Tarot helps us access the unconscious … and be more creative

My entire life, there has been one word that others use to describe me.

Creative.

It’s how I approached school assignments … like the time in high school when we were supposed to tell the story of our lives as the front page of a newspaper. I was the only one who designed it as a tabloid magazine.

It’s why I chose to be a part of the first graduating class of New Century College, an interdisciplinary degree program at George Mason University (now known as the School of Integrative Studies). I could design my own degree.

Twenty years later, it’s how I’ve designed my life. I gravitate toward new ideas, to change, to possibility and progress.

I have explored creativity in a scholarly way (it was the subject of my master’s thesis) and throughout my career as a journalist.

In 2003-2004, I authored a series of stories inspired by “The Rise of the Creative Class,” which ultimately led to a community discussion in Roanoke featuring author Richard Florida. Around the same time, I founded a fun entertainment tabloid called Inside Out at the daily newspaper — those years are still among the favorites of my career.

And now, as a grants professional in higher education, I try to turn big ideas into reality.

This is why read books by David Ogilvy, who happens to share a similar last name. The legendary “father of advertising” wrote a lot about big, creative ideas. Where do they come from?

Ogilvy said the best ideas come as jokes, and I 100% agree. So I pay attention to the wise cracks, from myself and others.

In “Ogilvy on Advertising,” he also wrote “big ideas come from the unconscious.”

… but your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your concious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret. Suddenly, if the telephone line from your unconcious is open, a big idea wells up within you.”

We can also unhook our rational thought process by using tarot.

Benebell Wen, author of “Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth,” considers tarot as a tool to help us mine our own unconscious … the cards serve as “a flashlight that you can use to illuminate the dark terrain we walk through in life.“

She writes:

“The signs and symbols of the cards facilitate retrieval of information from the unconscious and move it to the forefront of the conscious plane of the mind, which can then help us form creative solutions, present a different angle to a problem that we have been looking monotonously at, or offer the breakthrough that allows us to move forward. …

When we study the imagery and symbols on the cards in a tarot spread, we activate our imagination. That imagination then activates our intuition, which is often the only instrument we have that channels a clear path for us to the truth of the matter. That truth is often found in the unconscious.“

I would be happy to help you unlock your intuition — and big ideas — through individual or group tarot readings!

Book your reading now!