Earlier this autumn I got the chance to speak to Chelsey about her new upcoming book Tarot for Creativity: A Guide for Igniting Your Creative Practice. We explore the world of tarot and how it can be of benefit to our creativity. Chelsey shares with us how she herself turned to the modality of tarot, and her wishes for the book. I found this to be an exciting take on tarot and to see it being made into an engaging and accessible form of content was something that I found compelling.
Grace Cummins: Can you give us a little introduction on who you are and your path that has led to you being a creativity coach? Chelsey Pippin Mizzi: My career in the creative industries began when I was ten years old and got my first paid writing gig as part of a local competition. I spent the next decade and some change studying writing, art, and theatre, and have since had a varied career in the creative industries that has seen me: work for theatre companies in the US and UK, curate galleries and libraries, write and edit for global publications, and consult for design firms, authors, artists, and small business owners. But it wasn’t until I discovered the tarot that what I wanted from my creative career really started to fall into place: working with the cards in my own creative life helped me to better understand my strengths, desires, fears and foibles… and to gently guide myself toward life decisions that better aligned with what made me feel fulfilled. I released the pressure I’d put on myself to write a novel, and started to lean into creative outlets that came more naturally to me: short form writing and mixed media, facilitating conversations amongst fellow writers and artists, creating and supplying resources, holding space for my peers, and offering insights based on my diverse experience across across the creative spectrum. In applying myself to study the tarot, I realised the cards weren’t fortune-telling tools for me; they were fortune-creating tools. 78 stories I could tell myself, and share with others, for reflection, guidance, inspiration and support. Once I started using the cards as a jumping-off point for the creative support and sounding board services I’d become an expert in offering over the course of my career, leaning into that service as the cornerstone of my business came easily. GC: In your new book Tarot for Creativity you mention that discovering tarot helped you find your spark again, was Tarot something you were previously interested in or was it a leap into the unknown? CPM: Becoming a tarot reader was definitely a departure from the norm for me. It was the first time I really let my interest in magic and myth extend beyond the theoretical safety of fiction and into my daily life. I’d always written from art and photographs (that contest I won as a child was held by an art museum. It prompted writers to tell stories based on paintings, a practice I’ve kept up to this day) but it had never occurred to me that a tool like tarot cards could offer similarly inspiring experiences. Up until a friend pulled cards for me the first time in my twenties, I’d avoided divination - a couple bad experience with party-trick palmists and rune readers had put me off the idea. But exploring the cards in a safe space with a friend opened floodgates for me: accessing the images of the cards for the first time truly felt like magic, and I couldn’t get enough. GC: What are your thoughts on the practice of tarot and how can it help us in our lives? CPM: I like to call the tarot a mirror and a map. It shows us ourselves and our lives as it is now, and offers options for where to go next. The more willing we are to explore the stories of the cards as mirrors and maps for the stories of our lives, the more we can take control of our choices, and at the same time, and the more open we can be to new ideas and information. I believe everyone’s practice can - and should - be unique to us. There’s no right or wrong way to read cards, as long as you’re being compassionate to yourself in the process. I think it’s important to explore all of the knowledge about tarot, and options on how to read it, that are at your disposal, but ultimately I think the beauty of the tarot is that it’s most powerful when left up to your individual, unique, and creative power of interpretation. GC: How would you describe the relationship between tarot and creativity? CPM: I think the tarot and creativity are inherently linked. To look at an image and decipher meaning is a creative act. To be able to lay several cards out and connect them together to tell a story that answers the question you bring to the cards is a creative skill. The cards themselves are creative work: they are art. And when we bring ourselves to them - whether the purpose is directly to spark creativity or simply to self-reflect - we’re co-creating with that art. GC: When writing this book what was your intention behind its creation and your hope for what readers will take away from it? CPM: From the beginning of my journey with tarot, I was interested in its creative applications. And while there are many books that touch on this subject, I felt like a truly practical guide to using every tarot card in the deck as a creative tool was lacking from shelves, so, in the true spirit of using tarot for creativity, I got out my cards and I wrote it! I hope that within its pages, readers will find opportunities for inspiration, reflection, and healing in their creative lives. I hope blocked writers and artists will learn to use the cards to unlock what’s in their way. I hope that individuals who have never given themselves permission to call themselves creative before will be inspired to recognise that they, too, live creative lives. I hope working creatives will discover new ways of thinking, brainstorming, and reflecting. And hope that, equipped with the cards as companions, guides, and cheerleaders, readers will feel empowered to pursue creating projects as diverse as novels, home renovations, restaurant menus, clothing lines, paintings, travel itineraries, marketing campaigns, lesson plans, and so much more. GC: Creativity is not just artists, writers and dancers; we are all creative beings in some way or another. For those readers that maybe don’t see themselves as creative how do you suggest they work with this book? CPM: Being curious and open to the tarot is inherently creative - so merely by opening these pages and getting playful with the cards and the prompts on offer is more than enough to call yourself creative. I’ll share an excerpt from the book that really sums up my thinking on this: 'Let me let you in on a little secret: Developing recipes, or even just finding appetising ways of serving something from your favourite cookbook, is an act of creativity. Turning someone else’s trash into something stylish is absolutely creative. Solving problems through troubleshooting code requires ingenuity and creativity in spades. And the research and enthusiasm you need to take the holiday of your dreams on a budget — that’s creativity at its finest. Our culture has grand ideas about what creativity looks like: flighty, tortured, untouchable, magical. We equate creativity with being a genius, with being special, with being gifted. But the truth is it’s impossible to be human and not be creative. Our thoughts and the connections we make, the way those thoughts and connections lead us to unique actions and lifestyles , that’s all creative. Creativity isn’t special—it’s a fact of life. And that’s what makes the tarot such a powerful creative tool. Like creativity, tarot is something that appears magical but really isn’t that special, and I mean that in the best possible way. Both creativity and the tarot are about making connections, about finding magic through observation and action, and; they’re not about waiting to be sprinkled with pixie dust or to suddenly inherit supernatural powers. So, if you, like many of my dear friends and clients before you, are doubting whether this book is for you because you don’t think you’re creative, or because you’re not into witchy stuff – don’t worry, it is. You don’t need to be a career creative to be a creative person. You don’t need to be a psychic to be a tarot reader. You don’t need to have even the tiniest clue what you’re doing. You only need to be a human being. No matter who you are, no matter what kind of life you lead, creativity is for you. The tarot is for you. And this book is for you'. GC: Each card is explained with its meanings and then given a suggested card spread with questions. Is some prior knowledge of tarot needed in order to understand and interpret these? CPM: No prior knowledge of the tarot is required for this book! In some ways, I might even say that readers who are coming to the tarot for the first time will be at an advantage: not knowing about the card’s 'traditional' meaning may free you up to approach each card with more creative freedom. Readers who are truly brand new to the tarot will find some important basics including a short history of the tarot, a glossary of key terms, and a sample reading to help them feel more at home with the cards. Of course, I do hope that this book will also become a new and welcome addition to the libraries of experienced readers - especially my colleagues who are looking for new perspectives on the cards! I so look forward to how my peers can build upon what I’ve written, and teach me new ways of thinking about the intersection of tarot and creativity, too. GC: The creative prompts you have given alongside each card provide a wide variety of options to choose from; is this to help us practice and explore creativity from different angles? CPM: I created the prompts with several considerations in mind: accessibility, novelty, preference, and challenge. I hope that for every card, each reader will discover at least one prompt that appeals to them in the moment, that feels doable, fun, inspiring, and/or challenging. Because I want this book to feel accessible and relevant to a broad range of creatives, I hoped to provide a wide range of options that yes, would challenge individuals to try new things, but would also be relevant in their existing practices. And beyond that, because I very much see this book as a resource that creatives can turn to again and again, I wanted to make sure there were plenty of suggestions so that coming back to the same card more than once still feels fresh, novel, and fun. GC: For anyone currently struggling with their creativity; what is your advice? CPM: Dare yourself to make the absolute worst version of something. This is a creative challenge in and of itself, and an opportunity to free yourself from the pressure to make something 'good'. Voltaire said that 'perfect is the enemy of good'. I’ll take it a step further: 'good’ is often the enemy of fulfilled'. I think that the tarot, with its random nature, facilitates the opportunity to check 'good' at the door and just work with whatever comes through the cards. It takes the pressure off and makes room for the play instead. For more In Conversation with.... article's click here.
