Monday, March 8, 2021

The 2021 A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

It's that time of the year again! We are coming up on April, the month of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I have been doing this challenge for 9 years, and in the past 8 I've always had a theme:

Weird Princesses (2013)
Tales with Colors (2014)
Epics A to Z (2015)
Diversity A to Z (2016)
WTF - Weird Things in Folktales (2017)
WTF Hungary - Weird Things in Hungarian Folktales (2018)
Fruit Folktales (2019)
Folktales of Endangered Species (2020)

This year, once again, I am doing a "Mythology and Folklore" theme. Drumroll, please! The theme for the 2021 A to Z Challenge on this blog is:

 TAROT TALES

Confession: for someone who works with folklore and storytelling, I have never really been into esoteric or spiritual things at all. But last year a dear friend of mine introduced me to tarot cards, and my brain just clicked: these are great for storytelling! And for introspection. (Okay, first my goblin brain clicked, because SHINY AND COLLECTABLE!).
Tarot cards speak a language of symbols and metaphors that is very familiar to me from traditional tales. So, I looked into it, and I did find some decks that are folklore and myth themed (such as Tarot of the DivineFairy Tale Tarot, or my latest favorite, the Yokai Tarot).

However, once I started learning the meanings of cards and the symbols around them, I kept thinking of tales that would fit them well. And then I thought this would make a great A to Z theme - so, here we are!

Over the course of April, I'll be posting folktales that fit cards from the classic RWS tarot deck. I'll be focusing on the Major Arcana (covering all 22 cards), and for the remaining 4 spaces I'll look at some other cards. For each card I'll select one story, and give you a summary, sources, and interesting information. 

I have been working on the posts ahead of time (I always do this, so that I have time to visit around in April), and I can already tell you this project is a lot of fun! I'll make sure that it is equally enjoyable to everyone, even if you don't know about tarot (or folklore) at all.

See you all on April 1st!

Bonus question: Do you have tarot cards? Do you have favorite decks? Do you have favorite images? Share in the comments! :)

27 comments:

  1. Oh, I am SO looking forward to your posts! I always love your A-Z, but this one sounds extra special! I will have to tell my daughter about it, she has tarot cards. Actually, she has a few decks with her, most are still in her old bedroom.

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  2. This sounds so interesting. I've always wondered about tarot cards and always liked your themes.

    https://findingeliza.com/

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  3. That is such a fascinating theme! I love folktales and I'm fascinated wth tarots too. So this is just fo rme.
    Can't wait!

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  4. I look forward to learning some new folk tales and following along. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  5. 9 years in a row, that's an amazing effort! I've missed the last 3 years some how, excited to be back this year and look forward to reading your posts :-)

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  6. Hari OM
    Wow, you are a veteren of A-Z!!! I only did one and this year will be second time after some break. I have tarot and other oracle cards - I have always used them for introspection and clarification and I look forward to reading your 'take' on things! YAM xx

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  7. Congrats on being a longtime AtoZer! I took a few years off but have returned.
    I have a couple of decks of tarot cards, I had read somewhere that the cards have to "call to you" or someone has to give you a deck for all to be right with the world. hahahh I bought my first deck at thrift and purchased a Steampunk set for myself. As an aside, Tarot card books are an easy resell.

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  8. What a creative theme! I gave my daughter a set of Tarot cards for Christmas. The artwork on the deck was so beautiful. Weekends In Maine

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  9. Sounds fantastic! I'm excited to read!

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  10. WOW talk about a unique theme. I can't wait to read yours!

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  11. What a unique take! I love tarot decks and stories. This should be an awesome theme.

    Anne from annehiga.com

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  12. Sounds fabulous - looking forward to your series!

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  13. I am rejoining the A to Z Challenge after taking a couple years off. I am certainly going to be keeping an eye out for your posts!

    The Other Side, A to Z of Monsters.

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  14. I'm doing several of them, but this A to Z is right up the street of the one I'm doing - I'm dealing 26 Tarot cards and using them as my prompt for the year :)
    It'll be awesome! Looking forward to yours!

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  15. Yay! I'm so excited about your theme! I have purchased a couple very artistic tarot decks in the past few years & found an old copy of a "how to" book at a library sale. This should be fascinating.

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  16. Another great topic to read again this year! I love your AtoZ posts, always so interesting and fun!
    My 2021 AtoZ Reveal

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  17. This sounds fascinating! I don't know much about tarot although I've found it interesting. Can't wait to read your posts!

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  18. Cool! I have a deck that I won. I've never actually used it. I've known people who genuinely practice the art and make their living from using that gift.

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  19. Your A to Z is always my favourite! :) Looking forward to read these!

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  20. I'm looking forward to your theme. You always have such fun and informative posts and themes. One of these days, I'd love to have a Tarot reading.

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  21. Sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun to visit your blog this April :-)

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  22. Interested! Not that I'm interested in tarot cards in any way, but I do similar things with, for example Chinese zodiac, feng shui, etc. It's just a nice way to find a gem to use in my writing!

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  23. Another great theme - always love your posts for the challenge, so intrigued to see what you come up with for tarot cards.

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  24. Definitely looking forward to your folktales. I read an enjoyable mystery recently that involved tarot cards and I am interested in learning more about them.

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  25. This is a fantastic theme. I look forward to reading your stories about Tarot cards.

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