Cardinal air: chaos magic, willpower, telepathy

The aerialist reminds us of the possibilities of this card, just as the telepathic lamb controlling the swords above her head: it is possible to wield mass, force, and energies that feel chaotic in the service of a singular goal.

Cardinal air: Bonds, Promises, Endurance

This is the engine of storytelling – in any story, there is a winnowing of options, a set of choices that become a single choice. This is what makes the story resonate – we can feel the experience of the characters as they grapple with what we must, every day.

Cardinal air: hoodwink, meditation, play.

This scene could be from a play or a photoshoot. The figure could be sitting for a portrait, or waiting for a lover to release them from a game.

Mutable earth: Homecoming, mortality, transition

This card feels like a hopeful and homely card to pull - it gives a sense of things being in their rightful place - but the ten gives a sense of the next transition to be to something else, another stage of life. For some of us, that transition is into the realm beyond life, and the spectre of death haunts this card and decan.

Cardinal Fire: deity, divination, world-yielding

The bridge between deity and humanity isn’t so special, we call it dying

Fixed water: hopes + fears, unknown pleasures, the void

A snake isn't worse than a rose if you are looking for a way to kill a character. A jewel isn't better than a tornado if you want to move the action of your story somewhere else.

Fixed water: unfinished business, deep emotions, divination

We record this by leaving the work unfinished and unresolved. The absence is a space for grief.

Mutable water: the unconscious, hallucinations, psychic plane

Rachel Pollock writes that “in divinatory readings the moon indicates an excitement of the unconscious.”

Fixed air: future visioning, collective energies

What happens if you think about your projects not in terms of word counts, but in seasons? Could you be guided by a full seasonal cycle, from solstice to solstice, or Samhain to Samhain? Or could you work with your solar return?

Fixed fire: alchemy, energy, creative flows

Have you been feeling like you could use a change in your writing routine? Perhaps you would like to find a regular weekly slot to work? Or even something more drastic like a complete change in direction?

Fixed air: portals, balance, opposition

How do you build rest into your writing practice? When do you let the field lay fallow, and when do you let it grow wild?

Cardinal earth: ambition, architecture, boundaries

When we read a story, temptation only works when we agree to it. Like the two figures here, we must submit to story.

Cardinal earth: cathedral, winter, resources, the unknown

The Five of Pentacles appears to be about stuckness, and scarcity, but it can teach us a lot about the luminous mysteries.

Fixed earth: receptivity, plenty, earthly pleasures

If we keep frenetically trying to force our way through the world, we will lose sight of the luscious opportunities being handed down from the clouds.

Mutable water: confusion, hidden meanings, the moon, intuition

In this card, the figure doesn't notice the moon, and doesn't seem aware of how its guiding force is helping them on their way. The moon in the Eight of Cups is at once a sliver of waxing crescent moon and a full moon, or perhaps it is an eclipse.

Mutable earth: protection, spaciousness, sacred boundaries

The card in this deck offers so much comfort through that connection, modelling a form of self-knowledge that is formed through consultation of existing traditions, nurtured through understanding our place in a lineage, and strengthened through community.

Mutable earth: late summer, sexuality, harvest

Her serenity is apparent, the bird sitting peacefully on her head, the armful of produce, her calm view of the field, and a gentle hand on the pentacles, as though she isn’t too attached to them, doesn’t need to control them. There is plenty, she seems to tell us, there will be enough.

Cardinal fire: heat, fire opals, intensity

A story is about the moment of unstoppable inevitability of knowledge or action: think of Greek tragedies, folk tales, revolutions, mysteries. Humans are wired to be hungry for these kinds of stories, because they help us to understand a chaotic and sometimes brutal world.

Mutable water: surrender, liminality, balance, suspension

When we are used to experiencing adrenaline, or the effects of trauma, rest and relaxation can feel counterintuitive: allowing our muscles to relax can give a stronger sensation than our familiar contractions.

Fixed earth: homecoming, celebration, safety

Fours tend to represent stability and support, in the Modern Witch deck, the four wands have been made into a shelter, gateway, or portal decked with festive foliage.