Ace of Stones

Artist's Diary: The Powers of Stones: On how money, resources and time all contribute to creative flow and blockage

Oh, man. Deep breath. Shake the neck. Move the shoulders. Deep breath again.

And sigh.

After moving swiftly through the first three powers of creative flow, I’ve hit what I always knew was coming: the perfect storm of having to write the full descriptions for the 14 Stones cards. I’ve been procrastinating on it for days, unable to write a sentence without deleting it immediately afterward. SHALT NOT DELETE THIS PARAGRAPH.

The struggle is real. Blocks like the ones I am working through are like psychological and mental warfare. First I blamed the procrastination on seasonal depression and a high gas bill. Then I decided I had to focus on getting through the downturn, so I spent three days drawing and painting because #mentalhealthmatters. Then I decided to do something I truly despise rather than start writing: researching artificial intelligence stocks. More psychological warfare, really, thinking about whether I should be investing in humanity’s replacement, but I spent two hours just trifling through information I don’t understand because I was still procrastinating on these Stones. (Though in my defense, Stones hold the power of wealth and finances, so maybe just thinking about all these Stones had me also thinking about something else I try not to focus on: Money. Money, is of course, a major power or theme of Stone cards.)

Why, I ask myself, am I struggling so much? But I know why: It’s because almost all of my own personal creative blocks are associated with Stones: with having and not having, with internalized systemic ideas of success, with traumatic failures, low self-value, being born into the scarcity mindset of two extremely frugal, struggling parents, with the anger and rage I feel toward billionairism and wealth owning the government and the rich funding the culture wars and the entire corrupt capitalist structure in which I am forced to exist.

Okay, so now, I am riled up. That’s… progress?

The Stones Power cards all deal with blockages that come from the material, outer world world: the support we receive from those around us, the resources we have and how we use them, the wealth we generate — or the support we never received, the things we wish we had or think we need, the credit card debt. And while I am confident in my creative knowledge and skills, in my spirituality and my life experiences — the Powers of Swords, Stars and Wands — I sorely lack any confidence related to Stones. I admit I have never received any support for any creative endeavor I’ve ever pursued. My parents didn’t support creative pursuits when I was growing up — “You’ll be homeless on the streets” if I pursued art, they told me — and they did not hold the fundamental beliefs about creativity that I have come to hold in my adulthood. And though I went to a great college, I didn’t choose to go into a wealth-generating industry like tech or the law. Instead, I went into newspapers and government, and watched as I slowly lost all aspects of the rat race that so many friends and people around me were winning with their jobs in cybersecurity and programming.

I would be happier if I didn’t have to write about the Stones-related aspects of living a creative life. But this is why I created Creative Flow Tarot in the first place: to help people get through creative blocks, not just around them. As much as I’d love to just start painting or illustrating, I have to write these descriptions. I cannot put them off forever. Blockages can become stepping stones; constraints are starting points and direction arrows to solving challenges. But of course it’s tempting to want to just go around a blockage rather than working through them. For instance, I know I can use chatGPT to write my descriptions for me. Every day, I’m bombarded by ads and antedotes of people who have claimed to have sold thousands of copies of AI-generated books and stories. How do I feel about that? Pretty sad and shitty, I guess, but how much do my complicated personal feelings really matter? Should I use chatGPT to write my descriptions for me?

AI is the epitome of a Stone flow or blockage: It’s a resource we have access to that threatens the financial security of billions of people around the world while promising to make an elite few rich beyond our wildest imaginations. Part of the population strongly supports machine learning and artificial intelligence, believing that an ever-growing supercomputer algorithm is the only thing that can solve the world’s biggest challenges. Others think that AI will lead to the end of humanity. It’s hard to imagine AI not being dangerous. Among writers and artists, AI can be viewed as an existential threat, stealing our jobs and mimicking our skills. But it can also be a tool or medium artists can use to stay competitive in our fields, increase the efficiency of certain tasks and to help our own creative ideas come to fruition more quickly. I’ve spent the last year both completely fascinated with what Midjourney can do while screaming into a void about how easy it is to use its powers for misinformation, scams, conspiracies and revenge, and how empty it makes me as a human being feel to know that, from now on, my voice will forever be overshadowed by the programming of algorithms. It’s this kind of deep condundrum that leaves me paralyzed: to use something I find morally dubious at best in order to give myself the best chance at succeeding, or not? In the end, though it would save me a lot of time, it just wouldn’t be … right, or right for me.

Which brings me to another major Stone theme: Time. Time is the most valuable resource we have, the most limited, the most used, the most wasted. Time is something that must be carefully traded, and yet we often don’t have the time to carefully consider the trades we make. Time is also something that is valued vastly differently at the individual level than at the macro level: Individually, we can all value the time we are given on this Earth, appreciating every sunset, or we can waste it all away, feeling trapped or bored by the confines we create. But at a societal level, the way our time is valued is vastly different and dependent entirely on the amount of profits and money generated per minute. Some people’s time is valued at $10 an hour, while we offer billionaires tens of thousands of dollars every minute for how they spend their time, regardless of how much good those billionaires are actually adding to the world and to our lives. The amount of time a person has to invest in their creativity is a huge limiting factor to their creative pursuits, or a huge gift to their creative spirit.

The God Of Stars: On Perspective, Leadership And Manipulation

The Butterfly Spider stands in a field of sage flowers, weaving together a constellation of love in front of him, seemingly powered by the energy field of a gigantic star above him. Like the Goddess’s purple coneflower, the sage is renowned for its healing properties. It is commonly a symbol of good health and wisdom, and is considered a gift that even Gods cherish. The God of Stars is perfectly balanced in a flow state, feeling the energy of the universe behind them and using it to create their own constellation in front of them. They are fully engaged with the light, patterns and particles of the natural world. They know with true sincerity that everything and everyone is connected. Stars are the suit of spirit, connection and passion, and Gods are the givers of each power, so the God of Stars might be a sign that you are about to come into a whole new level of enlightenment, spiritual fulfillment or genuine connection. The God of Stars also represents emotional balance, resiliency, stability and level-headedness; they are an excellent networker, debater and deal-maker because they see all sides of everything; they know perspective creates reality and that shifting perspective is like finding yourself in a whole new world. The God of Stars can be a sign that now is the time to shift your perspective on something that is troubling you. If you do, you’ll find the stability and resiliency you’re craving.

BACK TO CREATIVEFLOWTAROT

If You’re Feeling Blocked

Like all the Gods of Creative Flow, the God of Stars can come to you as a friend or an obstacle, as a mentor or as a manipulator. The God of Stars can use their gifts as both leaders and disruptors; they easily amass followers and believers in their cause. Maybe you’re not feeling at home in the web of connections in your life, or you’re feeling slighted because of a disagreement, argument or irreconcilable difference that only seems concerning to you. The God of Stars could be someone with a mastery of deception attempting to control your emotions, leaving you feeling isolated or making decisions that you have you isolating yourself from others, or that someone is trying to lead you away from your heart and your values. The God of Stars can be a sign that you should create and enforce some boundaries with someone around you, or that you are withdrawing from your true self and the power of your own creative force in order to empower someone else or make someone else happy. Regain your voice.

Creativity Exercises:

Get inspired by the webs we weave: Pick a medium and make yourself a web, weaving or God’s Eye.

Make your own Connect-The-Dot: Draw something on a piece of paper, then place another sheet of paper on top of it to draw just the dots at corners and edges. Pass the dots-only sheet to a friend and see how they connect them.

Write a letter to the God of Stars, from the perspective of a consumer who purchased one of its products: stability, level-headedness, perspective… What would you buy from the God of Stars? Is the product defective, or worth every penny? What would you have paid for it?

Create something based on the theme of balance or perspective…

If you would like, comment on your thoughts after drawing this card. Writing can help you transition into a creative flow state. What about it is pulling you in?

If you're not connecting with this card, draw another card.

The Power of Stars: Artist's Journal

Stars are my favorite suit, the one that hits me the hardest. They are the suit of spirit and spirituality. I’ve always felt like my body is weak but my spirit is strong, that I’m more connected with the Earth and the stars than with other people… I’ve always been an outsider, wanting to fit in but always unable or unwilling to conform to the social norms and expectations of other people. It started with gym class when I was five, picked last for everything because I was the smallest and had skeletal deformities that made others mock me, and it just … permeated everything. I spent decades trying to fit in with different groups, prioritizing friendships above my Self, but I found my strength, my spirit, my own universal connection in times when I was alone, in nature. In the sounds of birds and owls and rustling weaves and water moving in streams. In the softness of dirt, the hope of planting seeds, my horse and my dog. In every flower I saw.

Nature is almost always beautiful, but it isn’t soft. It’s textured. It provides and it destroys, not because it is evil or cruel but because it is balance and diverse and never-ending… It is infinite.

But at times, for me, there can be an extreme loneliness to creativity. I’m sure there are diagnosable reasons for this: ADHD causes long periods of hyper focus when I’m completely in my own world, social anxiety keeps me from meeting new people, I don’t have a close or supportive family, social media algorithms just don’t seem to like me. I’m bipolar with PTSD and what mental health professionals might call an anxiety disorder: I pay attention to the news and a lot of it significantly troubles me. But I think I handle it all well enough, most of the time, because I can find strength in my spirituality: in my belief that my Creator whispers to me and acts through me. I use my creativity to build that connection, to show my love and gratitude for every tiny beautiful thing I see and wished I saw, to create worlds that could exist, does now exist, in one of the infinite multiverses theorized by astrophysics and sciences I can’t even name…

Three of Stars: On Friendship, Gratitude And Counting On Others

The Three Of Stars:

Three umbrella mantises dance under the stars, celebrating a radiantly beautiful night. This is a card signifying reunion, friendship, and community, and the significant benefits to the creative spirit that can be had by prioritizing time with old friends and recounting special bonds for a night. The Three of Stars represent the way the smallest things in the world reflect the largest things: how a story that happened three decades ago can still make the people involved laugh 30 years later; how some insects dance to attract mates; how time together is fleeting but still lasts forever. No matter what you’re thinking or how you’re feeling, it’s time to get some friends together and talk about it over dinner and drinks, a walk in the park, an arts and crafts or game night, or some other form of quality time together. This card could also be a sign that you’re planning a party, joining a new group, class or club, or have a big social event coming up that you’re preparing for and that it’s a good opportunity to collaborate and have fun.

If You’re Feeling Blocked

We all go through times where we are more disconnected from others than we’d like, where we’re feeling lonely or alone, or struggling to trust others or to click with others. Maybe you are just coming off from an extraordinarily high-energy social event or period or time and are feeling the inexplicable need to burrow or rest for a while; maybe you were recently excluded from something you really wanted to be included in. It might hurt, but energies shift and turn. Not everything is rejection: sometimes things happen because you were meant to be redirected toward something else. Maybe you’ve been playing too hard and resting too little, or you’re moving from one phase of life to the next. You can feel both bitter and sweet, alone and overcrowded, lonely and tired, salty and grateful. Focus on the gratitude, and make something for a friend who might be farther away or who you want to reconnect with.

Creativity Exercises:

Create a 10-step secret handshake with a friend or group of friends; try to make it as ‘extra’ as possible.

Learn the moves to a new dance or flash mob

Grab all your boxes of crayons and coloring books and have a happy hour spent coloring in your favorite coffee shop, dive bar or people-watching space

Make something with the theme or element of arrows or redirection

The Two of Stars: On Finding A Powerful Partnership And Creating Space For It

The Two Of Stars:

Two Picasso moths fly around a bouquet of Jasmine flowers, two stars shining bright in the night sky, their lights intermingling. The Two of Stars is a card about falling in love or the beginning of a powerful new partnership that has the potential to both transform and ensnare. Stars are the power of chaos and wanting, but the two represents balance and harmony: perhaps a real dream come true, a truly deep spiritual connection that is just starting to spark in this lifetime. Maybe you’ve just met someone who it feels like you’ve known forever, or maybe an old friendship or long relationship has suddenly felt a bit revived. The sweet-smelling Jasmine flowers symbolize a purity of the soul and a transference to a higher realm or state of spirit, so embrace this new connection with the enthusiasm of your inner child. There’s no promise that this connection will stay around forever, but that just makes every moment more important.

IF YOU’RE FEELING BLOCKED

This is an exciting, whirlwind time, but it's not without its risks. The Picasso moths, the Japanese symbols for "love" and "soul" imprinted on their wings, represent a reordering — the kind of reordering that takes place at the beginning of a new relationship, when you're letting go of parts of your life to make room for your partner. Make sure you're letting go of the right stuff and holding on to everything that makes you, you — including your creative pursuits. You don't have to share them if you want to keep them to yourself, but don't let the excitement of this new energy entirely overtake your own energy. Focus on keeping a routine or structure that incorporates all the self-care and time for yourself that you need.

CREATIVITY EXERCISES:

Create a Valentine’s Day-type card, but with the intention of gifting it to yourself.

Create something with the theme of reordering: reorder your paints, your books, your yarn, or reorder a known structure: the structure of a person’s face, parts of different puzzles forced together incorrectly. (Think Picasso.)

Get inspired by the ideographic symbols of the Japanese language and learn to write the symbol of one of these words for which there is no direct English translation.

Get inspired by the chaos and whirlwind happening around you: Create a colorful tornado by color-coding your thoughts and events and dreams according to color theory, as they come across your mind while you’re creating.