If you’re familiar with #AcWriMoments — the Substack newsletter that I’ve co-published since 2023 with my brilliant collaborator Margy Thomas— you may recognize this fiery pen-wand-branch as the title image for our November 2024 post, CONJURE.

First conceived as an antidote to productivity-pushing writing challenges such as #AcWriMo, our original “30 Days of #AcWriMoments” challenge consisted of 30 beautiful posts contributed by writing scholars, coaches, consultants, and editors from around the world. Each day throughout the month of November 2023, we sent out a fresh prompt inviting writers into “a sacred moment of communion with yourself and your scholarly work.”

After the November challenge ended, Margy and I missed those daily prompts; and so we returned to our readers in late December 2023 with a fresh twist on the concept:

On the first day of each month throughout 2024, we’ll offer you a unique theme to focus on in your cultivation of #AcWriMoments, along with simple prompts for integrating that theme into your daily life and work. You can return to this Monthly Guidepost again and again, experimenting with different suggestions and practices as you pursue whatever goals and visions you have for yourself that month.

Starting with WELCOME in January, we published guideposts structured around 12 resonant themes, each phrased as a verb: DEDICATE (February), RISK (March), LISTEN (April), GROW (May), CENTER (June), DREAM (July), CLARIFY (August), REFLECT (September), HARVEST (October), CONJURE (November), and ENVISION (December).

Here’s the scholarly secret that we didn’t reveal at the time: each of those themes emerged from a tarot card! In late 2023, Margy drew 12 cards (from a traditional tarot pack of 78) to offer her personal and professional guidance for her year ahead — and those cards, in turn, inspired our monthly themes.

Margy’s notes for November 2024 provide some insight into our process:

November - SHINE, GLOW, CONJURE

Emit a bright light; attract attention; radiate energy, especially positive

“November” comes from “nine,” a number of abundance

Scorpio season

Ace of Wands

In the classic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, the Ace of Wands appears as a blossoming branch proffered by a giant hand emerging from a cloud.

Drawing on the card’s imagery and associations — creativity, fire, rebirth — we discussed various options for representing the theme of CONJURE. Then, letting my hands lead the way, I fashioned the paper collage that you see at the top of this post: a fountain pen that is also a blossoming branch and a magic wand, wreathed not in clouds but in fire.

Margy, meanwhile, drafted the text for our November 2024 post:

With a flash of your magic wand — aka, your pen or pencil — a word appears on the page. Then a whole sentence, a paragraph, a book! Words work magic by making the invisible manifest, materializing unseen ideas. Through words, you can remake your world: if not always your outer environment, then surely the unmapped lands within.

Words can CONJURE a feeling, an image, a memory. A concept, a narrative, a description of reality. A novel framework. An explanation. Words can sketch a tiny fragment or construct an entire parallel (or possible) universe.

Did I show Margy my collage image before she wrote her opening sentence, with its evocative flash of fire? Or did her words influence my depiction of unseen connections materialized through the magic of metaphor? To be honest, I can’t remember. Our collaborative process felt at once intensely intellectual and deeply intuitive — the best kind of scholarly alchemy.

If you’d like to learn more about how the ancient wisdom of tarot can help you unlock the unique creative power of your own scholarship, I hope you’ll sign up for our brand new Substack newsletter, Tarot for Scholars, which launched on January 1, 2025 with a “31 Days of Tarot” challenge. We will introduce one randomly drawn card each day in January (starting, not so randomly, with the Fool) before relaxing our pace to a card a week for the remainder of the year. Every post is free to all subscribers — but there’s an option to contribute to our “Helen and Margy IRL Fund” so that the two of us, who live on opposite sides of the globe, can meet up In Real Life one day. ✈️

Not a member? Join the WriteSPACE with a free 30 day trial, and access our full Library of videos and other writing resources as part of your membership plan.

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The Fool. The Hermit. The Queen of Swords. How can the richly resonant cards of the classic tarot deck help you unlock the unique creative power of your scholarship?

On December 16, I invited Margy Thomas, founder of ScholarShape, to join me for a conversation and workshop on "Tarot for Scholars." This two-hour Special Event was based on our shared fascination with the ancient wisdom and modern metaphorics of the tarot, which has led us to launch a new Substack newsletter, also called Tarot for Scholars.

Here’s WriteSPACE Event Manager Amy Lewis’ personal account of this special event:

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What happens when scholarship meets intuition? At this WriteSPACE Special Event, Helen and Margy delved into a rich exploration of how tools like tarot cards can help scholars navigate both intellectual and personal challenges.

Their conversation underscored a powerful truth: academia doesn’t have to be rigidly analytical. Tools such as tarot and oracle decks, lunar writing guides, and creative prompts can offer scholars new ways to engage with their work and themselves, encouraging a balance of structure and spontaneity, discipline and intuition — a balance that in turn can lead to more authentic and impactful scholarship.

One aspect that stood out for me during the discussion was the contrast between Helen and Margy’s perspectives on tarot. Helen expressed a touch of scepticism, viewing tarot cards as thought-provoking intellectual tools rather than as divinely guided. Margy, by contrast, shared her profound belief in the mysterious universal forces at work in her life. This interplay between their views enriched the conversation, demonstrating that you don’t need to take a firm stance — whether as a mystic or a sceptic — to benefit from the wisdom of tarot.

So, whether you’re curious about integrating these tools or you already use them in your academic life, here’s an open invitation! I encourage you all to check out these three great resources:

1) Watch A Scholar’s View of Tarot. This 35-minute video offers an overview of tarot, providing a foundation and context for the 78 single-card videos that Margy and Helen will publish for their 2025 Tarot for Scholars Project.

2) In the second hour, Margy led us through a hands-on workshop with freewriting prompts about specific tarot cards and our writing. To try her prompts for yourself, you can watch the workshop video in the WriteSPACE membership area.

3) For those completely new to tarot, Margy recommends Susannah Conway’s courses, including:

• ‘Daily Guidance’: A shorter introduction to tarot and oracle cards, ideal for beginners.

• ‘78 Mirrors’: A comprehensive six-week course designed to foster a deep connection with the tarot.

• ‘Tarot for Your Inner Child’: A course that explores creativity and healing.

An enormous thanks to Helen for hosting this fascinating special event and to Margy for introducing us to the exciting world of tarot. I look forward to seeing you at the next WriteSPACE Special Event!

WriteSPACE and WS Studio members can find the recording of the Special Event in their Video library.  

Not a member? Register to receive an email with a link to the video of the first hour.

Better yet! Join the WriteSPACE with a free 30 day trial, and access our full Library of videos and other writing resources as part of your membership plan.

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