365 Tarot Spreads: Revealing the Magic in Each Day - Sasha Graham 2014

Hemingway Spread

On This Day

Hemingway lived in Paris at the height of Gertrude Stein’s “lost generation,” drank with F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce, and was married four times.

American literary giant Ernest Hemingway was born on this day in 1899. Hemingway redefined the writing style of the time with his taut, economical prose. Offering utmost respect to his reader, he wrote using the “principle of the iceberg” theory, which states that seven-eighths of a story lies underneath the surface. Allowing his readers to fill in the blanks, using repetition, rhythm, and repeated images, his stories resonate with large themes and complex emotions.

Summation of Spread

The Death card resonates strongly with Hemingway as it is a central theme in his work. Hemingway claimed it was only by looking death directly in the face—via war or big-game hunting—that he was able to come to terms with life.

Tarot, like Hemingway’s prose, allows readers to fill in the blanks with their intuition. The Hemingway Spread’s questions are informed by the themes prevailing through Hemingway’s work.

Cast Your Cards

Cast the Hemingway Spread’s cards in the shape of a bullfighting sword.

1. What is my relationship to men?

2. What is my relationship to women?

3. How do I find dignity under pressure?

4. What does life teach me?

5. What does death teach me?

6. How do I focus on the essential?

7. How may I communicate better?

8. What lies beneath the tip of my iceberg?