Alchemy through attention: a creative toolkit for Sagittarius season

+ An exclusive new card pull for leaning into Sagittarius's creative energy

Hi little coven, and happy Sagittarius season.

Sagittarians know what they want, and they aren’t afraid to aim high — they trust they’re going to leave their mark. This is especially true for creative Sagittatirians, whose combination of passion and rigor primes them for success when it comes to realising their creative vision and to getting that art seen and heard.

Four of the most successful recording artists of the last decade were born under this sign: Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish. Writers Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Joan Didion, George Saunders, and Emily Dickinson came into the world as Sagittarians, too. Painter Diego Rivera and conceptual artist Marina Abramović represent the sign in the art world. This list of successful Sagittarian creatives goes on and on and on…

But you don’t need to be born under the Sagittarius sign to harness this season’s overwhelming creative power.

To make the most of your creative energy over the next four weeks, consider embracing two archetypes: The Archer, the classic symbol of the late autumn Zodiac sign that we’re entering today, and Temperance, the Sagittarius tarot birth card.

At first glance, these figures may not seem to have a lot in common. The Archer is all aggression, violence, earth, while the Temperance Angel is delicate, ethereal, holy.

And yet, both speak to something greater: The Archer’s trained sight and their intent on a target isn’t so different from the Angel’s work in the card: alchemy through attention.

The Archer relies on the cues of their environment and their current resources to guide an arrow to its target. A good archer understands that the density and quality of the air around them directly impact how their weapon sails through space — so they take note. They get comfortable with the sounds and sights around them before loosing their arrow, because they can’t afford to be surprised at the moment of letting go. They are intimately acquainted with the entire tool: the heft of the bow, the tautness of the string, the tapering lines of the arrow’s tip, the clean line of the shaft — and the pressure of it against their cheek, the tickle of the cock feather. A successful shot relies on the archer’s ability to transform each of these different elements into a concerted energy, to find the moment in which all these details coalesce to become the vehicle for the arrow’s success.

The Angel of Temperance’s work may appear less involved by contrast, but this is a magician at work, pursuing perfect balance: of the elements, and of their energy.

As the Angel aims to perfectly balance the contents of their cups, we see their body at work, creating perfect balance among the elements. Their feet rest on earth and water, their wings beat their air, and their crown glows with heavenly light, or divine fire. In making themselves at home everywhere, the Angel becomes part of everything, equally supported by every element. The goal of ultimate balance is achieved, not through adding more here and taking away something there, as we see in other depictions of balance in the Tarot (Justice and the Six of Pentacles), but by finding a place amongst what already is.

Both the Archer and the Angel are doing the work of creating meaningful change, and they are leaning on the tools and resources they already have — and their knowledge of the environment — to achieve their goal. This is the skill that bonds them as representatives of this astrological season.

Speaking of creating meaningful change, CHANGE is the ongoing subject of our weekly tarot journaling sessions for the next 10 weeks. Become a paid subscriber to The Shuffle now to get access to live and recording journaling sessions.

There are many more threads connecting these two Sagittarius ambassadors, and I encourage you to explore what commonalities stand out to you.

Their primary message coming into the season is this: Know your target. Whether you see your goal as a bullseye you need to unfurl all your strength and focus to hit, or the gentle work of coaxing beauty from a project that still feels wanting, know where you want to go. And recognize how where you are and what you have now can help you get there.

No matter your sun sign, consider your journey through Sagittarius season over these next four weeks an opportunity to set your sights on a creative goal and facilitate the environment and resources you need to attain it.

Creative Prompts for Sagittarius Season

Use the following prompts as jumping-off points for your own creative exploration of Sagittarius 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 Sagittarius Archer and the Temperance 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?

• Create a self-portrait of yourself as the Archer or Temperance.

  • You can do this through a visual medium, but also in writing through a character study of yourself. If you choose to write, consider turning to Alexander Chee’s Letters from London as inspiration: the author writes about himself in 3rd person, which provides a clever way of observing the self, and envisioning yourself in new ways.

  • Make an effort to depict your creative goal for the next month, and the skills and resources that can help you achieve that goal

• Choose one of the famous Sagittarian creatives listed at the top of this post, and study their successes.

  • What can you learn from their artistry and from their commercial success?

• Choose a tarot card to represent your creative goal for Sagittarius season.

  • Keep it on display in your creative space throughout the next four weeks, to remind you of the target you’re aiming to hit.

  • Reflect each morning or evening on how leaning into the card’s energy can help you get closer to reaching your goal

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If you’d like to dig deeper into what creative gifts Sagittarius 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. Subscriptions are 20% off until tomorrow. 22nd November! 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.