In this microdose episode, we apply one lesson of the Strength card (self-acceptance and self-love) to help us explore, name, describe, and meet different parts of our Creative Self. 

Drawing on the framework of Internal Family Systems (or "parts work"), I outline an exercise to help you identify eight different parts of you that show up in your creative process — both helpful parts and hindering parts. 

I give examples, like the "color slut" who loves to play with and delight in color, always ready to play with paints and inks (a helpful part), and the "capitalist overlord" who shows up to make sure your work is "productive" or "profitable."

Then we begin to imagine a family portrait that includes the eight parts you come up with and how they contribute to your creative process. 

I also offer a few additional exercises to help you work with one or two parts that seem to be most actively holding you back from where you want to go.

For more prompts like these, check out my workbook, Tarot for Creative Spirits (find the link below). Use the discount code MAGICALLIFE to save $10 on your purchase. 

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

Can the path to healing and self-love be found within the cards of the Tarot? Join me as we explore the profound lessons of the Strength card in the Major Arcana and its themes of self-love, tenderness, and resilience. Through personal reflections and stories, we unravel how this card invites us to embrace and nurture all aspects of ourselves, even those parts we find difficult to love.

For this episode, I'm joined by Madeleine Gunhart, a cherished member of the Typewriter Tarot community, who shares her journey of navigating and overcoming emotional abuse, finding solace in the Tarot, and the transformative power of self-acceptance.

In this conversation with Madeleine, you’ll discover how an unexpected spiritual journey, sparked by a fascination with witchcraft and nudged along by a perceptive therapist, can open doors to personal growth and inner peace. We also confront common misconceptions about spirituality and the societal judgments that often accompany it. Through vivid discussions about the recurring infinity symbol in the Strength card and its connection to renewable spiritual energy, we illustrate the ongoing journey of self-acceptance and love. Madeleine’s insights into the Swords suit add depth to our conversation, highlighting the importance of confronting and nurturing our inner thoughts and beliefs.

We also get into topics like: our deep love for animals, Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom, the therapeutic power of writing, and setting boundaries.

You can learn more about Madeleine and connect with her on Instagram or via her website. And read Madeleine's essay, "Plucking Out and Picking Up the Swords," on our blog.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this collaborative episode with The Basement Girls podcast, we discuss the recent supernatural / horror film TAROT by Anna Holberg and Spenser Cohen, based on the 1992 novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams.

I had a great time watching this film in the theater with Bianca Pérez and Steph Grossman, who cohost The Basement Girls podcast, which explores their mutual passion for the horror genre.

I expected to hate this movie, thinking it falsely demonized Tarot. And while it wasn’t a mind-blowing, genre-redefining film, it was fun to watch as someone who loves Tarot and scary, supernatural stories.

Steph, Bianca, and I had a really fun conversation (with spoilers!) about what we made of the movie, what we loved and didn’t love about it, and our own relationship to Tarot.

Have a listen if you’ve seen the movie (or want to), if you love supernatural / horror films, and if you artforms that play with themes of magic and mystery! If you saw the move, let me know what you think at [email protected].

+ You can listen to The Basement Girls podcast on Apple and Spotify.
+ Bianca Pérez is also the guest featured in episode 9 about The Lovers card, if you want to hear more from her. You can also find her poetry chapbook Gemini Gospel here.
+ Read “Likeness⁠⁠,⁠"⁠ Steph Grossman's latest horror-tinged short story, published in Joyland Magazine.

Thanks to Steph Grossman for editing this conversation, and to Claire Bowman for editing this episode, and to Ami Plasse for our podcast logo!

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

This shorter episode is a follow-up to our conversation about The Chariot, where we apply Chariot-inspired questions to our creative work. I talk about the difference between internal and external motivation, and how the two can fuel our creative journey in very different ways. We also explore a series of questions to help you consider what kind of journey you want to have, and what you need along the way to get you where you want to go.

PROMPTS for WHAT'S FUELING YOUR CREATIVE JOURNEY?
+ Make a list of the external motivators that are driving your work. List as many as you can think of.
+ In a separate space or opposite page, make a list of the internal motivators that are driving your work. List as many as you can think of — big, small, and everything in between. Come back to your two lists over a period of days and continue to add more as you can think of them.

PROMPTS for HOW YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRAVEL?
+ What kind of container or vehicle would suit you for this journey?
+ What kind of emotional fuel will support you along the way?
+ What kind of resources will you need as you travel?
+ How might your ancestors provide support along the way?
+ What will make this journey meaningful for you, beyond the desired outcome?

OTHER NOTES:
~ Check out some art cars!
~ If you'd like to buy Tarot for Creative Spirits, use the code MAGICALLIFE at checkout to save $10.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this episode, we explore The Chariot card with Hannah Levy, writer and editor of the Tarot journal The Rebis, which publishes annually, featuring a different Major Arcana card in each issue. The 2023 edition featured creative writing, nonfiction, art, photographs, and essays from more than 25 creators, all illuminating The Chariot archetype.

In our conversation, Hannah shares a number of Chariot-related stories and insights — how she left her corporate 9-5 job to find a more suitable and sustainable way of working and living, and what it's like being the charioteer behind a publication that involves lots of moving parts.

We also discuss the imagery of The Chariot, traditional meanings, and more subtle meanings that have made themselves known through lived experience. We also discuss rivers and resilience, time travel, getting unstuck, control and surrender, reframing definitions of success, and community and social media. This is a lovely episode for folks who spend time thinking about how we work, how we see ourselves in terms of achievement and accomplishment, and how we choose to move things forward in our own lives.

You can learn more about Hannah via her website, on Instagram, and through her Substack //understories//. And you can learn more about The Rebis via its website, Instagram, and Substack. Hannah is also offering listeners 25% off The Chariot issue of The Rebis. Use code TYPEWRITERTAROT at checkout to save!

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

This shorter episode is a follow-up to our conversations about The Hierophant and The Lovers, where we turn those cards into guides for our creative work.

Here, I'm sharing about how your art is a transmission — a broadcast of sorts, a message, a way of beaming something from inside of you to someone else. And even if no one sees what you create, your art can be a way for you to transmit something to your Future Self! I talk about why that's important, and how your art is also an act of love — for yourself and for others. Love is why we're here, my friends, and creativity is one way to express that. I explain how that works, and how this perspective can help us take the emphasis off perfectionism and imposter syndrome, so we can show up and CREATE!

Mentioned in this episode:
Check out Shanalee Hampton's embroidery work.
Check out Ami Plasse's illustration work.
Explore creativity coaching with yours truly.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this episode, we explore The Lovers card with poet, teacher, and lover Bianca Alyssa Pérez, whose poetry chapbook Gemini Gospel dances with themes of this card deeply and beautifully, touching on self-love, grief, family, and romance.

Our conversation starts with the imagery and symbolism of The Lovers, and unfolds into an exploration of Bianca's journey toward self-love as someone who struggles with anxiety and panic disorder. Bianca also shares what it's like being a Gemini and the challenge of making choices. She also shares her own beautiful love story — how she met her husband, Nick, in the midst of grieving her father, who she still feels connected to after his death. Throughout the episode, Bianca reads several poems from her book.

We also get into...
+ the rich symbolism and iconography of Catholicism
+ how Bianca manifested a front porch through her poetry
+ La Llorona, the mythical "crying woman" of South Texas lore
+ how healthy relationships actually trigger us more
+ pretending to feel good and protecting people from our feelings
+ Bianca's love of horror films and the podcast she cohosts on this topic
+ the up/downsides of creative writing MFA programs
+ Bianca's advice to anyone pulling The Lovers card frequently

To connect with Bianca and learn more about her work, visit her website, follow her on Instagram, order her poetry chapbook Gemini Gospel, and check out her horror-film appreciation podcast The Basement Girls.

+ Meet Chantal deFelice, our sound designer.
+ Meet Claire Bowman, our episode editor.
+ Meet Ami Plasse, who designed the YC&ML logo.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this episode, we explore The Hierophant with guest Becky Bullard, the creatrix, messenger, and megaphone behind Democrasexy, a project that aims to engage more people in the democratic and civic process by making it easier, more fun, and... sexy!

In our conversation, Becky shares how her disappointment after the 2016 presidential election spurred to do more, and how a workshop on "awakening your highest self" led her to invoke the archetype of the messenger, which she embodies daily in her Democrasexy work.

Our conversation also explores: overcoming the fear of speaking up and raising our voices, committing to a passion project whether it pays the bills or not, embodying our messages, how Becky decides which content to share and when, Becky's witchy work at the graveside of Ann Richards, boobs, costumes, "being from the future" and having to live in the present, and the dilemma of voting in a presidential election during a time of American-backed genocide.

This episode will inspire you to claim your voice, consider what kind of messenger you are and want to be, and how The Hierophant may be inviting you to step into your own powerful voice.

You can support and learn more about Becky's work via Democrasexy on Instagram, Substack, and via the Democrasexy website.

Other resources mentioned in this episode:
Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown

+ Meet Chantal deFelice, our sound designer and episode editor.
+ Meet Ami Plasse, who designed the YC&ML logo.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this shorter episode, I stay with The Emperor just a moment longer (see previous episode), and invoke his energy to talk about creative space and why Creative Spirits need it — and deserve it!

I talk about The Emperor's relationship to space as a container for his leadership, just like Creative Spirits need containers to move and hold their creative energy.

I also talk about different forms and kinds of creative space, what that can look like, and I share a story about recently giving up creative space, feeling pretty twisted up about it, and how I claimed a new space once again.

Finally, I share simple steps for increasing your creative space, while acknowledging that space is at a premium in late-stage colonial capitalism. But it's worth fighting for!

If you'd like me to speak to a creative challenge you're wrestling with, please use the form below and share your questions! I'd love to bring them on the show.

+ Meet Ami Plasse, who designed the YC&ML logo.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.

In this episode, we explore The Emperor with Kelly Marshall, a nonbinary writer and yoga therapist who supports people with nervous system recalibration, embodiment, and trauma-informed approaches to yoga, teaching, and community-building.

Together, we examine the imagery of The Emperor card and the energies and meanings conveyed by the visual composition of the archetype. We question why female and femme-identifying folks might struggle to connect with this card (idk, could be THE PATRIARCHY?!). Kelly also shares how they have personally experienced embodiment with Emperor energy in a way that's been healing for them and others — through presence in academia, community, and kink and BDSM spaces.

We also look at presentations of masculinity through the lens of The Emperor, exploring questions of responsibility and responsiveness. And we can't talk about The Emperor without discussing themes of organization, structure, energy leaks, allocation of resources, and breaking down big visions into smaller steps. We also get into sovereignty and self-determination as trauma-informed perspectives, Daddy issues, The Emperor's relationship to The Empress, and we pull cards to ask The Emperor a question.

You can learn more about Kelly and their work on Instagram at @spectrumwellness or via their website.

Other resources mentioned in this episode:
+ Fight Right by John Gottman
+ The Brady Tarot
+ Fyodor Pavlov Tarot

+ Meet Chantal deFelice, our sound designer and episode editor.
+ Meet Ami Plasse, who designed the YC&ML logo.

This podcast is a production of Typewriter Tarot. Learn more & join us:

• Join the newsletter and receive the first 3 journaling prompts from Tarot for Creative Spirits (the workbook).
• Subscribe to Typewriter Tarot's Substack.
• Check out upcoming events & workshops.
• Join the Creative Magic Collective.
• Work one-on-one with Cecily (book a free curiosity call).
• Book a Tarot reading.
• Shop our bookshop.