What this is all about...



Freitag, 25. Januar 2013

Dear Satu - Yours Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In my deck interview with the Haindl I picked up the idea that it could be worthwhile asking the deck about matters concerned with creative projects. So I thought I'd combine that with a decision-making spread and do a reading for a historical figure. Here goes...

Dear Satu,

for about six years now I have been very successfully writing detective novels using the same protagonist. Somehow I feel that I have hit a dead end. It's very lucrative but if truth be told, I am getting a little bored with writing about the same character all the time and writing about him doesn't leave me enough time to work on other projects. 
So I have been thinking about having him die in the next novel. It's a difficult decision and I don't know if it's a wise move to kill off a character that's so popular. My mother has been trying to convince me not to - she's a big fan of my detective apparently. 

What advice can you give me?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


if I am not mistaken you are talking about your world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes? I feel extremely honoured and flattered that you are turning to me for advice in this matter and hope that I can help you with your decision. 

I used a decision-making spread I made up for these occasions. It's a 7-card spread using the following positions:

1: Your attitude/feeling concerning option A
2: Your attitude/feeling concerning option B
3: Cons of choosing A
4: Cons of choosing B
5: Pros of choosing A
6: Pros of choosing B

7: General advice on this matter

I used the Haindl Tarot to answer your question and the cards were as follows:

1: Your attitude/feeling concerning option A - Ace of Swords
2: Your attitude/feeling concerning option B - Princess of Disks
3: Cons of choosing A - Four of Swords
4: Cons of choosing B - Seven of Swords
5: Pros of choosing A - Ace of Pentacles
6: Pros of choosing B - XIII Death (Transformation) reversed

7: III The Empress

You have thought a lot about killing off your famous detective, you find it hard to do so but somehow feel it could be an act of liberation that is necessary. You feel something like a parent's responsibility towards Holmes and allowing him to live would mean you put your own interest behind that of our famous protagonist.

The negative aspects of allowing him to die would be that it could mean a period of standstill or rest in your work, possibly a creative pause of some kind in which you need time to refocus. The Four Swords could also stand for stalling sales of your work, so it could very well be that for a while there will be no or considerably less money to be made with your other projects. 
Seven swords shows me though that simply carrying on with your Holmes series is not really an option for you as you feel it would be dodging the issue and doing something futile or useless. Your heart would not be in it. 
Ace of Pentacles tells me that allowing Holmes to die is a chance for you to focus on "real life" projects, on building something lasting and more solid. Death reversed could point to the fact that you would feel like you are "riding a dead horse" if you continued writing your Holmes story even though you feel your passion for it has gone. 

There are only Swords, Pentacles and Majors in this spread which tells me you see the problem chiefly in rational and financial terms. Would it be a wise move to keep writing Holmes for the money? The cards suggest your mind is already made up as you feel it would be "dishonest", non-productive and like trying to avoid the inevitable. Your interest has turned elsewhere and though I am sure as a skilled writer you could still produce wonderful Holmes novels, you would do so without passion and love. 

The Empress reminds you that creativity is a natural process, you have to go with the flow, make the best of what's there, be prepared for surprises. Allow for natural rhythms and follow your own creative path. If you feel you don't want to write Holmes anymore, perhaps you shouldn't, no matter what people say. It probably depends on how important financial success is to you in this matter. The card shows an open door in the background with a diffuse source of light. Perhaps you could leave a loophole, not shut the door on Holmes entirely.

For the time being, however, it seems you have grown fed up with him and it would make little sense to just keep going if you ask me. 

Quintessence of this reading: VIII Strength (in the Haindl) - You should follow the path that makes the best use of your energies and your strengths. It's okay that you didn't give in to your first impulse but took the time to think about this properly but since you describe your feeling as having hit a creative dead end, I think you should do what you feel is necessary to free your creative passions that have been domesticized for six years. Sure, (financial) success is nice but it's not everything. 

I hope I could help you with this and wish you luck with your writing and other projects, no matter what you decide about Holmes. 


1 Kommentar:

  1. This is perfect given how Sir Doyle spoke of Holmes being a pain in the behind. :D Loved this.