The world is pretty hard right now. And when the news is this dark, it can feel like creativity is impossibly out of reach.
Yet art is a form of magic. Belief in beauty, reaching for wonder, carving out space and energy for awe, discovery, curiosity, and expression can be intensely healing.
Creativity may not solve all of our problems — please don’t misunderstand me; I am not advocating for spiritual bypassing or deliberately ignoring the systemic violence that pervades so many of our societies today — but it can help us communicate our fears and wishes, our desires and despairs, our hopes and dreams.
Creativity helps us connect to other people, and to ourselves, in a way that is deeply, wildly authentic.
And if you’ve been struggling to tap into that wellspring of hope within you, if it feels like your creativity is blocked, I have just the Tarot spread for you.
Read next: How to Keep a Tarot Journal
Use This Tarot Spread for Reflection
Like all of my spreads, this one is fairly simple and leaves a lot of room for reflection.
When using it, give yourself space and time for compassion, for gentleness, and for learning. Creativity is a gift, but forcing it is rarely the way — instead, allow yourself the opportunity to hear the truth in the cards and to be open to their wisdom.
Sometimes inspiration strikes in the most unexpected places.
To show you how you can work with this spread, I’m sharing a sample reading here.
As always, with these examples, these cards are simply to offer you a model for using this particular layout — these cards were not pulled with any particular person or situation in mind.
Card One: An Obstacle to Examine
Ace of Wands
The Ace of Wands is a card of fresh inspiration, sparks of creativity, and a jolt of joyful artistry and power. The Ace of Wands hardly feels like an obstacle.
Particularly in a spread about creative blocks, the Ace of Wands is in many ways one of the most high-energy creative cards of the deck and might feel like it stands in opposition to the challenges that this layout explores! However, sometimes feeling inspired is not the actual issue.
Sometimes, it’s knowing what to do with it and being confident in our ability to see a project through to the end that trips us up. In this case, it’s worth examining where we might feel overwhelmed by possibility like there are so many different paths forward that we can’t possibly choose just one.
In this position, the Ace of Wands asks us to consider what we will do with all of this glorious potential.
How can we clarify our vision? What is causing us to hesitate? Are we afraid to succeed?
Card Two: A Way to Show Yourself Grace
Ace of Cups
Another Ace, the Ace of Cups from the suit of Cups, usually speaks to an opening of the heart, a possibility of a new connection, emotional insight, or the start of a spiritual journey.
The suit of Cups, in many ways, is all about learning to show ourselves grace, but the Ace in this position reminds us that we all have to start somewhere. There’s no shame in vulnerability, and in fact, this kind of sensitive discovery and willingness to explore can activate all kinds of creative impulses, ideas, and movements.
Consider:
How do you find grace in connection with others and with yourself?
What is flowing within you that may be ready to extend outwards?
How can you make space for a beginning instead of putting pressure on yourself to already know the ending?
Check out: What Do All The Crystal Colors Mean?
Card Three: A Prompt to Explore
King of Wands
The King of Wands is a leader associated with charisma, ambition, power, and revolution.
This card understands how to wield fire, creativity, and collaborative effort with ease. There’s a confidence and courage to this figure, a willingness to try new things and see how our artistic efforts can have a massive impact on the world.
As a prompt, this card asks for exploration around strength, charm, flexibility, passion, and discovery. When delving into this position, consider:
When do you feel brave, empowered, and able to accomplish anything you set your mind to?
Who do you know or admire that possesses this kind of energy?
How often do you envision yourself as a figure like this?
What does it take to be a creative leader?
Card Four: Something New to Try
7 of Swords
The 7 of Swords is often about understanding our own motivations, ambitions, and perceptions, which can lead to renewed clarity or a sensation of fear, betrayal, and hesitation. F
or many, this can be a challenging card that indicates that our trust in someone else—or in ourselves—is being misplaced. But in this position, I think it serves as an important reminder that we don’t have to show everyone everything, that some creative projects or explorations or experiments can just be for us.
So often, the 7 of Swords is tied to privacy, and here it is urging us to try keeping our work to ourselves for a bit and seeing what comes forward when we stop thinking of our expressions and creative work as public property.
What would it feel like to make something that was just for you?
Learn more: Are You Going Through a Spiritual Awakening?
Tap Into Creativity Today
This reading, with its two Aces and two cards from the suit of Wands, indicates that the issue is less about a lack of inspiration or purpose and more about a hesitation to be seen, to stand apart, to trust in the vision that has been developing internally.
Sometimes we want to hold something close for a while and let it grow slowly and privately before sharing it with others. But it’s essential that we do this with intention and control rather than from a place of fear.
What helps you tap into your creativity? And how can the Tarot help you explore all that inspires you?
This post features cards from the Tarot of the Divine. All photographs by Meg Jones Wall.
Related article: Use This Tarot Spread to Find Universal Guidance
