The layout is called The Writer's Celtic Cross and it has 11 cards instead of the traditional 10.
Card One: Setting Strength.
As this is the card dealing with the setting here is what I see, beginning with the top one.
I see a setting that has a beach with a cliff above it. Somewhere on the cliff there is an old tree who's roots have grown through the rocks so that they are visible by those looking up at the cliff from the beach. On the beach there are smaller stones that seemed to have fallen from the cliff face above and there is a sand path through them that leads to the edge of the water.
Some where not far off there is a forest. The forest floor is covered in leaves and low growing plants like ferns and there are rocks on the floor. The tree leaf colors suggest that it is fall, possibly October and the trees are maples.
Card Two: Protagonist The Emperor.
Here we meet our protagonist. Now because this is a young adult book the protagonist is a young adult and a girl.
In the first card we have three people. To me this says that the family has a father, a young girl and a young boy. They are well dressed, which suggests a family that has money. The family also appears to be close and used to doing things together.
*The Father: He is blond haired with blue eyes. He has a mustache. and a beard that matches his hair. He comes across as very relaxed though he is not passive as he is the master of his domain. He is proud and amused by his tow children.
*The Mother: She is not present in the family which suggests that she may have died or is separated from the father and the children.
*The Girl: She has curly black hair and dark colored eyes. She is a very happy person who's favorite color is purple and she seems to be very comfortable in the out of doors. The girl also appears to be powerfully built. Her body type reminds me of the gymnast Mary Lou Retton. She has paler skin.
*The Boy: He is blond like his father, but it is lighter, possibly lightened by the sun. He has clear blue eyes. He is slimmer then his sister and has a darker skin tone which suggests that he spends more time outside then she does. He comes across as being gentle and liking both animals and people.
In card two we have a older man. He is a father figure too, which suggests that the young girl was possibly adopted and he may be her real father. He comes off as being present in her life, but distant, almost like he is not there everyday. It is possible that she has no idea that he is related to her, but he does know her ties to him.
*Father Two: He has long wavy light brown hair that falls to his shoulders. He has a mustache and he is muscular in build. He comes across as a quiet authority who is good at watching and being patient. He is soft spoken and has the abiltiy to inspire others in his quiet way,
Card Three: Antagonist: The World/ Universe.
This tells me that the antagonist is not physical, it is what is known as an abstract antagonist. In terms of conflict this suggests a situation that is Man against Nature.
There is a world that exists within the physical setting of this story, and that is the world of the Pagans and Wiccans. Once the MC knows about it, there is conflict because her family is Mormon. What she does not know is that her real father chose Wicca as his way after he left the Church. Her antagonist comes and she has to choose which world she wants to stay in. Man Vs Nature is then the theme of this book.
Card Four: Foreshadowing: The Four of Wands/Scepters..
If you are not sure what this is, it is the act of giving the reader hints at what is to come later in the story.
Card One shows a young woman standing on the balcony of a castle that stands on a rocky cliff. It is possible that this is the same cliff face referred to in the first card. The castle to many tarot readers stands for a goal that is being worked for by the MC, something like protection, defense, etc. I see it slightly different here. The castle could be a place of protection for the MC. Her home. As she stands on the balcony she is thinking and looking off into the distance. Maybe there is the need to leave the safety of hearth and home. Maybe she feels that something is pulling at her or calling to her. The cliff suggests that the way of getting there will not be easy and that home may not let go of its hold that easy. Rocks can fall and so can she and falls usually hurt so there is the hint that she may fall and be harmed or someone else will be harmed by her fall. For her family, who believes that they are eternal, her fall breaks that cohesiveness and each member feels pain from it. Her real father feels pain because he is limited to help her through this unless something happens where he can actively help her.
Card Two suggests that she is willingly welcomed into this new world and is not yet able to see the trials ahead because she is blinded by the newness of things and the people around her. Many turn out to welcome her, some that she can see and some she cannot.
Card Five: Exposition Knight of Wands/Septers.
This is the back story.
Card One: On November 16th of the year before, a night that had a large full moon, a message comes delivered by a man that is about 28 and who has grey eyes and strawberry blond hair. He comes to her with a message about a journey. The message also talks about a new home. This man is Fierce, short-tempered, witty, a flirt. He is full of energy too.
The original part of this story had the MC finding out that the man who has coached her in gymnastics was offered a job that he accepted and because he did that he has decided to quit working at the gym where the MC has trained since she was 6. He also tells her that another coach approached him about training her. There is a problem though because to accept this offer means that she has to move home and would be training at the nations top gym. Her father(s) are leary of letting her go off on her own after their own experiences in that level of sport, but in the end they give her the room and blessing to try telling her she can come home if it does not work out.
Card Two: The knight is standing on a path made of stones and that suggests to me that the journey to where she is going will not be easy, even though the path is clearly marked and there is grass on either side. This could also be a reference to the path that goes to the beach from the cliffs in the setting card or the paths through the forest in the other setting card. Sort of an all roads lead to Rome deal, suggesting that all the paths lead to the setting location of the actual story.
Card Six: Inciting Force or Incident: The Tower.
The Inciting Incident is the event or character that triggers the conflict in the story. Both cards say it was a sudden upheaval or disaster. And as the conflict is tied to the new world of Paganism/Wicca lets look at the cards and see what they suggest.
Card One; The tower stands on rocks that look a lot like the cliff in the settings card, so this comes after she has moved away. In the new world she meets Jason, who hides a secret that he will hold back from revealing until he is sure that she can handle it. The lightning strike appears to be going from the ground upwards, which means the MC is the one that brings the disaster to bear by her own actions, and the action comes out of rebelling against the faith that she was raised in, Moving away from home has opened her eyes to parts of the world that her faith would attempt to protect and hide her from it. The more ingrained she becomes with the team and her training the more she falls off the path of her faith that she was raised in.
The original idea is to have the disaster be one of three things:
*One: The people she thinks of as parents die in an accident on Christmas Eve while she is visiting them in Utah. This allowed for her natural father to step in and help her through the trials.
*Two: MC finds a journal in the study of the house in Utah and she sits down to read it. In doing this she finds out hat the man she calls dad is not her father and her brother is in reality her cousin. It comes out that they had an affair and separated. Mom kept the secret and let the man she married. her daughter's father, think that the baby she was carrying was his. Now I can see him getting angry, if I have to kill someone which is common to make the Hero go on his/her Journey, and taking off in the car and an accident happens. According to other cards posted her mom is all ready out of the picture.
*Three: The death of her room mate and best friend makes her question her faith and she walks away from it out of anger and resentment.
Card Two: This one shows a storm and darkness around the tower. The lightning Says to me a trial by fire is coming out of this. This could also be the situation that proves her as worthy to enter the world that is the Circle and her biological father faces a similar trial but he has to prove his love for her and that he does actually want to be with her.
Card Seven: Rising Action/Complication Magician.
The Rising Action is the series of events that builds from the Conflict. It begins with the Inciting Incendent and ends with the Climax.
Card One: This is the young girl from the Emperor card. The path that she has taken has changed her. She is studying the world of the unknown, with an ear to the realm of ghosts and spirits.
Card Two: Her element is water and her strongest comes from her emotions. She has a wolf and an owl as totems and meets them in the woods that are seen in the setting card two.
Jason has excepted her and has told her about the Circe and has offered to teach her if that is what she really wants.
Card Eight: The Crisis Eight of Swords.
The conflict reaches a turning point. At this point the opposing forces in the story meet and the conflict becomes most intense.
Card One: The castle is back in the picture. She is in a place that she should feel calm, protected, and safe, but she is far from that. She is bound by chains that may or may not be able to be seen by those around her and that are taking a toll on her. She looks as if she is not sleeping so well. She could also be plagued by nightmares. The chains are one of three things:
*One: Her inability to chose which path she wants to explore and believe in.
*Two: She is unable or unwilling to accept the truth of her real father and is suffering from the loss of the family she grew up with.
*Three: She is having issues coping with the loss of her friend and her anger towards god for the fact that it happened.
Now she is not a total prisoner and she can get herself free of the chains but she needs to accept blame and responsibility where it is hers and to allow others to do so when it is theirs and to listen and allow the healing to happen.
Card Two: She is waiting for someone else to rescue her when she has the power to get free on her own.
Card Nine: The Climax: Two of Wands/Spears.
The climax is the result of the crisis.
Card One: A blond man is casting a spell inside a stone circle. He is outside as he casts it. The spell could very well be one to give her the strength to get past this and to do what she needs to do. It could also could be a spell of healing. The worker could either be Jason or her biological father.
Card Two: What I get is that the MC and and her real dad take a walk in the woods, the same woods in the setting card, and they talk as they go. It is at this point that the MC comes to realize that he did not give her up willingly and he has been praying for her in his own way and trying to send her what could without breaking the agreement that he had with the two she thought were her parents. It is here that they talk about Wicca and he comes clean about being a practitioner and she tells him about her and Jason and the Circle. He encourages her to follow her heart and tells her that she needs to come to terms with her feelings and that she needs to accept responsibility for her actions and words and all that.
Card Ten: Falling Action: Knight of Cups.
The events after the climax which close the story.
Card One: The boy from the Emperor is here. He likes to be by the water and may like to fish as a hobby or a way to relax. The other person here has not been seen before so my mind says that the red-haired woman could be the missing mother or the woman that their father is dating. She has green or hazel eyes and is longing for something or is bothered by memories of the past.
Card Two: The forest is the setting here and I keep getting something about a knight on a white horse denoting that this would be a person that rescues someone in the story. The water is calm which denotes an emotional calm. This knight brings with her a mystery and a purity.
Card Eleven: Denouement/Resolution: Justice.
Card One: This speaks to me of Jason and the MC having to accept their actions and their relationship. They are finally a peace in their relationship and the MC can finally accept the relationship with her real dad and can accept the events in the position before this.
Card Two: Everything is back in balance and Karmic justice is handed out. People come to realize that all of this happened for a reason regardless of weather they know the reason of not.
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