7 - Love

The Love card celebrates the profound creative power of connection, collaboration, and shared experience. Love, in its truest sense, is not simply an emotion—it is a frequency, a current that flows between beings and ideas, shaping everything it touches. Depicted as two parakeets perched side by side, listening to an old-fashioned record player in the deep stillness of a desert slot canyon, this card captures both the tenderness of the present moment and the echoes of love that linger long after a sound has faded. The curves and layers of the canyon walls represent time’s shaping touch—how love, like water, carves through the stone of our lives and leaves behind something more expansive, more resonant.

Love is a creative force. It stirs the soul and makes space for something new to be born—whether that’s a work of art, a shared vision, or a deeper understanding of self. It doesn’t belong solely to romance, but to every meaningful bond: friendship, family, creative partnerships, and even the quiet love we hold for nature, for memory, for purpose. This card reminds you that your creativity does not thrive in isolation. It flourishes in conversation, in laughter, in shared silence. Love nurtures trust, and trust allows you to take risks—to make without fear, to speak without shame, to explore without judgment.

When the Love card appears, consider how relationships are influencing your creative path. Are you being supported in your vision? Are you offering your support to others in return? Are you allowing yourself to be seen, known, and held—by someone else, or even by yourself? The record player in this card is an invitation to listen: to what’s playing now, to what echoes from the past, and to what’s still waiting to be sung into existence. Your art, your ideas, and your imagination are shaped by what and who you love. Let that truth guide you like music reverberating through stone, filling every crevice with resonance and beauty.

When Feeling Blocked:

If you’re feeling creatively blocked, the Love card may be pointing to a loss of connection—whether to another person, a community, or your own inner self. Creativity cannot thrive in isolation from the heart. It may be that you’ve grown distant from the source of your inspiration, or that past wounds around vulnerability are making it hard to open up to the joy and risk of creating. Maybe you’ve poured yourself out for others without filling your own well. Or perhaps you’re holding back out of fear—of rejection, of not being good enough, of not being truly seen.

This card invites you to come back to the heart of your practice—not just the what, but the why. Reconnect with the passions that once made you light up. Revisit the people who have reflected your brilliance back to you. Let yourself feel the fullness of longing if it arises, because even longing is a sign of love’s enduring presence. The Lovers remind you that creative healing begins with trust—trust in your voice, trust in the process, and trust in the power of relationship to awaken what’s been dormant.

Sometimes, the act of creating with another person—whether through collaboration or simply sharing space—can reignite your creative flame. Other times, it’s about learning to partner with yourself again, to show up with tenderness rather than critique. The Love card teaches that connection is not always comfortable, but it is always catalytic. When you allow love in—even in its messiest, most imperfect forms—you soften the armor that blocks your flow.

Let love be your medium. Let it shape your process and your purpose. Whether it whispers through memories, people, places, or passions, love is always a portal to deeper creation. When you align with it, even your blocks can become doorways, and even your silence can sing.

 Creativity Exercises:

Love Haikus: Think about something small that connects you to the world and the Earth: Your favorite flower, a smell, a favorite spot to sit among the trees. Write a haiku about it.

Group Build: Partner with someone and create something together: A mural, a sculpture, a costume, . Let the shared energy and interplay of ideas guide your process.

Love Poster: Create a poster advertising something you love: a plant, an animal, an activity or a person.

Canyon Coloring: Get inspired by the walls of slot canyons and color or paint your own, focusing on the curves and shifts in colors and tones and light. What do you see carved into the walls of your canyon?

Love Story: Tell a short story based on the main love story in your life right now. Is your main love story - the thing that makes your heart really sing - a person? A hobby? A favorite place? An idea? Tell how you came to fall in love.