Can divination disrupt your journey?

As I've been promoting my new book this season, I've had a few people ask me about using tarot for creative purposes. This is one of my favourite ways to use tarot, especially when I get to read for clients who are emerging or established artists. 

Talking about the ways in which divination can generate ideas or crystallize obscure concepts is something I would love to share more about in the future. There is so much tarot can do when we get curious about our lives and creative with our questions. 

One question I've had recently is whether I use tarot to help me decide which creative projects to pursue. 

The answer, for me at least, is no: I don't base my inspiration against the tarot, at least when it comes to whether I should pursue a new idea or not. 

No matter the topic, there can be a tendency to want to ask whether something will work out or be worthwhile. Everyone wants to write the next bestseller or hit single. 

We all like to wonder, "What if I'm onto something here?" 

But I have been a writer even longer than I've been a tarot reader. And one thing that creativity has taught me is that artistic ideas can always be worth pursuing - even if they don't pan out. 

What I mean by "pan out" is that sometimes we start writing a story or painting a picture or whatever else we're inspired to do, and for whatever reason the idea just doesn't manifest into a final project. I've started many manuscripts that didn't translate as well on the page as they did in my head. 

There is a domino effect to creativity and ideas, though. Very often I've found that when I open the door to one concept, it starts a chain reaction in my mind that leads me to other ideas and possibilities. Sometimes those ideas don't occur to me until I've explored a previous notion. 

Sometimes the failure of one project sheds light on what your next move can be instead. 

This is why I'm cautious about using divination prematurely, especially in pursuit of straight success. If you ask a question like "will this idea be commercially successful?" and the cards say no, you might get discouraged and drop a project altogether. And that might mean missing out other opportunities an idea could lead you to.

You might miss out future inspiration. Or you might not grow as an artist if you're not allowing for experimentation and exploration. 

It's why I prefer to make my own decisions about which projects are giving me energy and where I might take them first. Later I might consult the cards to ask about how to move around a specific creative block, or to get ideas as to how move forward once I'm deep into something.

If we can be patient with our own processes and surrender to what might unfold, life becomes its own oracle. 

I try to follow this principle with all types of questions, whether I'm reading for myself or for clients. My first astrology teacher, Rebecca Gordon, hammered this point home when she taught us about reading on new relationships. "There might be something two people are meant to learn from each other," she said, "I don't want to disrupt that by looking at whether a new relationship will turn into something longer-term." 

This was in response to querents who rush to readers asking if their new date might be marriage material, or if they should be bothered to see someone again if it turns out they aren't The One. 

This advice stuck with me as a diviner, as it paralleled my experiences with creativity and helped me with my tarot consultations when querents wanted to rush a situation before it had properly played out. 

So whether you are reading cards to ask about creative work, a relationship, or any other new endeavour you're curious about, keep in mind that there might be more to the story of that experience than the end goal. Sometimes there are bits of wisdom we have to pick up along the way in order to become the next version of ourselves. 

Until next time,

Liz

p.s. Curious about my new book, Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea? You can check it out here.