this is my tarot work diary - weekly intuitions for art & business life, drawn from the tarot.

this week's pull seemed less exciting than the previous weeks of Aces, Kings, Queens, and Hierophants, and High Priestesses -- but the more I digested it, the more it feels like such a distilled and clear invitation for the right next step.

I'm feeling called to deepen my immersion in creative process, create bounty to give away in my magic shop, and continue cultivating my world as a refuge for travelers of the pathless creative path.

summary distillations

six of cups -- giving away cups of creative bounty (art-objects)
8 of pentacles -- deeper immersion in process and craft
5 of pentacles -- offering a place of refuge in the blizzard

six of cups: giving away bounty with playfulness

most interpretations I've read of this card are about the act of bountiful exchange: the giving and receiving the cups of white flowers. it's clear that this red-hat child has a back stock of cups -- he or she didn't just make ONE precious cup. labor was somewhat organized. the transaction is filled with a sense of lightness and child's play, regardless of whether money is or isn't exchanged. it's not really the point.

for me, the first intuition that comes when I look at this card is:

what can I create with a sense of play, collect a bountiful stock of, and then give away in multiples?

or, asked another way: which wildflowers of my heart can I gather, arrange into cups, then give to whoever comes by, and asks for one? the emphasis is on two things: PLAY (perhaps the child would've collected flowers, regardless) and BOUNTY (there's a back stock).

for a while, I've been simmering the idea of making more art-objects for my my magic shop (which has been in hibernation for a while) -- things like zines, mantra animations, digital and analog little beautiful things. a boutique alchemy shop where everything is beautiful and you want to feast on and buy everything. (and some things, of course, will be free). I think about the act of creation as child's play -- even when what I create will serve as guides or resources for others in the journey of wayfinding.

why? I've been doing creative service work for a while, and even if and when I LOVE my clients and feel so satisfied in creating something for them, it sometimes still feels like an inefficient use of my creative energy. I want to create multiples of beautiful things (the capitalist word is "products") -- and give them away anytime, to whoever shows up and asks. even more than that -- I want to be IN the process of collecting my own bounty -- my cups of wildflowers. more and more, this seems to be where my energy is leading me.

five of pentacles: offering refuge, power, and belonging

this card has been traditionally thought of as being about poverty, being in need, wandering as exiles outside the stained-glass warmth of the church. when I look at this card, I think about how I, too, was (and still am) always wandering outside of formal institutional structures.

sometimes there would be blizzard storms and terrible weather, and I'd feel crippled and miserable. so many years felt like that, actually. (I share this on this aforementioned podcast episode, and in this piece about lonely work.

I lived in the blizzard for so long that I made a home for myself there.

recently, I've been receiving messages from kindred strangers sharing how my work has brought them solace and comfort and the feeling of not being alone.

if the journey of way-finding as an independent artist in the world is akin to wandering through dark mountains, while in a blizzard -- then I see my role (as I explored in last week's reflections and revalidated by my soul card, the Hierophant) as the host of an alternative to the church.

what I offer is more of a cave like cabin in blizzard mountains -- a place you go for warmth, gentleness, magic, solace, and refueling on inner power. it IS a sacred space, not unlike a church, but the God we worship here - is Creative Life Force, itself. (and in that sense, I dare to consider myself more like Yoda, than a priest.)

the invitation this card offers me, then, is to consider this:

how can I continue to build this magical space, and offer a sense of refuge, power, inspiration, belonging, and solace -- to wayward travelers of the lonely journey?