Teneice Durrant, creator of Tarot with Ten, will use various tarot and oracle decks to provide monthly readings for writers, with exercises on using imagery and intuition as prompts. March’s prompt concerns the antagonist.
So far this year, we’ve gotten some insight into our protagonists and their romantic Interests. For March, we are going to set up the antagonist.
A few crucial aspects to our villain create the tension we will need to make an exciting story arc: Strength, flaw, and reason to hate the MC (main character). Let’s consult the cards for some antagonist insights.
Strength: King of Swords
The King of Swords represents a clear and strategic active principle, logic to the point of being void of emotion.
This character’s mind runs on facts and statistics, and because they are in a relative position of power, everyone under them falls in line.
At their core, they are driven by a sense of absolute justice and cannot abide by corruption. They are not beholden to the laws of man, but what they believe are the moral laws of the universe. This type of person could make for an interesting villain!
Weakness: Four of Pentacles
The Four of Pentacles represent the unwillingness, to the point of paralysis or miserliness, to take any kind of risk.
This character is especially hesitant to use any material resources and would avoid any investments unless they are absolutely necessary.
This card represents a fear of change and the inability to see the greater possibilities that could be available. Again, couple that with the Kind of Swords energy and you have quite the immoveable antagonist.
Reason to Hate (the backstory between the protagonist and the antagonist):
The Seven of Cups and the Ace of Pentacles indicate that at one point when they were younger, there was an opportunity to obtain a material resource.
This Ace card often indicates a job or promotion, but it could also represent an inheritance or some kind of prize money. The Seven of Cups is about confusion and illusion and things not being what they seem. The jewels look good but might be fake, and the snake is scary but could indicate a beautiful rebirth into a new life.
Whatever the Ace of Pentacles represents in your story, the antagonist chooses the wrong way to claim it and that one choice alters the trajectory of their life. 
Now that we have ideas for our three main characters (protagonist, love interest, and antagonist), we will continue next month by developing a story arc, starting with an inciting incident and working our way through the narrative arc all the way to the resolution. Over the course of this year, using these tarot prompts, you will be able to develop a story from beginning to end. Until next month, here’s how to find me outside of the Center:
Podcast anchor.fm/tarotwithten
YouTube Tarot with Ten
What did you think of this tarot reading and the cards as visual prompts for story development? Share with us in the comments, and contact us if you’re interested in working one-on-one with Teneice in writing with tarot.
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