Writing with Rupi: Reviewing Rupi Kaur’s Writing Prompts and Divination Decks

On Inspiration, Divination, and the Process of Automatic Writing

Maybe it’s the earth sign or the English major in me, but I love the classics: classical music, classic literature, and the most ancient and obscure texts. Consequently, I was never really a fan of popular poetry. Why read what’s out today when we still have centuries of material waiting to be explored?

That was until I read Rupi Kaur.

“you look like you smell of

honey and no pain

let me have a taste of that” - Rupi Kaur

During my years in graduate school, I was introduced to Kaur’s poetry through the collection milk and honey. Instead of coloring in the lines and sticking to the strict confines of traditional poetic structures, Kaur’s poems were diverse and disruptive. Each poem had a form that encouraged me to break out of the canon and break all of the rules I had learned about writing poetry. And while many people have critiqued the non-traditional style of Kaur’s writing, I fell in love with it.

Therefore, I was even more excited when I learned that Rupi Kaur was not only a poetry writer but also a teacher who offered workshops and writing prompts to assist other writers on their journey. While I have never been able to attend one of Kaur’s speaking engagements, while walking through the aisles of my local bookstore, I came across a box set of her poetry books sitting next to smaller boxes with the title “Rupi Kaur’s Writing Prompts.”

Premiering in 2023, Kaur released four of these writing prompt decks focused on the topics of relationships, balance, gratitude, and self-love. Each deck includes seventy writing prompts that can be used for reflection and journaling, and I have spent this year working through the relationship deck.

While it has been inspiring for my writing, it also reminds me of my work with automatic writing and divination. Therefore, I want to use this post to review the relationship deck and discuss the inspiration behind writing with images, prompts, and card decks.

Divination and the Writing Prompts Deck: On Writing Relationships

As I approach the end of writing my memoir essays, I have been particularly interested in the Relationships Writing prompt deck because I am reflecting on some of the most important relationships in my life and what they have meant to me. While it is easy to recall the significant moments and lessons in a relationship, the writing prompts provide a way to delve deeper into more mundane aspects of past relationships. Additionally, the deck encourages looking forward to future relationship dynamics.

“how can our love die

if it’s written

in these pages” - Rupi Kaur

When you open the Writing Prompts Deck on Relationships, an instruction card introduces you to how the deck should be used. Specifically, the introductory card states, "Creating a healthy relationship with yourself and others leads to a fulfilling life. These prompts are an invitation to step inside yourself. Take a deep breath. Shuffle the deck. Pull a card. Write your heart out”.

When I read that introduction, it immediately brought to mind the use of tarot card decks.

Within various spiritual traditions, tarot cards are often used to explore the mind and inspire creative growth by shuffling a deck of cards and selecting a few to read. This has made tarot cards a popular psychological tool, as they can act as a Rorschach test for the psyche. By combining the card's meaning with what the reader sees, valuable insights can be gained about the subconscious mind.

Many writers have also discovered the potential of using tarot cards as a tool for both divination and writing. Caroline Donahue, the author of "Story Arcana: Tarot for Writers," explains how writers can use the Rider Waite Smith Tarot deck to create storylines and narratives for their creative projects. Through creating specific tarot card spreads for writers, Donahue also offers an innovative method of outlining manuscripts, crafting characters, and experimenting with storytelling.

As a tarot reader, I have also been getting double duty out of Kaur’s writing prompts deck, as the cards can be used to give a framework or a question to traditional tarot readings. I have also found that the process of divination, or uncovering hidden meaning or speculative knowledge, is not only accomplished through the act of shuffling a deck of cards, but also through the automatic writing that the prompts encourage.

On Anima/us: The Artist’s Way and Automatic Writing

For those who don’t know, automatic Writing is a method of divination in which a person writes without stopping or editing, allowing their mind to fill the page freely. The practice has gained popularity through Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way," which encourages writers and creatives to use morning pages to tap into their inspiration and inner voice.

Encouraging writers to "Write their hearts out," Rupi Kaur also uses the writing prompts deck to help writers unlock their true potential by accessing the subconscious and unleashing their creative spirit.

“the thing about writing is

i can’t tell if it’s healing

or destroying me” - Rupi Kaur

Similarly, in the essay “The Creative Spirit,” Black Feminist author June Jordan writes about how to unleash the creative spirit by being open to loving guidance. Specifically, June Jordan writes, “I believe that the creative spirit is nothing less than love made manifest.” In this sense, we can think of the creative spirit as a spontaneous gift bestowed upon receptive beings through inspiration, guidance, and a love for writing and creativity.

Although I frequently examine the complex relationship between passion and creative expression, many artists credit their writing ability to getting caught up in the rapture of this creative spirit. Specifically, Jordan believes that by tapping into this inner knowing and creative ability, writers can connect with the freedom and uniqueness of children, as well as the creative energy and spirit that emanates from them.

She also focuses on the metaphor of the tiger lily as a symbol of this creative energy that can inspire writers, drawing on the orange symbolism of sacral authority and following your gut impulse.

Reflecting on the concept of creative spirit, I was also reminded of Jungian psychoanalytic theory. According to Carl Jung, the Anima or Animus represents the spirit or soul-fire within each of us. However, this force is often buried deep within our subconscious and requires extensive shadow work to unlock its creative potential. One effective way to tap into this potential is through the use of automatic writing, not just as a method of divination and writing inspiration, but also as a psychological technique that can help access the subconscious mind.

“our backs

tell stories

no books have

the spine to

carry”

- “women of color” by Rupi Kaur

In this sense, there are many uses for automatic writing and card decks in our daily lives. Therefore, I have been incorporating Rupi Kaur's writing prompts into my automatic writing practice, which involves free-writing poetry and prose in response to the questions. This practice has helped me to release any blocked energy or memories that I struggle to access and has motivated me to create a new writing portfolio.

So, if you're looking to add some inspiration to your daily writing routine or enjoy expanding the limits of your conscious (and subconscious) mind, I highly recommend automatic writing with Rupi Kaur’s writing prompt decks!