Nourishing Space

Cultivating a Creative Haven

Jul 11, 2025

Radiant Wise Spirit Tarot by Lo Scarabeo

Good Afternoon Mystics!

This week we’re onto the Empress in Tarot for Creativity by

. I’ve used the accompanying spread Chelsey provides for this card many times, and it never fails to bring the necessary message and action need to cultivate my creative space.

Space Matters…or Does It?

Most writers have a vision in their mind of what they want their writing space to look like, and once it’s created…suddenly they can’t write! They’d rather write at their kitchen counter, dining room table, or even at a café. Then there are writer’s who can work at their carefully curated space.

Essentially, every writer works in a place they find inspiring, so any space will work!

(“Space” is going to be the over-used word for today, by the way.)

Chelsey invites us to engage with the Empress through the lens of where we work:

When the Empress appears, it’s a call to examine the wider environment we create and exist within.

I’ve always found it comfortable to work at home because I can put my headphones on and jam to music as I write. You might catch a shoulder shimmy, or full on dancing and lip-synching. Does much writing happen? Yes and no…depends on the song!

I’ve got a standing desk (which I just got and it’s amazing because it’s larger and more space!) with my MacBook Air and monitor, my Nintendo Switch, and some books piled on the left edge. I also have little figures and a mini Lego typewriter next to my MacBook.

My desk is in a shared space at home, so I usually have headphones on—I’ve always been the type of person who needs music to work, lyrical and/or instrumental. It helps block out the noise around me so I can focus and enter the zone.

I’ve found coffee shops too busy and active for me because I can’t quite let the world drop away as I do at home.

I want to end this part of the post with one last quote from Chelsey on the Empress. She states:

When the Empress comes up in a reading, take it as a sign that some part of your creative project or some part of yourself needs to feel safe and loved.

We need to listen to ourselves and our project. As Chelsey points out, it could be us or our creative expression that need some lovin’. When we turn our ear to our bodies and our creativity, this strengthens and empowers these inner relationships. It shows that we care and we’re prepared to honour what we need and what our project needs. By acting on what we receive, we cultivate the space necessary to help us grow and expand creatively.

The Empress: Nurturing Self Spread

When I’m pulling cards for myself, I tune into which deck I’m feeling drawn to. And today, I’ve picked the Santa Muerte Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. I feel like the art in this deck reimagines the meaning of the 78-cards, allowing us to see them in a new way.

Do More

I know I say “it’s interesting” a lot, but it’s true! The Four of Swords has always been a rest card for me. And I mean, it is fitting—to focus on a nurturing creative space, I do need to listen to my body. I need to listen to my creative body.

I believe there’s a balance to showing up when you do and don’t want to create. A sense of discipline provides our creativity the necessary encouragement when we don’t want to show up. But a few minutes a day is enough.

And I think I’ve spent too much time creating an environment of pressure and stress instead of cultivating fun and passion for the love of creating. The Four of Swords asks for breaks so ideas can compost and grow.

I know the image in this card is that of a coffin being nailed shut, but sometimes we do need to protect our creations until they’re at a point—and we’re at a point—when it’s okay to share without being knocked down or discouraged in our creative pursuit. Our foundations must be strong and unshakeable.

Drawing from the Magician’s post, it’s about knowing what boundaries to set with others when discussing our projects so we can keep the aliveness of the idea. I’ve sealed myself off completely from talking about my novel, and writing in general, so I believe this card also implores me to free myself from the coffin while also sharing tidbits that won’t cause the lid to shut again.

It’ll be challenging at first, but it’s just a difficultly wrapped package—and I can slowly unwrap it and find the pearls within.

The other thing I can do is add pieces to my desk and work space, creating beauty with wisdom and inspiration. I’ve got a couple of items that make me smile, but I think I can do better.

Do Less

Ha! The Two of Pentacles urges less stress and overwhelm to have a beautifully nurturing space for my creativity. And I couldn’t agree more!

This has been a topic and theme that’s come up a lot in the cards I’ve been over so far, and it’s been something I knew about before I started this journey. And so the cards are 100% calling me out because obviously I haven’t acted fully on this knowledge yet. It’s still been a discovery process, but one I’m beginning to see the threads unfold where I can enact change.

And, I have acted on certain things…but stress, overwhelm, and pressure are the main feelings that need to go!

The other aspect within this card that offers an interesting perspective is less balance. Now I know that sounds weird, but bear with me: I’m a plantser. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s a writer who has both pantser and plotter tendencies. A pantser writes by the seat of their pants while a plotter outlines their entire novel.

For myself, I have some aspects of my novel plotted, and the rest I just pants. And sometimes I force myself to be structured, but that’s not how my creativity works—so the Two of Pentacles tells me don’t be as balanced. Don’t be as much of a perfectionist (Pterodactyl screech). Things will unfold as you show up authentically to your creativity and honour how it wants to be expressed.