Tarot Rituals for Creativity, Connection & Curiosity
By Claire Bowman
It can often feel as though, in order to be a creative person — to write that book, or compose that album, or create the oeuvre you’ll be known for far into the future — that you must sacrifice something. And perhaps that is true — true commitment to an artistic practice does require discipline, which sometimes requires certain kinds of sacrifice. But I’d like to challenge the notion that we must earn time for creativity (and other things we love) by sacrificing excess amounts of energy to work, other people, and the all the various demands of life.
Creativity (and other things we love) are not a luxury we get to enjoy only if we’ve worked hard enough first. Creativity is not merely an extra-curricular activity, something we’re allowed to do if there’s surplus time left over. We don’t need to feel guilty for allowing ourselves to simply feel good and do something we enjoy.
Easier said than done, perhaps — because, yes, there are bills to pay, and the world sends a lot of mixed signals about how we should and shouldn’t experience creativity (and other things we love). But perhaps the five Tarot rituals below can help you move in the direction of ease (and away from the should-ing and guilting that often comes when we allow ourselves to slow down, create, and enjoy.
This collection of rituals is meant to help you first connect with creativity, curiosity, and community — but also help you practice enjoying these things! So grab your Tarot deck, a journal, and something to write with. You may choose to work with one ritual today and come back to try others later. Or you may want to play with all of them in the coming two weeks. If you experience the power and magic of these rituals in interesting ways, please reach out and let us know!
The Ace of Pentacles, Three of Cups, Nine of Pentacles, and Page of Cups from Fifth Spirit Tarot.
Four Tarot Rituals to Connect with Creativity, Connection, Nourishment, and Curiosity
The following rituals are inspired by cards from the Fifth Spirit Tarot deck, which I love! The Tarot archetypes included here are all Minor Arcana cards, which focus on the more mundane, everyday rhythms of life. All four cards are either from the Pentacles or Cups suit. The Pentacles are connected to Earth, which gives us the feeling of steadiness and grounded-ness. The Pentacles remind us that good, solid things take time to grow and mature. The Cups are connected to our emotional experience, how our hearts speak to us and help illuminate our path. Hearts do a lot of thinking for us (if we let them), and bring a lot of deep wisdom to our experience.
The Ace of Pentacles from Fifth Spirit Tarot.
The Three of Cups from Fifth Spirit Tarot.
Ace of Pentacles
This version of the Ace of Pentacles appropriately depicts a sprouting bulb being planted in the soil, and I invite you to think about planting something new in your earthly garden, and bringing it to the space where you create — your studio space, your writing desk, your instrument. Today, you are starting something new! No rush, no expectations, no limits. If you’re beginning a piece of writing, start by taking three deep breaths and closing your eyes. When you’re ready, write one sentence. Take as much time as you want. Be playful! Write something strange, something that surprises or tickles you. No expectations — it’s just a sentence (or a few notes on the keys, or a stroke of paint on the canvas).
Now the seed is planted! Keep the sentence or the beginnings of a sketch or the vibrations of those few notes alive in this creative space to germinate with the Ace of Pentacles, which you can leave out in your creative space as a talisman and reminder of what’s sprouting for you. Return to what you started the next day, and tend to it. Build upon it, rearrange it, swap out one word for another. Do the same thing everyday for one week, tending to what is there and letting it change and grow. At the end of the week, see what this experiment yields! What has sprouted up from the seed you planted a week ago?
Three of Cups
This is a card of celebration and friendship, and I invite you to pull it from your deck and place it on your altar or any decorative space. Take a moment to gaze at the card, and call to mind the friendships in your life that mean the most to you. Think of three people — a family member, partner, pet, friend, coworker or collaborator who feels important to you right now. Then consider what has brought you together and kept you connected.
Now, take out a pen and paper and write each of them a little note. It doesn’t need to be elaborate, just a handwritten note remembering a moment of joy you shared together that you’ll never forget. If it’s possible, deliver this note to your friend, passing on the joy that was shared, so that both of you can delight in it once more! Bonus: include in the note an invitation to tea or a walk through a park, and create a new memory to share in the future!
The Nine of Pentacles from Fifth Spirit Tarot.
The Page of Cups from Fifth Spirit Tarot.
Nine of Pentacles
This is a card of abundance, gratitude, and self-sufficiency. Pull the Nine of Pentacles from your deck and place it on your kitchen table, or wherever you feast. Then think of a meal, snack, beverage, or treat that perhaps you reserve for special occasions — something you have the time and ingredients to make relatively easily. Even if this is a low-commitment dish, like fresh fruit with honey, prepare it for yourself, as slowly as you can, offering gratitude to each ingredient as you add it in.
As you prepare the food, dedicate yourself to the craft of nourishing yourself, and take the time to add in one special ingredient that the recipe doesn’t normally call for, something that delights and surprises you. Once your dish is complete, sit down at your table with the Nine of Pentacles and take pleasure in the feast you have created, giving gratitude to yourself and to the earth that nourishes you.
Page of Cups
This is a card of curiosity and play. Pull the Page of Cups from your deck and place it in a sunny spot in your home where you might see it as you walk by each day. Once you’ve placed the page, grab your journal and do some reflective writing on the following journal prompt: What do I have to do to earn a moment of rest / creativity? Be honest with yourself as you write. Include even the thoughts and beliefs that you know intellectually aren’t true (but some part of you still believes). Get really curious about what you feel you must do first before choosing to get creative or relax and enjoy a moment of pause. Now take that list and burn it up! Safely, of course! When they’ve cooled, take the ashes and spread them in a joyful way — release them to the wind outside your home, feed them to your houseplants, or toss them in the compost bin, giving them back to the earth.
A Week-Long Ritual to Nourish Your Senses
If you’d like to deepen your work with the rituals above, this one will bring some welcome expansion.
Writing in your journal, write down each of the five senses: sound, touch, taste, smell, and sight. For each of these, writing down three to five things that delight this particular sense, for you. For example, under smell, my list says: fresh paper, grapefruit, and mulled cider. Try to limit your list to items things that you can conveniently encounter or experience as you go about your everyday life.
Now cut each item into its own strip of paper, fold them up, and drop them in a clean, empty jar.
Each day for the next week, randomly pull a strip of paper from the jar, and do your best to give yourself that sensory experience in the next 48 hours! Once you have the experience, you can pull a Tarot card and see what comes up (this is totally optional). You might also journal about your impressions of each delightful experience — for bonus creative time.
For example, If I draw mulled cider I might get the cider going on the stove. While the aroma fills my apartment, I might journal about what this scent calls to my mind — memories, sensations, hopes — and perhaps a poem will emerge from these impressions!
What I hope you’ll see from trying these rituals is that rituals can be simple. They are always creative acts, and they always give us the opportunity to slow down and connect with ourselves more deeply. I hope these rituals also inspire you to create your own!
SUPPORT OUR BOOKSHOP
If you’d like to purchase the Fifth Spirit Tarot, featured in this post, we invite you to do so via this link, or other links in the post, which are hosted through our Bookshop.org affiliate page. This is our online book shop, featuring decks and books to support your growth, inspiration, creativity, and magic — hosted through Bookshop.org, a company that directs revenue and other support to independent bookstores across the United States. When you purchase from our Bookshop.org affiliate shop, a portion of your purchase supports Typewriter Tarot as well, helping us continue and expand our work. In our bookshop, you’ll find curated collections on Tarot, creativity, psychology, social justice, ecology, and more — hundreds of books to bring more magic to your life and your library. If you choose to purchase from our shop, we thank you!
CREATIVE SUPPORT IN YOUR INBOX
If you’re a Creative Spirit — as we suspect you might be since you’re here! — we have a lovely gift for you when you sign up for our newsletter (an almost weekly love letter featuring creative rituals, inspiration, and personal essays on magic, Tarot, and creativity). This free gift is a fun, magical, reflective workbook that will guide you into new facets of your relationship with creativity. To receive it, simply sign up for our newsletter down at the bottom of this page.
About CLAIRE BOWMAN
Claire Bowman is a writer, editor, and Tarot reader living in Austin, Texas. A Sagittarius with a deep love for poetry, she is always up for long conversations about jellyfish, poems that shake you to your core, or the shape-shifting nature of consciousness.