After spending so much time reading Tarot, I have a tendency to notice when things reflect the imagery of the cards.

So, as I was looking through old photos, this capture of little me immediately struck me with its similarities to The Magician.

The Magician card from the Smith-Waite Tarot.

The hand positions were the first thing I spotted, but then I quickly noticed the similarities between my dress and The Magician’s robes. Details kept unfurling before my eyes—the sippy cup goblet, the food dish pentacle, the foliage border, the fork wand—and each one zapped me with a feeling of magic.

I excitedly showed my mom, who then pointed out the houses in the distance that acted as an infinity sign over my head, as well as the fold in the tablecloth that could be seen as a sword.

I’ve reached a point in my life where I let myself unabashedly indulge in whimsy and synchronicities, so these revelations were both joyful and affirming to my creative and magical paths.

Please enjoy my comparative mark-up lol.

I consider The Magician to be a patron card for creatives.

The Magician lifts their wand in the air with one hand and points to the earth with the other, acting as a lightning rod for divine inspiration that they can, in turn, craft into something tangible. The Magician’s tools— representing Tarot’s four minor arcana or “suits”—sit on the table in front of them, indicating that they have everything they need to bring their visions to life.

“Where do you get your ideas?” is a common question I get asked, but it doesn’t have one simple answer. In years past, I would say that my ideas were largely sourced from daydreams and random musings. And this is still true some of the time.

But, at other times, ideas hit me like lightning.

The last manuscript I finished was in both an age range and genre that I had never written before, yet the idea seemed to come to me almost fully formed. Over the next several months, the story poured out of me like water.

In times like these, it’s hard not to believe in the divine inspiration that The Magician channels. What this “divine inspiration” is exactly is open for interpretation: it could be a particular deity you connect with, the general idea of benevolent cosmic energy, or an achievement of psychological or spiritual “alignment.” Or it could be something we don’t have any accurate concept of!

I’m not too concerned with the particulars of the source, but I know it’s easier to connect with when I’m open-minded, creatively “fed,” and in a loving and trusting place with myself.

I used to envy my younger self and her seemingly effortless connection to this source. I would wrack my brain wondering, how do I go back? How do I return to the days when creative flow came so easily?

I realize now that I’ve always had the internal tools I needed, and you do too. Our connection to Source may ebb and flow, but I think that’s how it’s meant to be. Lightning isn’t a constant stream after all, but an unpredictable flash occurrence.

Stay receptive. Move with love. Take in the world and its people and their art. Play, practice, and be patient. This is how you become a lightning rod.

But, if all else fails, you can always try raising a plastic fork toward the ceiling.

Baby Magician

In the Belly