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Three-Card Tarot Spread Introduction

This essential three-card spread maps the fundamental structure of your narrative by identifying the key moments that transform your story from situation into compelling journey. Rather than focusing on detailed plot mechanics, this spread reveals the archetypal forces that drive your story’s emotional and thematic progression, the catalyst that launches everything, the crucible that transforms your characters, and the resolution that delivers meaning. This framework works across all genres and story lengths, providing the skeletal structure upon which you can build the specific scenes and complications that bring your narrative to life.

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Card 1: Beginning

The Inciting Incident or Opening Energy

•    Reveals the catalyst that disrupts your character’s ordinary world and sets the story in motion

•   Shows the initial energy, theme, or archetypal force that will drive the entire narrative forward

•   Represents the hook that draws readers in and establishes the story’s emotional or spiritual stakes

•   Consider how this opening energy contains the seeds of both the central conflict and the ultimate resolution

 

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Card 2: Middle

Central Conflict, Transformation, Turning Point

•   Shows the heart of your story where the main tension reaches its peak and your character faces their greatest     challenge

•  Reveals the crucial moment of choice, crisis, or revelation that determines the story’s direction

•  Represents the transformative crucible where your character must confront what they’ve been avoiding

•  Consider how this middle point forces your character to evolve or risk losing everything they value

 

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Card 3: End

The Resolution, Lesson, or Final Transformation

•   Indicates how the conflicts resolve and what new equilibrium emerges from the story’s journey

•   Shows the wisdom gained, the growth achieved, or the new world order that results from the character’s     transformation

•   Represents the story’s ultimate message and the gift your character offers to both themselves and their world

•   Consider how this ending connects back to the beginning, showing how far the character has traveled while     honoring the story’s opening promise