Episode 30: [GUEST] Busting through writer's block using tarot with Miriam Rachel

In this episode, Elizabeth welcomes guest, Miriam Rachel, to discuss using tarot cards for finding writing inspiration. Miriam shares how she has used tarot in her own writing to provide insight into the benefits of using the cards for content planning, book writing, and personal development. 

Who is Miriam Rachel?

Miriam Rachel, out of Toronto, Canada, is a tarot reader, astrologer, podcaster of The Tarot Table, and freelance writer who has also been a blogger for over a decade. She constantly contributes to publications such as AskAstrology, Calmoura, and Medium. She has discovered over the years how tarot can help you in ways that have nothing to do with divination, as she recently wrote about using tarot for self-reflection to set boundaries and to stop people-pleasing. She now helps bloggers never run out of ideas for topics by teaching them how to use tarot to bust writer's block.

Where can you connect with Miriam Rachel?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miriamreadstarot
Website: https://miriamreadstarot.com/
Medium: https://msmir.medium.com/

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome fellow writers to the Inspired Writer Collective podcast, your go to hub for all things writing. We're your hosts, Elizabeth and Stephanie. Whether you're a seasoned wordsmith or just dipping your quill into the ink well of creativity, we're absolutely thrilled to have you with us. Drawing from our experience in publishing diverse writing genres and the daily grind of showing up for yourself, we're here to be your writing companions. Expect insightful discussions, expert tips, and a dash of inspiration as we navigate the twists and turns of the writing journey together. So whether you're listening on your commute, during your writing session, or just relaxing at home, get ready for an immersive experience that celebrates the art and joy of writing. Hi,

Elizabeth: 0:50

Good morning, listeners. I've got a new guest with me here today. This is Miriam Rachel out of Toronto, Canada. She is a tarot reader, astrologer, and podcaster of the Tarot Table. I was recently on one of her episodes as a guest, Give that a listen. If you haven't already, those on our email list would have already seen that. And also I would just want to say Miriam is a freelance writer. She's also been a blogger for over a decade and she is going to talk to us today about a new way or a hack that she's found for using tarot in order to keep up with those inspiration and the ideas for bloggers. She's put together a lot of really cool Courses and communities to help those who are bloggers and she's going to help them bust through writer's block by teaching them how to use tarot. So welcome Miriam to our podcast today. If you would please give us a little bit of a background of like how you got into tarot in the first place and then Your own experimentation of using it with your writing.

Miriam: 1:59

Certainly. Well, firstly, thank you so much for having me. So yeah you know, it's, it's interesting because after I had my daughter, which was over 22 years ago now, fell more into astrology, tarot, all the esoteric stuff. I don't know. why and how, but I just became drawn to it. Now, I've been drawn to it before that. I remember when I was 16 years old, I went to a psychic fair and I just was like, wow, this just with what I love, but I didn't really get into it until then. then it just evolved and grew. So I've been doing tarot readings for a long time astrology readings, but I don't really do too much astrology now. I focus mostly on tarot and I'm also developing my mediumship skills. However, I also am a writer. I've been doing, I've been writing for a long time. I write for a couple of publications, Ask Astrology and Kalmora. But I still also used to write for the old Valnet publications, which was Baby Gaga, The Taco some articles on The Richest, but aren't really a thing anymore. Although I do think that Baby Gaga still exists, but I'm really focusing my writing nowadays. esoteric, metaphysical, spiritual content. And that's what I do. So I do have a few private clients as well. I write horoscopes for them, et cetera. So that's where I'm at. So I, I basically do a bunch of things, writing tarot readings and a bunch of other really cool things. And as as you said, I. I'm a podcast host as well. I'm also going to be launching another podcast. That's not related, but it is. Relevant to one of my blogs that I've had for a very long time. I used to have a podcast for that blog, which was expressive mom, but I just ended it and you know what, I felt called to get things going with it again. So I'm basically resurrecting that podcast very soon. Yeah, so that's basically what I do.

Elizabeth: 4:04

That's very cool. Now you and I had the chance to talk a while ago about this challenge that you created for yourself. And it was like a month long challenge. Maybe explain the parameters you set, but essentially it was to trial out this concept of using tarot card pulls in order to help you jog your memory or think about things to create content around for bloggers or other people like yourself who are wanting to put out really consistent content. Can you tell us what that experiment was like and what kind of feedback you got from it?

Miriam: 4:42

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Now, before I get really into that, I just want to mention a couple of other things. I mean, tarot can also be used for self reflection, stimulating creativity, and all that. So, I actually wrote a book last year about using tarot to, self reflect to help you discover why you struggle with people pleasing because I mean, I used to be an extreme people pleaser, which is also known as an echoist, but a catalyst got me out of it, but it wasn't the tarot, but the tarot also did help me reflect as to where I still need to make changes. So I wrote a book about that and that has nothing to do with this. So I just wanted to talk about that though, as to. This as how you can use tarot for other things and creativity is a huge one. So one of the things that many bloggers struggle with, and I used to struggle with it too, was coming up with a slew of ideas, a slew of topics to write about because if you're a blogger you know how important it is to keep spitting out good quality content. and

Elizabeth: 5:48

I

Miriam: 5:49

writer's block can really hinder that. And then next thing you know, you're not writing anything and then your rankings go down and nobody knows you. Well, that's not necessarily true, but you're, you're not up to, you know, you want to keep putting out good content. So Tarot Can help you with that. So I wanted to run a couple of experience experiments on medium. com as I'm very active on there So back in February I did one So what I did was I'm like, all right, I'm going to write 10 or is it 10 or 12? I can't remember

Elizabeth: 6:26

think it was 12.

Miriam: 6:27

12 was a 12. Yeah. Yeah, this was a few months ago now topics in February. This, I know, I remember writing this last day of January is either 30th or 31st. I said, I am going to write 12 topics in February and they are all going to represent each card that I'm pulling. So I pulled 12 cards and each of those cards wrote a topic for. It's throughout the month of February it was very easy to come up with ideas because once you have you pull a card have a bunch of ideas like okay This is what I want to write about and I did another challenge as well recently I didn't write about the results yet, but I will get to that. I did it for April and May it was actually 15 this time. So I wanted to niche down a little bit there was no niching down with the one in February. So it was really the lifestyle slash self care niche that I used. So that was also very easy. And the thing is, you can use tarot cards for this. To come up with ideas for any niche and that's, I'm going to be very soon publishing a course for that, for bloggers that want to use Tarot to help with ideas. in my course, I'm going to put down all the very common niches, travel, parenting, pets, health, nutrition, fitness, all that, travel, all that, there is something for all of it. Every single thing, for all 78 cards you can tie it to something. So there's never a reason to run out of ideas, and I know that so many writing coaches say if you want to fight writer's block, go to Quora, or Reddit, or Amazon titles. Look for ideas. And that's, that's all great and everything, but how interesting is that? You know what I mean?

Elizabeth: 8:27

Right.

Miriam: 8:28

is that? You may be looking and looking and looking. It's like, I don't know if I want to read this. I don't know if I want to read it, you know. If you pull a tarot card, then you say, oh, I like this idea. Okay. Okay. So say, for example, If you are in the relationship dating niche, okay? And you're not sure what to write about, so you're looking on Quora, it's like, Ah, I think I wrote about this, I wrote about this, I don't want to do, or whatever. So, you decide to pull a card, you get the moon. Well, I have an idea. going to write about how to know someone is catfishing me. See, I mean, you know, that's basically what that is. And the thing is, you have to the basics of tarot to make it work for you as well. You have to get to know cards. You have to use a deck that resonates with you. But once you really get into it, and that's, this is what I'm going to be going over. I'm going to be going over in my course as well, how to do all that. And once you do, then going to be easy.

Elizabeth: 9:41

So you clearly have such a strong grasp of, you know, the tarot and the meanings of all the cards. And I dabble, and I do some of my own polls, and I also listen to a lot of readings. So I've picked up on various interpretations through that, but it's taken some time. Do you have a way for People to like for those who don't know very much about tarot like if they pull a card say And say they pull the moon. Is there a certain like reference for the like just entry level interpretation of the card that you would point people to before they gain a deeper understanding of the various nuances of a particular card

Miriam: 10:23

Oh, absolutely. When, when I go over all of the cards in the course, I do give an overview of what it means, but that's not going to be enough for you to understand the meanings. You have to do your homework if you're gonna learn the cards. Now, this course is going to be geared more towards those who do have a basic understanding and beyond because I don't, I don't go into the nitty gritty of tarot because that's a whole different in itself, which I mean, I mean, there's so many courses out there with that. And that's why I don't know if I really want to waste my time doing that, but what I will offer to is like coaching. If people want to work with me closely, I can do that, you know, for, for them as well. But yeah, I mean, this is the thing, and I think I'm going to make that clear is that if you're going to take this, you're going to have to. Really have some knowledge of tarot and listen, if you want to, you want to learn from scratch, that's great, but I would recommend that you take something in conjunction with it to help you really, really delve into the meanings because I don't go too deep into what these meanings are. I do talk about it aside from the topics and everything topic ideas that you can come up with, but I don't really get into the nitty gritty because it's not really meant for those who have absolutely zero knowledge of tarot because and I'm going to make that clear as well once I launch it. It'll be very soon, very soon. I've had to make some changes there. I was going to. have it launched this month. I, it may be towards the solstice at the very latest, July 1st. do want to give myself a deadline. I do have all the slides completed. It's just now I got to record it and organize it and everything. but yeah, so that's that's basically it. You have to have some knowledge of tarot. You don't have to be an expert. You just have to have some knowledge. Once you have some knowledge and you know, I do obviously go over the meanings, but then I really delve more into how to use it for writing. Well,

Elizabeth: 12:25

So do you feel like using tarot cards is not approachable for someone who is just going to look up the basic meaning and like a reference book? Or do you think it's just different, different quality?

Miriam: 12:39

no. Well, the thing is, is that I don't go too deep into the nitty gritty of the meanings. Like I don't go into the symbolism. I don't do all that because that's not what this is about. go over the meanings you know upright and reverse. I know not every tarot reader uses reverse, but it's there anyway because there are, and I, I use reverse. there are a lot that do, including myself. Yeah, I just go over the meanings, but I don't go too deep. And then I go right into how you could use it for writing. And I also have it for different topics of common niches about each, each card can help you some ideas. So that's basically what it is.

Elizabeth: 13:23

Very cool. Yeah, I mean, I can speak, you know, as a writer and say that tarot definitely helps my writing. Even just you know, i'm not creating necessarily like non fiction sort of blog post content i'm writing memoir but even in pulling a card and Some I have deeper understanding of some I don't but I use a reference book that goes through some pretty lengthy descriptions And a lot of times I can find Something that makes me think of, you know, a past experience that I've had that reflects that, you know, whether that was up a power struggle or a time I took a risk and it paid off or, you know, the feeling that I kind of finally reached, you know, some sort of You know high level low aces positive, you know experience in my life And so i've definitely used tarot in a similar way for even just jogging the the memory for memoir because I I feel like similarly as bloggers You can even have writers block about your own life and your own experience There were times when I was outlining my memoir and I knew I needed a particular like type of example or story because, you know, I often remind people that providing one specific example of, say, a particular day you went fishing with your grandpa is a much stronger story and much more engaging than just saying that, On weekends I went fishing with grandpa, right?

Miriam: 14:59

Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: 15:00

So, you know, it can be really helpful using Tarot or any sort of, you know, outside creative flow. But for our purposes of our discussion today, we're focusing on Tarot. That can be really helpful for jogging your memory similarly to how you're approaching it with bloggers and writing block. It can also just be difficult to just constantly feel like you need to come up with a new idea or you're searching the You know, reference cards of your memory to try and find the Rolodex. That's the word I was looking for old school role. No one has Rolodex is anymore. But searching that Rolodex of memory and trying to pull out those prime examples. That'll, you know, benefit the message that you're trying. To get across

Miriam: 15:46

Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: 15:47

in what other ways have you found tarot to Really inform your work

Miriam: 15:55

I'm sorry. I didn't get that last question.

Elizabeth: 15:57

in what ways have you really found tarot to be helpful in informing your work

Miriam: 16:03

Oh my goodness in so many ways now I mean that's interesting how you say about jogging your memory because yes, it actually does now The thing is when you're in a niche where you're writing about lifestyle or self care self improvement gonna also that like say if you know say for instance if you pull the three of swords You can talk about How your emotions are always valid, right? you can even think back about who and how many times your feelings were invalidated, right? So that is also another topic in itself. And then you can all of a sudden know, I remember when I was told this while I was struggling with this. I was, you know, and, and like a topic that say, for instance, disenfranchised grief, which is grief that is, is involves like a death of a dream or death of someone who you barely knew, but felt close to, even your pet, you know a loss of something that has nothing to do with a loved one. That's disenfranchised grief. And so many don't think it's. Important, which is so wrong because all grief is valid, right? you can also write something about that. It's like, I remember when I was struggling, like say, for instance, if I was dealing with infertility, just as an example, and was grieving over the loss of a potential dream of having a family like that, that's also, you know, like that, that kind of stuff. So then you can. start jogging memories back about all the things that people said to you that invalidated your grief. And yeah, I mean, the thing is, is that sometimes you're going to be dealing with some painful memories, you're going to be dealing with some triggers. So you also have to be prepared for that as well. Especially if you're in a, if you're writing in a niche that is pretty heavy. So yeah, so I mean, that's, that's another thing you have to be aware of. So I would imagine that since you focus on writing memoirs, you probably have to, you end up dealing with a lot of that too. You may pull a card and it's like, if it's, if it's the heavy one, like the three of swords or the ten of swords or the tower or something like that, then you're like, Oh my God. Yeah. So.

Elizabeth: 18:28

Yeah, absolutely and but I think that's that's part of the beauty of it is because sometimes that's not a place where we want To naturally allow our minds to wander

Miriam: 18:38

Mm hmm.

Elizabeth: 18:39

kind of shown the door to that And then making that choice of whether you're going to step through that door or not, I think is really helpful because our minds do really protect us from a lot for good cause. And there's also a lot to be gained from a healing perspective and a self discovery perspective and personal growth. If and when you're ready and willing to look at those moments and explore them a little bit deeper.

Miriam: 19:10

Mm hmm. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That definitely does. So I mean, yeah, that's the thing and even if you're using If you're using tarot just to come up with ideas for blogging blogging topics, you could still end up coming up with things Triggers too. I mean, even if it has to do with a niche such as like travel or something, you might come up with, you might pull a card that can be like, Oh God, I remember taking that trip. That was absolutely horrible. That was one of the worst experiences that I could especially if you pull something like the five of swords where you lost your passport and felt defeated or something, you know,

Elizabeth: 19:49

Yeah.

Miriam: 19:49

I really didn't want to remember that. So yeah, I mean, That's just something to keep in mind.

Elizabeth: 19:56

Oh, for sure. I mean, every area can be fraught with different things. I had sort of a near death experience type thing while I was on a train and going to Paris. It's a kind of a long story, but I was fully convinced I was sitting next to someone who had a bomb strapped around them and given the language barriers, I couldn't, I felt totally helpless and doing anything about it. And I was absolutely terrified. Now I can look back and kind of laugh at myself a little bit, but in the moment, you know, totally scared out of my mind and but yeah, so as you said, any area could have it's, it's, you know, Downsides or or whatever, but the thing is there's just a universality to the human experience in that way And so I do appreciate that tarot doesn't just focus all on like The positive that there are cards in there that encourage you to think about the struggles And if you are willing to say write that travel blog about that lost passport or about you know that that difficult experience in a foreign land where You know You were scared or nervous or anything like that. Those are lessons that you've learned that you could help communicate to someone else that they may benefit from. So, you know, I certainly am of the framework mindset that if you're willing to go there, it could be really beneficial to your readers. Because there are so many people that want to stay on the like positive side of travel, for example, or the positive side of self care, or the positive side of parenting. But you know the stuff that I see that goes really big You know that gets a lot of attention are the people who are willing to venture into the dark side and talk about the like the downsides of travel the downsides of parenting the dark side of when self care goes too far or You know is merely a kind of surface level cover for something that really needs much deeper, you know, therapeutic attention and things like that. So, you know, I can't help just because of the way I'm wired and thinking more of like depth, you know, and wanting to see more, more depth in the things that I read. And so I certainly love that you're taking that approach with Tarot because I think it leads. It opens some doors that are a little bit darker that could really benefit people to explore.

Miriam: 22:31

Yeah, absolutely. And by the way, I got lost in Paris, so that was also a total five of swords experience for me too, because I totally lost. I got lost in Paris and I missed out on a lot of shows that I was supposed to go to, so I was just wasting my time trying to find my way back. This was in 97. I was a nervous wreck. There were no GPSs, so I don't know how I got back, but I did. Luckily I did, so that's a getting, getting lost in a foreign city is one of the most terrifying experiences that you can have. So yeah, mhm. But here's the other thing, not everything in life is love, love, and light. And this is why it really bugs the heck out of me. Someone says oh love and light love it. No. Nope. Mm hmm. darkness too. Okay

Elizabeth: 23:21

you can't have light without dark, right?

Miriam: 23:24

Yeah, and I don't like toxic positivity. So I talked so much about that too. Oh gosh So yeah, I mean that's the thing. I mean tarot is not all love and light There's a lot of darkness, but now I don't believe there are any really quote unquote good or bad cards They just a lot of cards may be more positive Some may be more negative, but there's always good in something, right? Like I said, the three of swords, what's good about that? Well, you are releasing your emotions. You're validating your grief. You're validating the fact that you feel the way you feel, even though it's not pretty. So that's also a good thing, right?

Elizabeth: 24:03

Right, even when we talk about a card like the Tower, you know, which is, you know, the collapse of something and a drastic upheaval and change. It's always in the, in a way to direct you back on the path you're meant to be on. So it's actually a very positive card even though it's a difficult experience to transition through. It's always to get you back on the path that you were meant to be walking.

Miriam: 24:29

And the, yeah. And the tower also can also simply mean a revelation. But a revelation can kind of knock some things down too, right? It's like, oh my God, I can't believe that I didn't see this. am I gonna do now? Like, you know.

Elizabeth: 24:45

Oh, I love it. Absolutely. Well, thank you again, Miriam, for joining us this week. Listeners, please subscribe to our channel. Thank you for liking and sharing this video with any of your fellow writers that you think might enjoy this conversation we had today. All of Miriam's links are in the show description as far as getting access to the new community that she's creating, access to her email list, and all of that stuff. So you can find her on all her socials and any final, you know, words of advice in regards to writers and tarot.

Miriam: 25:23

Oh yeah, well firstly thank you so much for having me on. And secondly, you know what? don't be afraid to write what you want. Just write what you feel you need to write about from the heart. You know, if you, and you know what, if you pull a card that triggers something that just really is painful, you don't have to go through that if you're not ready. You can always even pull another card. You're free to do what you want. There are no rules, right? It's all supposed to help you keep coming up with ideas, but you don't have to write about things that are too painful unless you want to challenge yourself. That's different. So I think I should also add that if you're going to be going this route and you're going to be writing about very heavy things. then you should talk to a therapist because that's a lot to do. a lot to work with you know, without any help. And that is something that I would recommend.

Elizabeth: 26:16

Yeah, absolutely. I can absolutely mirror that. And second, that recommendation. It's something I talk about a lot with memoir writing. I have had a therapist that I've met with either weekly or bi weekly for the entire time that I've been writing my memoir. And it's, It's been especially helpful to know I have that sounding board when things come up that are more difficult or are triggering that I have, you know, that, that person to turn to to talk through some of those things. So yes, thank you again, Miriam, for bringing that up and just emphasizing that because it is so important to make sure that as you are exploring those things, that you are still taking care of yourself. And yes, they are very worthy, you know, explorations. There's a lot to be gained from them, but you do need to make sure you're taking care of yourself throughout that, that writing process. So again, thank you for joining us today. And listeners Miriam's links will be in the show description. So go check that out.

Miriam: 27:12

Thank you so much.

27:19

Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Inspired Writer Collective podcast. We hope you found inspiration, insights, and connection to yourself as a writer. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, and leave us a five star review. Remember, the power of storytelling lies within each of us, and by supporting one another, we can make a difference. We invite you to schedule a coffee chat with us on our website, www. inspiredwritercollective. com. Just like our style here on the podcast, our coffee chats are casual and a way to connect about your writing and discover if book coaching or joining our upcoming writing cohorts for memoir and contemporary romance writing are for you. You can also become a part of our community by connecting with us on social media. You can find us on Instagram and YouTube at Inspired Writer Collective, on TikTok at Inspired Writer LLC. Let's continue this writing journey together. You can find links in the show notes. Until next time, fellow writers, may your pens be mighty and your stories captivating. Happy writing!