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

Lovecraftian Horror Spread

On This Day

Lovecraft’s biggest influence was Edgar Allen Poe; he claimed that Poe was his “god of fiction.” Both lost their fathers at a young age, loved poetry, and used antiquated language in writing, and they both worked against contemporary literary styles to create their own worlds of fantasy.

H. P. Lovecraft, prolific author of essay, horror, fantasy, and science fiction, was born on this day in 1890.

Summation of Spread

Swords represent the articulation of thoughts, the mental process by which we take our emotions, sensorial reactions, and perceived facts to make sense of our reality—a reality which, upon examination, is never as solid as we think.

Lovecraft spurred an entire literary genre called Lovecraftian horror. He emphasized the cosmic horror of the unknown rather than typical symbols of gore and fear. He wrote about prehuman, supernatural, and terrestrial elements operating under a thin shell of reality that, when revealed, would damage the sanity of any ordinary person. It is upon these themes that the Lovecraftian Horror Spread has been crafted.

Cast Your Cards

Answer the following questions at your own risk.

1. How thin is the skin of reality?

2. What does the past teach me?

3. When do I feel most isolated?

4. How do I overcome a sense of helplessness?

5. How can I accept unanswered questions?

6. How close do I hover to the brink of insanity?

7. What is strange about my relationship with my parents?

8. What truly underlies my reality?