Fuel to the fire: a creative toolkit for Aries season
Including: an Aries themed meditation, tarot spread, creative prompts, and Ariean playlist
Hi little coven, and happy Aries season.
Before we begin - you’re invited to write with me this weekend! On Sunday, I’ll be working on my book draft from 9am - 5pm UK time (5am-1pm EST / 2am - 10am PST). You can join me in this Zoom room if you want to write/craft/body double on a project).
Aries holds a special place in my heart (and my chart), and represents the beginning of a new astrological year.
Aries season is all about strong starts; it’s an invitation to burst onto the scene with big ideas and loud opinions, to take risks, and to find the value in striking matches, even if you’re not sure the fire will catch. To claim your artistic authority anew every second you show up to your work
As a sign that favors bold beginnings, Aries energy is potent for creatives. It speaks directly to the early stages of ideating and manifesting our creative ideas. It conjures the confidence that it takes to put an idea into action, even when there’s no guarantee that idea is going to be a “success.”
But don’t take Aries’ willingness to look foolish in pursuit of creative exploration aa any indication that the sign doesn’t value success. Look no further than the crowd of iconoclastic Aries artists as evidence that strong starts and a passion for pushing boundaries propel incredible creative legacies. Art deities Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Goya, and Raphael were all born beneath Aries skies. Aries writers include Maya Angelou, and two of my favorite playwriters: Samuel Beckett, and Tenessee Williams. In music, Aries claims Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Diana Ross, and Lil Nas X.
Lined up together, these celebrated Aries prove that season is a powderkeg of creative energy: so let’s all make the most of it.
This spring, let’s all give ourselves permission draw on the heat and power that fuels Ariens’ fire for creative work.
Let’s give ourselves over to the passion we feel for the creative ideas and dreams and dive head-first into the risk that comes with commiting to our creative ambitions.
Let’s not allow fear of rain or forest fite keep us from striking a match and illuminating our creative world - it’s going to be worth it.
Now, let’s talk about two archetypes you can look to for inspiration and creative nourishment Aries season: the Arien ram, and the Emperor tarot card.
Represented in the Zodiac by a ram — Aries charges in like the Spring season it represents. But the story that backgrounds the Aries mythos adds layers of melancholy to the sign’s initial fiery presence.
The Aries Ram’s significance is rooted in the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece, a precious, unattainable relic that shares some symbolic DNA with the Holy Grail.
The myth is the source of the Arien ram because a ram was the source of the Fleece.
The story goes like this: A flying ram with golden hair, Chrysomallus, rescues a prince from his murderous stepmother. The prince finds sanctuary on another island, and sacrifices the ram that saved him, gifting its golden fleece to the king of his new home (and father of his new wife). In an ironic twist of fate, the prince is ultimately murdered by the king he gave the fleece to. One day, many years later, the famous hero Jason is challenged to liberate the fleece from the many protections (including a fire-breathing dragon) that the King installed to protect the it. The twists keep coming - Jason marries the king’s daught, Medea, who ultimately murders their children.
Aries season honors Chrysomallus, recognising his role in fueling one of ancient Greece’s most famous epic stories. Just like this Zodiac season, the mythic ram represents a bold beginning, a risk, a spark.
The Ram is honored in Pamela Coleman' Smith’s artwork for the Emperor tarot card - the creature decorates the arm rests and the back of the throne, and offers some solid advice for containaining and maintaining that spark.
While there’s a natural wildness to the Ram archetype, and a clear narrative of how good ideas can pave the road to destruction (poor Chrysomallos had the great idea to help out a prince, and ended up dead for his good deed), the Emperor offers a different path: one where we intentionally nurture our sparks to burn in our favor, instead of throwing a spark out into the world and watching it burn the whole thing out and down.
The Emporer promotes applying an entrepreneurial spirit to your creative sparks: think about how your instincts, impulses, and big ideas can sustain your creative work over time. This card advises following through on bold beginnings by creating a stable structure for those beginnings to flourish through. Let the idea spark you, says the Emperor, but have a wick on hand to catch the flame and control the burn.
Aries energy is hard for me, as a tarot reader, to really unpack without drawing the energy of the tarot suit of Wands into the conversation. Aries and Wands energies are both ruled and fueled by the element of Fire. The Wands map out a very Arien journey: think that powerful first strike of the match in the Ace of Wands, the itch for bigger things in the Two and Three, the high energy of the Four, Five, and Six, before the interplay between overwhelm and high action that dominates the Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten.
Pamela Coleman Smith’s Wand court admittedly leans more into Leo imagery than Aries, but the Ram’s presence is felt, even when it’s not seen. The Knight of Wands blazes in but promises no follow through, but he’s tempered by the King’s restraint — a mirror of the Emperor in profile.
As you move through Aries season, bear in mind the power of your creative sparks. But bear in mind, too, the authority you have the power to claim over them. Let yourself get carried away with ideas that move you, feed your flames by engaging your creative spirit, but trust that you have the wherewithal to call yourself back before you burn yourself out.
Creative Prompts for Aries Season
Use the following prompts as jumping-off points for your own creative exploration of Aries season. These aren’t homework — try what feels good or interesting to you, and know you have my permission to ignore the rest.
Journal about the Arien Ram and the Emperor tarot card.
How do these images make you feel?
What memories, desires, and questions, do they bring up for you?
What similarities and differences do you notice between them?
Use fire as a creative tool in a piece of visual art
Play with candle wax, or with burning or melting other materials. Let fire transform your work - but do it safely and responsibly!
Use the suit of Wands to inspire a story or work of art
Draw on an individual card for inspiration, or use the full suit as a template for a story arc.
Jot down a list of what is setting you on fire right now
Give space for the little sparks of ideas to fly, and maybe catch fire into something bigger
More creative resources for Aries season (including a tarot spread, guided meditation, Arien playlist & more) are available below for paid subscribers.
If you’d like to dig deeper into what creative gifts Aries season has to offer you, and get access to future creative tools for every Zodiac season, you can become a paid subscriber to The Shuffle for just £1/$1.25 a week (annual subscription rate). Subscriber support means that I can keep regular resources like these coming, and continue to focus on developing quality writing & resources at the intersection of spirituality & creativity.