🔮Writing Witchery: Tarot for You and Your Book
Dearest camerados,
Today I pulled the hermit card just before I sat down to write this missive: proof positive that it's the witching season because my watch is now set to hermit o'clock. These cards are almost always spot-on for me, and when I asked what I needed to know today, I got this message of solitude and inner rest and exploration, which came after a powerful session this morning with a practitioner who is helping me with my fibromyalgia. It coincided with what my body, mind, heart, and spirit are signaling to me, and what the cooling temperatures outside are confirming: it's the most wonderful time of the year.
I knew I wanted to talk about tarot and the delicious witchery that sweeps in on October winds, but I was at a loss for a quote to put at the top (which inspires the whole post for me). I looked up at the board above my desk, at the Jane Hirshfield poem just waiting to be shared that I keep forgetting is there. Ah, yes: October strikes again. This kind of synchronicity is what we call everyday magic. As I looked at the images on the board, I was struck by how many pictures there were of solitary things: a deer staring in a camera, a lighthouse shining at night, the war photographer Lynsey Addario, gazing into the distance. Anne of Green Gables sitting in front of the house with a book, a postcard illustration of a woman swimming alone in the Adriatic, Audrey Hepburn on a Vespa in Rome, a goddess statue with a swirling golden cup, and the image below, "The Ecstasy of Enough" by the incomparable Liz Huston.
I like what Moon Studio creator Sarah Faith Gottesdiener said about this hermity vibe of the season via her 2023 Many Moons Lunar Planner (which I love and has many tarot spreads):
"October is a perfect chance to explore your own underworld."
I couldn't agree more. I find my body gently closing shop, the word "no" on my lips more when invitations are extended. There is a quietude that has crept inside my chest and it whispers of blankets and mugs filled with hot things. I want to sleep more. I want to make soup. And I find that the witchy, intuitive, High Priestess part of me is gently asking for more attention. I may not have herbs hanging from rafters or bottles filled with tinctures, but I want ritual. I want to pull on a weaver's cosmic thread and see where it takes me.
Tarot is what I turn to in these times. When I have questions or need clarity or just need prompts for the journaling I know I need to do, but avoid because I don't want to get caught circling the drain with rumination. The images set my imagination to romping and the solitary act of pulling a card and contemplating it, seeing how it lands in my body, is a precious slice of the day where I get to commune with the numinous.
The cards have always done right by me. And when I read for others, they say the same, even if they don't yet know how to read for themselves. As writers, we have the emotional intelligence to be able to receive the messages hidden in the illustrations and in our subconscious. As Kelly Barnhill might say in her adorable middle grade The Ogress and the Orphans, "It's not magic...but it's close."
Above: A wall in a tarot shop I fell in love with in the Seven Dials, London.
If you're curious about how you might use tarot for you, your book in general, or your characters, then you're in the right corner of ye olde Internet because I have a Tarot for Writers mini course, with the option to do a reading. (For those of you that have done the course, now might be a good time to dip back into your tarot practice with those materials).
Think of this as a couple of hours to yourself to play with the cards and get magically curious.
Mini Tarot for Writers Course (Lecture + Workbook) : $35
Access to the recording of the Intro to Tarot for Writers recorded workshop (October 2022), which includes working through a spread together, Q+A, and next steps.
Lecture Notes to follow along
A beautiful PDF workbook filled with spreads to play with, tarot journal prompts, writing exercises for using the cards for character/story, and more.
Access to my Tarot for Writers Portal. This is a space that I will be adding to from time to time - new decks, spreads, resources, and more.
Bonus Material: Lecture notes, readings, and activities from my lecture on “Becoming the Hanged Writer” - an homage to my favorite card, The Hanged Man, and how it relates to our writing practice and process.
1:1 READING AND TAROT PRACTICE CALL WITH ME
(90 - 120 Minutes): $300
Two Readings: In this 90-minute call (though it can be up to two hours if we need it), I’ll do two readings for you. One is for you, and one is for a challenge you’re having with your book. I’ll choose the deck and spread based on a short email intake we’ll have a few days before.
We’ll talk through what the first spread is bringing up for you with your practice, process, and writing life. We can also use this time to talk a bit more about integrating your tarot practice into your writing life. This is like my Breakthrough calls, but with a tarot focus!
In the second spread, we’ll work with a problem you identified in your intake. This is also a great, hands-on way to learn how to use tarot for yourself. This is how I untangle some of my biggest plot and character snarls.
Get ready for BIG insights and good foundation for how you might move forward in your tarot practice.
In so many ways, tarot is like writing. It's not magic...but it's close.
To you, and your witchy, wild, writing self -
P.S.
If you need a 1:1 to get ready for autumn writing, you know where to find me!