How do we flip the script?

Considering the reversed Queen of Wands tarot card to get back in touch with our inner fire

All last week as I pulled tarot cards for myself, as one does, I found that I was getting a lot of upside down cards, which in tarot is called a reversal. What that means is you are experiencing more or less the opposite of the original meaning of the card- although it’s a bit more complex than that.

For example, when I took a class from tarot reader Amelia Whitehouse of The Carnelian Keep, she used to describe an upside down card as if the character or characters in the card had literally fallen over. So a reversed Emperor could be read as if the Emperor sitting on his throne, the embodiment of patriarchal authority, somehow fell out and over onto the ground. You can imagine how pissed he would be. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of Tr*mp’s conviction on 34 felony charges. His face coming out of the courtroom said it all.

A reversal can feel bad in the moment, or at the very least uncomfortable. But more than it being bad or good, it means that you maybe aren’t embodying something that you feel you should, or that you want to be.

In my case, I had gotten a new art opportunity for this fall and at the same time am trying to gather motivation to go on actual dates, rather than just haunting the tables of Ruby Fruit to give tarot readings. Maybe it’s the May gray, or the busy couple of weeks, but my vision isn’t clear and my motivation is, to be honest, low. I’m tired y’all. So when I pulled a reversed Queen of Wands, the archetype of a witchy woman who knows what she wants, it felt like a mirror to my creative and romantic lethargy.

A good real-life person to think about when you think of the Queen of Wands is Stevie Nicks, pictured above in the Morgan Greer deck’s version of the card.

Although Queens in tarot do not have to relate to women-identifying people, as you can see with the Queer Tarot Deck below. Regardless of gender, the energy is firey, creative, in tune with their sexuality, witchy, and not afraid to ask for, nay demand, what she wants. It’s big Leo energy.

Pulling a reversal on this card was a bit disheartening. (I’m letting Stevie down!) But a slightly more optimistic way to read a reversed tarot card, rather than it being a permanent state of doomed-ness, is to ask what would I need to do to turn the card around? How do you flip the script on your own bad mood, dating dry spell or creative funk?

For me it definitely came down to rest and self-care to regain some energy. One of the solutions I found this weekend was going on a long drive up Highway 2 and then an even longer hike in the Angeles National Forest on a trail near the Mt Wilson Observatory. The flowers were in bloom, the air was cool, and the sun was out. I mean look at this view.

Another thing I did this weekend was play Oregon Trail and this reminds me of the Blue Mountain stop.

That mountain could not be any more of a classic mountain shape.

This agave tree-thing is having the time of its life.

Sometimes all it takes is to feast your eyeballs on a new vista or be surrounded by strange-looking plants and blooming flowers.

One thing I didn’t do, and haven’t done for a while, is plein air painting and drawing. I think one of the reasons for all the reversals is my spontaneous art-making muscle is out of shape. I did so much drawing outside during Flip Phone February. But now I am back into smart-phone mode, fully entrenched in what the internet is doing from the cozy rectangle of my phone.

I miss feeling excited to take my sketchbook and make drawings without concern for their outcome. Instead I have been focusing my art-making in my studio, which can feel stifling at times - especially with the LA heat, amiright. Following your excitement to make art, even if it takes a bit of effort is quintessential to the Queen of Wands energy.

Another thing I didn’t do was go be around people. I fully own that one of my main coping methods is to check out or go find space to be by myself. It can be wonderful to be surrounded by mountains where it is still and quiet enough to sense it’s glorious presence and get perspective on your thoughts. But it can also be isolating, since you inevitably take yourself and your problems with you wherever you go. For me it’s a balance I need to figure out as someone who gets burned out by crowds and doesn’t like the risk of wasted time associated with making social plans with new groups of people. I blame my Capricorn moon for my taking this capitalist approach to making friends.

What do you do when your Queen of Wands fire is dampened by the wet blanket of life? The name of this blog is Art Date, which is after all an allusion to Julia Cameron’s proposed art date that we artists should all do every week. In addition to our morning pages, the art date is meant to keep the inner child happy and inspired - rather than quietly sabotoging you until she gets her way.

With that in mind, the crucial ingredient that is missing from my life right now is play. Given the name of my blog, I find it ironic that I am forgetting to plan art dates for myself, in addition to other kinds of dates. (Maybe I can combine the two.)

What do you do for your art dates, or is that something you’ve considered scheduling for yourself? Anyone doing the artist’s way? I might try to pick it up again for a few months.

Some updates:

The Side Woo is back, baby. For my first episode in a while I am sharing the artist talk I did with Elisabeth Workman on May 7th at Dreamsong Gallery, part of my solo show “Things Worth Saving.”

I taught my first Bookkeeping for Artists workshop and it was a well-received. I’m sharing the recording of the workshop for a suggested donation of $30. Send me a note. Below the recording will also be available to all paid Art Date members for two weeks. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

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