Creative Arcana 003. Alyssa Polizzi
A Tarot-led interview with educator, writer, and author of The Artemisian
Creative Arcana is a regular series on The Shuffle featuring interviews with writers, artists, and makers about their creative lives, projects, and processes. The line of questioning is informed by a series of tarot card pulls. Want to submit yourself, or a creative you know, to be featured in an upcoming Creative Arcana segment? Please fill out this form. (I’d particularly love to hear from more visual artists, musicians, and creatives working in disciplines beyond/in addition to writing. You don’t need any tarot knowledge to participate!)
Diving into Alyssa Polizzi’s work is the most delicious jump of the deep end. As a writer, educator, and mentor, Alyssa explores the archetypal layer of reality and how engaging with the images and symbols of the psyche taps us into depths of meaning, insight and transformative potential.
She’s a reliably expert source on Archetypal studies and Jungian psychology - topics that can feel rigidly academic and hard to find your way into. Her courses, divinations, and writings are rich, deep, but remain accessible. Alyssa is also a stunning writer who can deftly fold her personal experiences and deep knowledge of spiritual, literary, historical, and psychological topics into beautifully drawn pieces that are always a pleasure to read.
Alyssa’s Substack,
was among the first publications I subscribed to when I arrived here, and the very first I recommended to my readers. I’m so grateful for Alyssa, not only because her work blows my mind on the regular, but also because has been such a warm and generous friend to me on this platform. I could not be happier to feature her as the latest subject for Creative Arcana.Alyssa also made the perfect partner for trying something a little bit different: Today’s installment of Creative Arcana is an audio production. Rather than exchanging emails, as has been the case for my last two tarot-prompted interviews, Alyssa and I exchanged a series of voice notes instead, which I’m delighted to share with you now. (If you need it, a transcript is available here.)
It was a true privilege to draw these cards knowing that they’d become wells to be filled with the depth of knowledge and perspective that I so admire in Alyssa’s work. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation…
The Knight of Pentacles.
Listen to Chelsey’s question:
Listen to Alyssa’s response:
The Two of Wands.
Listen to Chelsey’s question:
Listen to Alyssa’s response:
Four of Wands.
Listen to Chelsey’s question:
Listen to Alyssa’s response:
The Emperor.
Listen to Chelsey’s question:
Listen to Alyssa’s response:
Eight of Pentacles.
Listen to Chelsey’s question:
Listen to Alyssa’s response:
Thank you so much to Alyssa Polizzi for sharing her time, generosity, and wisdom. Subscribe to
for more from Alyssa.A great place to start would be with this podcast episode on The Artemisian, featuring me! Alyssa was kind enough to invite me on to chat about the concept of The Shadow Artist, and I’m so grateful for her wise builds on the topic.
You can also follow Alyssa on Instagram here.
Join the conversation in the comments:
What did this interview bring up for you? I’d love to know:
What symbols and archetypes discussed in this interview made the most impact on you?
What thresholds have you crossed to bring yourself closer to your creative vocation?
How do you study a new tarot deck?
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Thanks for reading x
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This was such a fun and creative format. I loved being able to tap into so many diverse, archetypal themes across our interview. Thank you for having me!
Lovely conversation & love the tarot guides both questions & answers ❤️✨ the horsemen were a very interesting connection, as well as Zeus/titans as emperor. Thank you!