peace and quiet of the space station. She’s worked hard to get where she is, and she’s pushed herself even harder. She thrives in high-pressure environments, but she enjoys taking strolls through the station’s greenhouses and dining in the communal eateries, with soft music playing through the station’s sound system. Even when she encounters the occasional scientist or engineer fixing up as many areas as they can before the station’s grand opening, they’re usually too preoccupied in their data pads or repairs to pay any attention to her. Sometimes, she even shuts off the music and just sits and stares out of one of the viewports, listening to nothing but the silence. Even at full operations, she insisted that there be as little mechanical noise as possible. She grew up near a transport railway, and she knew how the constant hum would wear on people’s minds and spirit. And having that same noise on a station people couldn’t get out of…that was unacceptable. She began to feel she was connected to the universe, as if it was an entity that not only guided her to build this space station, but was drawing her along some mysterious and portentous path. Like there really was some grand design to the order of things.

 Conclusion/Climax: King of Cauldrons, Page of Cauldron, The Emperor (all reversed). She awakes, not in her stateroom, but in the corridor leading to the main level recreational area. Someone among the remaining crew has set another fire. She rushes to the nearest control panel and pulls up the screen for the sector. Even with the fully operational ventilation system, she coughs on the smoke. She finds the localized fire extinguisher, and engages it. Within seconds the fire is out. As per its programming though, the station’s computer system awaits the command to disable the alarm. She pauses over the code entry screen as she realizes there’s no way for her to discover who is the saboteur. She’s alone with an unknown enemy. Or enemies. She activates the station-wide emergency communication system, instead, and tells the entire crew to evacuate. Once the last ship leaves the station, she has the computer system run a scan for any other people. The station is empty. She enters the code into the system and realizes she’s left a black smudge on the screen. She smiles and then activates the station’s propulsion system. It was just her and the universe. A whole eternity of endless adventures awaited her.