Your Creative & Magical Life
How do we hold on to creativity and magic in a world that tries to separate us from both again and again? This podcast explores that question through the lens of Tarot, nature, and the lived experience of creative and magical humans who are making art, manifesting their visions, and changing the world as they go. Join creativity coach, Tarot reader, and writer Cecily Sailer on a cosmic, conversational journey to help you embrace you creative and magical life!
Your Creative & Magical Life
The Generative Act of Receiving: Reflections on the Art of Manifestation
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Manifestation can feel like a promise and a threat at the same time. Promise, because we want change. Threat, because so much “manifesting” advice ignores real life constraints, nervous system limits, and the reality of systemic oppression. So we slow it down and get specific, using Tarot as a clear mirror instead of a glossy shortcut.
I’m joined by friend of the pod and recurring cohost Ariana Smith to talk through manifestation via The Magician card, the archetype most associated with magic and bringing visions into reality. From there, we unpack what actually helps: calibrated affirmations that don’t backfire, detachment from the exact “how,” pleasure and somatic awareness, and low-stakes experiments that build trust. We also name the darker side of manifestation culture, including exploitation and the myth that mindset can solve structural harm. And of course, we include a three-card Tarot spread to explore the topic... Plus Cecily's sex magic story about a manifestation effort that led to romance and intimacy in exciting and lasting ways.
If you’re craving a grounded, mystical, and practical conversation about manifestation, Tarot, and learning to receive, press play. And if you like, please subscribe, share with a friend who’s tired of the hype, and leave a rating and review to help more creative spirits find us!
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Welcome And What We Mean
SPEAKER_00Hello, creative spirits. Welcome to your creative and magical life, which is hopefully your real life, but is also this podcast where we explore what it takes and how we can live in such a way that our lives feel creatively infused, enchanted with magic, and with tarot and other forms of divination and magic as our guides and friends. I'm Cecily Saylor, I'm your host. I'm a tarot reader, I'm a writer, I'm a creativity guide and advocate, and I'm glad you're here. If you are listening for the first time, thanks for taking a few moments to check out the show. I hope there's something here that encourages you to keep listening, something that supports you, inspires you, helps you on your journey. And if you are a returning listener, thanks for coming back. And thank you for your patience. As it has taken many weeks for this episode to materialize and manifest onto the airwaves. I won't go into it. I'm just glad you're here and I continue to aim to do better. This is an episode about manifestation, as it turns out, and I'm joined once again by Ariana Smith, who's been coming on the show from time to time to co-host with me and explore some really exciting topics in the realm of magic and creativity. And we recorded this episode a few months back. It's been waiting a bit too long to come forward, but here it is at last in Gemini season. Ari is a Gemini, so I'm grateful to her for her patience and her Gemini Magic, which is full of good ideas and great conversations and connections. And Ari is the one who suggested this topic, such a great topic, something that is so often talked about in spiritual and woo-type spaces. This notion of manifestation, that we can intentionally decide which cast our desires out into the universe and then watch them materialize here in the consensus reality. So we're exploring whether that's real, whether it's bullshit, whether it's a little bit of both, or when it's some of one, some of the other, and what kind of manifestation practices we have tried, what's worked, and what we find to be the limitations of this manifestation emphasis that we see a lot of in the spiritual realm. It makes a lot of sense living in capitalism where we are bred a kind of scarcity mindset and scarcity attitude that many of us would want to use manifestation to try and attract the things that we want and need in order to live a fulfilling life. Of course, this podcast is about magic. So we have to talk about whether magic can function in this way. And we're gonna explore some of the systemic limitations, some of the ways we've seen it talked about, and I also share one of my favorite stories working with manifestation around how I connected with my partner. So there's a little sex magic tea in the episode if you want to stick around. And I hope it's a great conversation. I hope it helps you think about manifestation in a way that works for you. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and you're always welcome to reply to the episode or send me an email. And I just want to note that even though we recorded this episode several months ago, Ari does talk about an offer that she has, which is still available, and it's around writing your intuitive bio. So if you're an artist or a solopreneur or someone who's putting work out into the world and your bio needs an update, you share your bio with people to let them know who you are. You can work with Ari in an intuitive way that also draws on the tarot and her expertise as a copywriter to help you update that bio and make it sparkle and attract and maybe manifest the opportunities that you are looking for. So there's a link to that offer in the show notes. Be sure to check it out. And now without any further delay, let's get into the conversation.
Why Manifestation Is Everywhere
SPEAKER_00Hi, Ari, how are you?
SPEAKER_01Hi, Cecily, it's so good to be here again. Grateful to bring in 2026 with you. Same, same.
SPEAKER_00Glad to see you always. Thanks for coming back. We're gonna be talking you once again, Gemini that you are Radiant Gemini, have another fantastic topic. And this one's very Gemini coded as well, which we'll talk about. But we're talking about manifestation, something that comes up a lot in witchy and magical spaces and healing energy meditation spaces. There's a lot out there about manifestation, and we're gonna sift through some of that and talk about what we think manifestation is, how it works or how it doesn't, what's real, what's bullshit, what's just a big mystery. And first, as ever, let's just check in. How have you been? We're recording this in like the the latter part of January, just at the start of Aquarius season. So, yeah, what's been up with you?
SPEAKER_01Well, December was definitely a cocoon month for me, and that was just really lovely to be able to just kind of deactivate, turn inward, enjoy that final month of the Hermit year. And it felt like January has come in with a lot of energy, like a lot of energy and a lot happening, not necessarily in a frenetic way, but in like an impactful, um intentional way.
SPEAKER_00Nice, nice. What about you? It was yes. I also December is my birthday month, and my birthday is tucked between Christmas and New Year's Eve. And I think partly the way my family is and being an only child and having a birthday there, I just get to kind of do what I want. So I don't do much holiday stuff. And I was resting and doing some behind-the-scenes building when I felt like I had the energy for it. I've been reading this amazing novel called The Historian by Elizabeth Costova, which is a like 676-page novel where the narrator is following her father's paper trail through parts of Europe in these old cities and searching for documents related to Dracula. And there's all these different stories that come through different people's letters, and I love everything about it. I still have about 200 pages to read. It's just this like slow burn. It's so good. So that's been my my like book bestie through this time. So I love that.
SPEAKER_01That's so great. Like when you feel like a novel becomes like a part of your life, like a core part of your life for a set amount of time. I totally get that. Yes, it's so good. What's um what's coming up in your business? I know you're I read your newsletter, I think yesterday, last night, and you've got some exciting things coming up this year.
SPEAKER_00Yes, the Deccan Walk is opening for enrollment on Monday. Today is Wednesday, so on Monday it will open probably definitely this podcast will air after that. But enrollments open through March, and that's gonna be a really beautiful structured journey through the zodiac wheel where we study the tarot in the time of its connection to astrological, you know, parts of the astrological wheel. And I'm really looking forward to that. I hope some beautiful people will come join, and then I'll start launching other things later this year, like creative channel will come back, that kind of stuff. So yeah, how about you?
SPEAKER_01Well, I want to ask about this deacon walk because I remember we were, I don't know if we were recording or not, where you were talking about how certain tarot corresponds to certain astrology, and that I think you said like my particular birthday corresponded to like a certain, I don't remember which swords was. Um and so it made me curious about this deacon walk. Like, who do you feel like it's ideal for? Is it ideal
Life Check In And Creative Plans
SPEAKER_01for people that love tarot, that love astrology, that love it all? I'm yeah, if you want to talk more about it right now, I just but here's my Gemini curiosity actually. That's like, who's it, who's it good for? Like, who should be doing it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you for that question. I think it's great for people who have some proficiency or some familiarity with tarot or astrology. You really get to look at the two in tandem. And because you move around the wheel, there's also a recursive quality. So some cards you'll see a few times, and you also see them in relationship across the wheel. And so it's an it's a slow burn, like the novel I'm reading. Um, and you get to kind of take your time with each minor arcana card because each deck end has a minor arcana card correspondence. And then, of course, the signs have cards and the planets have cards. So we'll also do something at the beginning where we're gonna lay out our natal chart with the full tarot deck. So that's where you really get to see, like, oh, my son is in your son is in the eight, nine, or ten of swords. Um, and so you get to know that you get to see which cards represent like your Venus placement and your Saturn placement and all your placements. And then as we go through the wheel in real time, you get to check back on those placements. You're not, you know, I'm it's a lot. The whole spread is like, holy shit. But then we go through it, you know, one twelfth of the wheel at a time. So you get to really see, you're not only learning more about the tarot and astrology concurrently, but you're also getting to triangulate that with your own astrological fingerprint, basically. And so the tarot doing it this way really helped me break through another level of astrology because I had some tarot knowledge. So if you have some tarot knowledge or some astro knowledge and you want to see more how the two are connected, and you want an expanded understanding of either one of them or both, this is just a really beautiful way to do it. And we're, you know, doing it in community. So you'll hear stories from other people. Like I remember I was sharing this on another, I recorded a little podcast with um the guest, the astrologer guest teacher yesterday. But during the Five of Wands Deccan, I literally saw some people at the park practicing stick fighting, which is something I've never seen. And so you also get to like notice these weird echoes of the cards in real life, and that that gives you some new understanding too. So it should be super interesting.
SPEAKER_01It it feels like it may also connect to the topic of uh the our podcast today, too. Maybe we can be curious about that. Um, I love this. I will share that one of the things that that is one of part of the things that have happened this month is um I was featured on the off the grid podcast, which I know you've been on there too. And I got to talk about hosting in-person events with Amelia as part of um her 2026 creative marketing toolkit, which I also feel like connects to our topic today, like how we want to create in 2026. Um, and then I am actually gonna be launching uh also very very connected to our topic, like a shiny new offer called Your Intuitive Bio. And it's going to be a way to it's going to be ideal for folks who are feeling a sense of evolution in their business and kind of stretching into what is next for their business, and they need to have their bio updated for that. And I'm going to be blending a tarot reading with, of course, writing and copywriting to come up with a bio that isn't just about how their past contributions but how they show up in the room, and you can kind of help with that transition to their next evolution. So I'll probably be out by the time you release this, too.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. That sounds very magical, very cool. I'm looking forward to hearing how that goes. And we'll have links, of course, to all the things, including your off-the-grid episode. We're mutual fans of that podcast. And Amelia, I know. Are you ready to get into manifestation?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we wanted to bring in the magician up here at the top because the magician is the card of magic and manifestation. And I think the two, I don't think magic is always about manifesting necessarily. Maybe it is. That's another big question. But in the magician, which is card number one, and we are in a magician year in a way, because I mean, really, it's a wheel of fortune year, in my opinion, because the numbers of the year add up to 10, which is wheel of fortune. But when you reduce 10, 1 plus 0 is one. That's the magician. And then we also have the sun, whose number is 19. So 1 plus 9 equals 10. So we have this constellation of cards, the wheel of fortune, the magician, and the sun this year. And I think the magician and the wheel of fortune are really interesting because wheel of fortune is the changes we're experiencing externally, some of the stuff that the circumstantial situations that crop up that are expected or unexpected, and our relationship to change. And then the magician is this empowered agent in navigating change.
Tarot And Astrology Through The Zodiac
SPEAKER_00It gives us this sense that we're not just totally at the mercy of the Wheel of Fortune, but that we have the ability to shape what the future looks like to some extent. So I think that's really cool that we're bringing that you have brought this topic to us. And, you know, in The Magician, we have that figure in the Rider Wait, the Smith Rider Waite deck in the red robe, standing at a table with the pentacle, cup, sword, and wand there, all the elements represented, which reminds us that, you know, we work with the elements, we work with the material world to bring things into the material world. And the magician has one hand pointed down at the earth and then one hand raised to the sky, holding a wand, which indicates this like channeling of cosmic energy in a directed and intentional way. This notion that the universe is full of energy and that we can harness it in certain ways. And so there's also the roses draped around the magician. Um, anything else I'm forgetting about the look of that card? Oh, the limnus skate, the the infinity sign above the head of the magician, which is a reminder that that energy is a renewable resource, that we always have the ability to manifest or to work with that energy. We could say, and then the last thing I'll mention, I think, about this card is that in astrology it represents Mercury, and so Mercury is the planet of communication and transmission and like sending messages from here to there, and the magician has that function of transmitting thought, which is a very mercury concept, and bringing it into the material world, and very appropriate because Mercury is the ruler of Gemini, and you're a Gemini, and you brought this very magician topic to us. So those are the thoughts I wanted to share on the magician. First, first off, anything you want to add to that?
SPEAKER_01I'm appreciating your knowledge around the card and the symbology. The only thing I would add is the magician has like a workstation. And so I like the idea that we can have a dedicated space in whatever that works and whatever that looks like to do our manifesting, our magical work, our work with the elements and all of that.
SPEAKER_00Yes, action becomes important as well in this manifestation effort. Um awesome. Well, we this time we're gonna start with a tarot spread, and then we'll kind of refer back to it as we go through the conversation. And I really loved what we did with AI, where we were communicating directly with the consciousness of AI, uh, theoretically, anyway. And so now we're gonna talk to the magician. We're gonna ask the magician three questions about manifestation, and of course, we'll be sharing these with you, and you can try the spread uh for yourself if you want to see what you get. And so Ari is pulling cards and has the magician set out already because we are addressing the magician, and our first question for the deck is what is true about manifestation? Oh magician Queen of Wands. I pulled that card this morning to the question, what do I need to see? I've been doing a three-card spread. Like, what do I need to see? What do I need to be? What do I need to do? And then I pull a card to hear from my business. And the Queen of Wands was something to see. So we are literally seeing the Queen of Wands as something that's true about manifestation. So cool.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I want to hear about the spread, actually. So is that something that you can include in the notes, the show notes, the spread? Yeah. Um well, and remember before we got on the call today, I had the Emperor and Queen of Wands on my altar, and I was like, yeah. And I was like, well, I was like, well, maybe we won't have it. And you're like, no, I think we need the full deck. So I think there was something. I think there was something there. So what is true about manifestation is Queen of Wands, and I'm using the the Forager's daughter tarot. And so I'll show this to you. It's this beautiful moth flying up towards either a waxing or a waning moon. And then it has, of course, a wand there and some foliage. So it feels really lovely for that. So when you see Queen of Wands for what is true for manifestation, what's your interpretation of that?
SPEAKER_00I really like this because this is something I do want to get into I see the Queen of Wands as this like goddess that moves, like an earthbound goddess that moves from desire. So I often compare, sometimes I compare the Queen of Wands to Oprah. Like Oprah does whatever the fuck she wants. She does what she likes. She has fun with a lot of the stuff, even when she's getting serious. Like on her show back in the day, maybe she has a show on some streamy. I don't know. But um back in my day growing up when she had her TV show, the you know, she did whatever topic she wanted. She was really breaking ground. She was very passionate about it. She loved her audience, she loved being up there. And a little bit of Leo energy loved being seen, but you know, wasn't she sort of stole the stage? She didn't like steal the stage, but she was always that magnet, that dynamic fire up there. And then, you know, she started a magazine. She was like a good friend of Gail. She just had this like really full life. She was a good hostess, I imagine. Just this like charm, this dynamism, this excitement for life. And desire is just really a big motivator for her. And desire also leads to her skill development. Like she did what she wanted and got really good at it. And so I think desire is a big component in manifestation. And I think that Queen of Wands energy is the kind of magnetic energy that can attract things that you're looking for. So I feel like the magician's like, yeah, that part's that's real.
SPEAKER_01I love you bringing Oprah and comparing Oprah to the Queen of Wands because I believe Oprah, just double check this. My fact-checking um, Oprah is a generator in human design. And we might dive into this a little bit later, but one of the ways that I think about manifestation is thinking about your human design. And for generators, it is really about what do you love? What do you want? So when you talk about what do you desire, that is such an energetic blueprint for generators to just really move towards what we desire.
The Magician Card As A Map
SPEAKER_01And also in human design, the idea with generators, and I think this is any type, but when you are doing what you love, you do create this magnetism, you know. In the theory of human design, you you know, you have this aura that kind of extends out and pulls people in. So when I connect to the Queen of Wand around what is true about manifestation, I think about what you've shared and also connecting to what is the unique thing that does make you magnetic. Because, like you're talking about with Oprah, she wasn't trying to be anyone but herself. And so that's something that I often connect with the Queen of Wands around is you are magnetic by being who you are, as opposed to trying to be someone else. I often also sometimes connect the Queen of Wands to a cauldron and thinking about what's in our cauldron, what are we gonna put in it? Like what are the elements that we're gonna use, which I do think is maybe a step further from the magician that has all the elements out. And then the queen of wands is okay, how am I gonna mix these? What am I gonna use? So that wisdom of knowing what to pull from and what tools to use. Uh, I've been sitting with the Queen of Wands, and the reason you know she was on my altar is I'm really trying to connect with not striving and just being. And I think when you connect with Queen of Wands to Leo, I feel like an embodied Leo energy is not someone that is showy, look at me, demands attention, but more that their presence just naturally invites it in. Which I'd be curious, since you talked about this at the at the top of the episode, what is the deacon that corresponds? Am I saying that right? Deccan, deacon, is it a um that corresponds to the queen of wands?
SPEAKER_00I say Deccan, and good question. The court cards, the knight, queen, and king are associated with signs. And so I need to look that up. I think the queen would belong to the cardinal fire, which would be Aries. So, but a fire sign, of course. Um I'll look, I'll look up in a minute what Queen of Wands it is. I love that cauldron thing and the be, you know, being rather than striving. And while you were talking, I just did a quick Google of Oprah Win-free quotes, and there's a few that are just like so Queen of Wands. I'm just gonna read them really quick. The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. That's just like manifestation, Queen of Wands, 1000%. And the more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. So this kind of like fire feeding itself. She also says, be thankful for what you have, you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never ever have enough. Oh my god. And then I didn't see this one till now. Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness. Okay, last one. Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. Like so, generator quote. Wow, crazy. Okay, we have to keep going. We have to play the next card. Um, the magic is-I'm glad.
SPEAKER_01Yes. I'm glad we started with this reading because it's kind of telling us where we need to focus the episode too and what's alive right now. So the second, um, the second card was what's a real life constraint. Okay. Yeah, around manifesting. And I got oh, the king of wands. Interesting. Interesting, interesting. I was stumped by that one initially.
SPEAKER_00I wonder if that has something to do. I mean, maybe this is reductive. I'm feeling just like, okay, patriarchy are one thing, and which then we can pull in other oppressive intersectional systems. You know, generally, I think the king of wands is I'm always glad to see the king of wands, usually, you know, never never mad at king of wands, but um I think there's something, it's interesting the difference between the queen and the king. Like the queen might be moving more from this inner desire, what excites you. I think that's true for the king, but I think the king has more of this external push to it, this kind of like come along with me energy. I think of Obama with King of Wands and how he really did have an authentic, passionate vision for the country. You know, but there were limitations in the execution of that. Once he took power, he did do some things that were not fully aligned with that vision. And maybe this is a little bit of a reminder that the manifestation comes from within us, but it's not something we can impose on others, perhaps. That's what I'm taking with it from taking from it now, but maybe more will become clear to me later as we keep talking. Do you have your thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So what you're saying is even if we are in this embodied leadership state, there is still a limit over our influence. And when you think about, and and then there is extra variables in the execution of it, and just keeping with the human design theme, Obama is a projector in human design. That's what I um, and so they are meant to, which you are a projector, so we're we're representing here, which projectors are kind of meant to see and guide. But what I know that's important for projectors is they need to be invited, and so maybe that's another layer of a uh constraint here is that you can only go so far as you are invited, and when we get big picture about systemic and institutional barriers, there are certain places where people are literally not invited, certain identities that are not invited and not welcome. I would also connect the King of Wands as knowing where the core desire is coming from and why. And so, say, for example, you have this certain income goal. Where is that coming from? Why? Yeah, where is that coming from and why? And I was also, you know, we're all, you know, if you're a business owner, you're of course looking ahead for what's your income goal for 2026. And I know I really had to sit with, okay, I have this income goal, and I I really had to sit with like, is this a status thing? Is this an arbitrary thing? Is this external pressure? Like, why am I wanting this? And then once I connected it to more of a core need, my Queen of Wands energy, it felt much more aligned and doable. So that might be part of what this card is saying around this question. How does that land for you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's I think that's a great example. And I think money is a really interesting place to test out the limitations and the complexity of manifestation because it is a quantifiable thing. And we can attract more of it, I think energetically, but also
A Tarot Spread On Manifestation
SPEAKER_00there are limitations in terms of the economy or you know, the marketplace, or your marketing, or whatever. Um, I mean, maybe that's an internal limitation, but yeah, that I think money is like a really yeah, a place where you can really like test some of the theory in a way or really uh tease out the the different sides of this. So okay, then our final question is what advice, magician, would you give us for where to start if we're wanting to manifest? What do we do first?
SPEAKER_01I got ingenuity, which is an extra card in this deck, and it has I also felt called to pull two cards. Do you care if I pull two? Yeah, I was like, I got the feeling of like pulling two around this. Um yeah, nine of wands. Um, so I got ingenuity and nine of wands for where to start, and the ingenuity card, I'll show it to you, will describe it. It's got like a raven or a crow that is using a stick to get something out of a tree, and is feels connected to what is it you want, what are the tools that you have, and then the nine of wands in this image, it's of course like nine sticks, and it is also actually this little mouse almost to the top of this branch that has a lone piece of fruit as well.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and then your nine of wands is like a stand of trees, wands, some bush and tree, and this tall wand reaching up into the sun, and there's like a sunbeam coming down. And that nine of wands in the Smith Waite deck will have a figure kind of battered standing in front of a wall of wands, looking rather beleaguered, like they've been through a couple battles, and there might be another one coming. So that's a really interesting combination. It's I also my cards for Aquarius season were the Nine of Wands and Sincerity from this Oracle deck. And I thought that was a really interesting combination because sincerity is kind of straightforward and maybe it's not always soft, but you know, nine of wands is kind of this bracing protective energy. But with I'm just kind of thinking aloud, with ingenuity, I definitely feel that in relationship to the magician. I think we have to, I think a lot of manifestation is about trying to create an experience, a reality for yourself that has not felt available before. And so some of that usually has something to do with our belief around what's possible for us and also the how. Like, if we can't see how something can happen for us, we're kind of like, well, it's not possible. I can't, there's like, I don't see the path. And I think ingenuity is like, let's get more creative. Let's see what tools we have that we can leverage, like in the with the Raven using a tool to get what they need. Yeah, that there's like, I'm gonna use some magic to try and get what I'm looking for. And then the nine of wands makes me think also about dismantling or dissolving some of the defensiveness we have toward the things that we want. And I think part of manifestation too is not just whatever magic you're working or the vision you have or the mantras you tell yourself or whatever, but also how you do some work inside to take down some of that defensive, because a lot of manifestation is like our resistance to receiving the thing we want. Like we can all we're always wanting things that we also unconsciously do not want, that we don't feel comfortable receiving for whatever reason. And so we have to dismantle that gap, that tension between like wanting and rejecting, so that the thing can come. So I feel like we have to get, we have to use some ingenuity to um take down that defensive, like rejection, unconscious thing, which is super, super hard.
SPEAKER_01I wonder if, as I'm listening to you, the word that comes up is like tension. Yes, and maybe part of the first step is really naming and identifying that tension between what you want and the you know, the parts of you that don't think it's possible, that haven't seen it, that you know, are like this little mouse that can see it, but is like, how am I gonna get up there? How am I gonna do it? I also what's what's connecting with me around this is this experience I had last week. Um so I was uh I volunteered to be on staff for an IFS training last year as not last year, last week, as a program assistant. And these are volunteer positions that take a ton of time and energy and pull me away for like a week and they're beautiful and so worth it. And I was telling a friend about how I'm I'm like, gosh, I wish I could just get paid to do this. Like I wish this was more, I wish this was more feasible for me to do more regularly, that it wasn't, you know, this it that it didn't create this income barrier. And I love she's like, manifest it. Manifest it. And it and it was like this little, it felt very Queen of Wands, it felt like this little poke of like, oh, I totally had this belief that because it's always been this way and that there's no way I could get paid for it. And so it started me thinking about, well, maybe I might not get paid directly for that, but how can I still have income that week? So I won't go into the deeper layers of that, but that was definitely it definitely felt on the ingenuity piece of what are other ways that I can access that? Can I be open to different channels around receiving this as well?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. And that's another money situation. Like, as I'm I also have an income goal this year for the first time that feels really like I'm really committed to it, or I'm really letting myself hold it for the year. And as I may have mentioned before, I was working with a money coach and still am working with a money coach, but to yeah, do do that nine of wands work. Like I never really believed I could make that money, so um, I've had to work on that, and it's reminding me too of someone in my community who has worked in a government agency for almost 20 years, and she'd been wanting unpaid summer leave. And this year, this last year, through you know, like being in the community, pulling cards, whatever other magic she's doing in her life, she went and asked for it and she got it. And every, you know, people, even people in her department are like, what? Because it just seems unreachable, but she did it by asking and by being like, this is what I want. So I'm gonna go ask for it. Um, so yeah, that's really cool. And I know that this um, we'll keep maybe circling back to these cards, but I know you're bringing you're coming to this topic at this time from some recent experience. And I'm just curious, you know, what do you want to share about what's alive for you around manifestation or what you've been doing, what you're feeling, what's working.
SPEAKER_01Well, how would you feel about us transitioning into now that we've done the card reading around what's true, what's constraint, first steps? I would be really curious to hear from you because I could see the notes to this podcast, and you have a couple interesting things. I would be, if it's okay, I'd be curious to hear how do you believe? Like, is there more around how you believe manifestation works? Maybe we can talk about how we use it as well, what we believe it is.
SPEAKER_00Or that you're constantly striving and pushing instead of just flowing creatively. It's so easy to let our relationship with our own creativity get bogged down by external pressures and the constant noise of a profit-driven world. But your creative arc is not a luxury, it's a spiritual. Practice and a source of profound resilience. Creativity is a way of life. It can be the energy that informs the way we create our lives and experience life here on Earth. If you're ready to clear out the creative blocks, to reset your creative energy, and rebuild trust with your inner artist, I want to invite you into Creative Channel. It's a six-step guided journey designed to help you dismantle the resistance, lower your defenses, and completely reconnect with creativity in a new way, with a fresh perspective that is situated and rooted in spirituality and magic. With attention to the practical stuff as well. Together, we'll move away from standard productivity templates. We'll step back into a space of genuine soul-led creative play. Enrollment is open, and you can join now. You're going to get the six-step process. You're going to get access to our Friday iced mocha chats, which happen every other week. It's like hanging out with your creative besties in the coffee shop where we get to dish and vent and also inspire one another creatively as we work through this process, as we discover new things about our relationship with creativity, and as we find this sense of genuine, authentic, creative flow, where we're not trying to use creativity to make a specific thing and make it at a specific quality, but rather meeting with creativity, with curiosity, and finding what arises, what creativity wants to bring us, and moving forward with that guidance. So much of what we're doing is often when we're struggling on our own, a kind of individualistic model where we have to carry everything when actually creativity is here with us and wants to help us and wants to support us in this endeavor. You'll also get a session with me so we can focus on where you are and what you can focus on in this process, but it's a process that's gentle, that is magical, where you have space and support to work through the steps as you need to. You'll find the link in the show notes for Creative Channel, and we would love to welcome you when you're ready. I hope you'll join us. And as you've mentioned too in your notes, there's lots of lofty
Energy Action And Detaching From Results
SPEAKER_00promises out there in manifestation training programs or whatever. And I think there are many ways that we can manifest. I think it really comes down the way that I see it is that, you know, as I said with the magician, that there's energy coursing through the universe. And we harness it all the time through, you know, we have electrical systems, we harness hydro energy or energy from the wind or the sun or um, yeah, you know, fossil fuels too are a form of energy. And that it also is just like in the ether, it's around us, just like you know, static electricity or something. And that as a being, as a living being, we have an energy field that exceeds the limitations of the body. We can't see it, but you know, if you go see a Reiki healer, they're working in your energetic field and they're using their energetic field to work with your energetic field. And so I think that we can shape on some level, we can shift and shape the energy field around us by shifting the way that we think or our attitude or our perspective. And so manifestation to me is about working with that energy field in different ways. And when we shift an energy field that's, you know, immediately surrounding us, that that interacts with other energy fields out there. There's some reverberation and kind of like, you know, atoms are attracted to each other through resonance and things like that. That manifestation works in that way. But I think that just like wanting something and doing a spell and then taking no action and doing nothing with your inner work to, you know, receive more will get you nowhere, mostly nowhere. Um, and so you have to be willing to engage fully in the process. And I think you also have to detach from the results. Like if we're really attached to like having the thing or not having a thing, and if it means a certain thing, if we have it or don't have it, then we're again undermining, we're like too clingy to the thing. There's too much like energy of need that is sort of a turn off to the energy. I mean, I do think sometimes we need things and then they show up like exactly when we need them. And that's another thing you can see in money. It's like somehow I've had enough money to like make it this far. Like, enough comes to like whether it's a credit card or it's whatever thing. Um, and that's also, you know, from a place of privilege too. But yeah, sometimes we like manif we're manifesting unconsciously at the level of our capacity. So there's that. My story is I have I did I did a course in sex magic, which is a way of manifesting through self-pleasure or through pleasure and in the body. And it doesn't necessarily have to be literally orgasmic, but if there is an orgasm, you really harness a lot of power in the body that you're channeling and releasing. And so the idea, I did this like sex magic challenge, it was like 30 days, and you were focusing on something you wanted, and you know, some people are like, I'm manifesting a car. And I was like, I do not think sex magic is gonna get me $10,000 or whatever. So I was just like, I just want to be closer to nature. I want to like someday I want to have a little plot of land and live by the trees or whatever. And what I ended up doing, I think was that I got closer to my nature, and it resulted in like me leaving a relationship, and it was really there were other people in the group who like had breakups like in the middle of the 30 days. But after that happened, sometimes I would use sex magic for different things, and when I so the partner I have now, I knew him through a couple like collaborations at work, like professional relationship. We weren't even really like close friends or anything, or even friends, maybe we were friendly, and but I like you know, thought he was cute, I thought he was really cool, really smart. And I reached out to him after that breakup and I was like, hey, just you know, thinking about you. I don't work at that place anymore. How have you been? Like the whole pandemic had happened since I'd seen him. And he was like, Oh, well, why don't we catch up over dinner? And I was like, Oh, okay. And then he just like made a reservation, which like no no man has ever just done. I was like, wow, then, but I didn't know if it was a date or not. I thought, like, maybe it's a pandemic, people just want to see people in person or whatever. So, but I, you know, kind of hoped that something sexy and romantic and exciting would come out of this. And so the night before the date, I did a sex magic ritual, and I just let myself imagine like the most exciting, sexy date possible, and like did the whole ritual. And then we had the date the next night, and the date was like even better than the fantasy. And then after that, we were like pretty much together. So um, I'm not saying I don't think, you know, this goes against the king of wands kind of thing. I don't believe that my sex magic changed my partner's, like that it took control of his desire and made him want me. That was like four years ago, so it would have fallen apart already if that were true. But um, yeah, I think that like letting myself want the full extent of what I wanted, and then enacting it in my body and letting my mind play it out. And just in that practice, you go through this unconscious process of receiving the thing you want, at least on an imaginal level, which I think prepares you in the material world to actually receive it. And so that's just one that's probably like the best manifestation story. And then other times I'm just kind of like doing sort of a slow burn manifestation. Like my revenue goal for the year will be like a long-term ritual with like little rituals in it and lots of action that I take on my own that is not magical, but it is practical. And then we'll see what happens, you know. Like, I don't know, I don't know how it's gonna go, but I have to try and like believe that it can be so. Um, yeah, all right, that was a lot. I'll pause there.
SPEAKER_01I just had the biggest smile on my face as I was listening to this because I you know, you're this very practical Capricorn, and you use sex magic to like Capricorn's card is the devil.
SPEAKER_00So we're kinky, we're a little kinky under there. We look very uh plain and like boring, but we have a wild side.
SPEAKER_01That's interesting. That's my personal card of the year is the devil card. So maybe I need to experiment experiment with some sex magic as well. So this connects to I I loved how you connected this back to the King of the Wands, which is we really only have an influence over ourselves, and so in your case, the way you were working with sex manif sex sex magic and manifesting was not so much around I want him to do this, it's more I'm gonna be in this energy, and that's either going to attract him or it's going to repel him, right?
Sex Magic As A Receiving Practice
SPEAKER_01Because he because you could have gone on a date and you know, he could have been like, Wow, she's really XYZ, and this is like not good for me because you're in that role. And I also had a little playful part come up when you're like, I'm not sure, I wasn't sure if it was a date or not. And I was like, Oh, I thought only lesbians dealt with that, where we're like, that's the eternal queer lady qualm is like, is this a date or is it a friend? So I had this little side part of me that was really laughing about that, too, of like, what is this? But this also connects to your like, I want it to be a date, right? And if you had gone in with that energy of like, I want it to be a date, and he had just wanted it to be friendship, it would have, you know, repelled. And so I guess what this is bringing up for me around what I believe about manifestation and also copywriting, how I'm thinking about it, like that could be a whole other thing about the energy um, I believe around copywriting and why human written copy is so powerful, is that everything when we are being intentional about it has the ability to attract or repel. And so, and often that requires us to not be benign, to not be beige, as the kids say, you know, to really be in that queen of wands energy. And then I think the second part of this is like how do you receive what you're attracting? Because you could be doing the first part of okay, I'm being here, I'm being in this magnetic place, but then in your example, which thank you for this. If you know your partner had been like, oh, well, I want to go on a second date, and you would have this belief of like, oh, like I don't deserve a second date, or oh, first dates like I only have good first dates, second dates are terrible. I don't know if this was your narrative or not, then that would be another layer of work that is part of this, which I feel like maybe connects a little bit to the nine nine of wands energy in this. I just spoke a lot.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, I I spoke so much. Um, and it's a podcast, so one thing I want to add is that in that ritual, I also was very careful to try and cultivate the desire without attachment to receiving it. It was like maybe all I get is the amazing fantasy of the ritual. I don't know what happened, what will happen. And I'm going into the state just trying to have a good time and not like make him my man or get X, Y, or Z out of this, but just now I'm clear on like how full my desire can be, but I don't have any, you know, I'm going into this with an open openness to whatever, you know, if nothing comes of this, it's just a good dinner, hopefully. Or I mean it could, I didn't think it was gonna be a shitty dinner because someone just sent me a reservation and I was like, well, this is already great.
SPEAKER_01So I just wanted to it was it was already, you were already seeing something that you didn't think was possible, right? You were already seeing a partner that took initiative and like made reservations. So even if the date had gone horribly, you would have this micro experience that expanded your concept of what dating could be, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think that were like the the sex magic challenge and the which is so cheesy to say, but the working on connecting with my nature, as it turned out, made another thing happened on that date that was really interesting. Like he had recently uh broken up with someone and had some guilt around that, but we were both coming to like we ended up a lot of the conversation was about like, oh man, relationships, like like monogamy is kind of crazy. And like um we just had a it was like I had gotten really clear on what wasn't working for me in relationships and what I was wanting to be open to, a slightly different model. And as it turned out, he was coming from a similar place, and we just had this very honest, kind of fun conversation about that on the first date that I wasn't sure was a date. And so that like the table, the magician's table was sort of set. We were like, okay, well, it seems like we're on the same page in a lot of ways, even if we don't know, you know, where this is going or whatever. But I think also that that clarity of like who I am and what I want and what I don't want anymore was something that like carried through into this. And I will add that there was an additional ritual. Maybe the week before I was out in West Texas, and um, we went to the Big Band National Park, and the Rio Gran River runs through there, and I left a little offering by the river and a little piece of like a little statement that I was open to new levels and forms of intimacy. So there were kind of these stages that built up to it, and I don't think it was just like that one powerful ritual that like did everything, you know. I just feel like we can always be working, we can kind of be trying. I mean, it's called your creative and magical life. We can be creativity is ingenuity, and we can be creative and magical in an ongoing kind of way, and that's has a cumulative effect.
SPEAKER_01There's so much rich richness in your story around this, and I'm glad we get to use it as a real life example because what's coming up for me around the create, I was also thinking of creativity as you were talking, and it's almost like the way to approach manifesting is a way you approach creativity, and you might approach a project, and I'm thinking of the difference between I'm sitting down to write, and this is what I'm gonna write, and this is the way it needs to go, versus I'm gonna sit down to write and see what flows out of me and what is meant to come out. So still sitting down and taking an action, right? Like that is something we've really highlighted, these tiny micro actions, which I the way I frame them is keeping tiny promises to yourself, keeping these little promises to yourself to build your capacity for receiving and build your capacity for trusting yourself. And then there is a detaching from what could be an agenda, and then I think one thing that we haven't really named explicitly, but's important. Yesterday I was reminded on a call of what is can be an important thing with manifesting, is to say this or better, this or more. And so you're sitting down to the page or you're sitting in front of your clay or your art, and you're gonna let it flow out of you, and you're going to even allow yourself to be open of how big it can be and what it can be. And so, and and in your case with the date, you're like it really did. You really just wanted to come in and have a good date, and here you are four years later. Like, what a definition of like this or more.
SPEAKER_00Yes, and uh, you know, the best relationship I've ever had, and one I waited like 40 some years to find. So, you know, wait for the wait for the good stuff, y'all. Wait for it. Um, and I'll also just mention that like I had to send an email to him out of the blue to get any of this going. And that was, you know, we could say a risk. Like I had to be unattached, you know, like maybe he will never respond to this email. I think it actually ended up in his junk folder, and then he found it. Um, so like there someone was working some magic in the email, too. But I had to take an action, you know. I was like, this is on my mind. I thought about this guy, I'm curious. If I want to find out, I gotta put my neck out there and see, you know, just see.
SPEAKER_01So I what this brings up for me around this wrist, and it ties into maybe another layer of manifestation and how I view it, is working through the fear. I've been, I've been exploring this new manifestation program, and as I've been moving through it, oh man, the card that is coming up a lot is nine of swords for me. So I'm not saying that that's the case for everyone, but for me at nine of swords, like it comes up and it's like I really gotta be with my fear. I will do one thing I found that's really helpful is doing a little bit of journaling around worst-case scenarios and very much nine of swords. That that's how I connect to nine of swords is it's what is it that you imagine could happen. It's not actually about the problem in front of you, it's imagining like the worst thing ever, as if it's real. So that may be a lot another aspect of to consider with manifesting is how do you relate to fear or whatever that emotion is that you have the hardest time with or that feels the hardest to work with. For me, it's fear. Be the case for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think there was something you yeah, nine of I don't know if I can catch it, but um, there was something you were saying that also felt very nine of wands. And I think that, yeah, usually it is fear of some kind that is keeping us from the things that we want. And I don't know if I've mentioned this in a conversation with you or on the podcast before, but I've heard maybe it was from this Jungian Life, the podcast, really great podcast. And these Jungian analysts talk about different, you know, themes they see in therapy that are related to Jungian thought, and that is, you know, the the teachings and philosophies and practices of Carl Jung, the psychoanalyst. And so one thing they describe in working with people around fear is asking this question, you know, you have this fear of like what's gonna happen, and then the therapist is like, well, and then what would happen? And you keep like going through different layers of the fear until there's actually a breakthrough where, you know, if it's like, oh, well, if I did this, I might lose my job, and it's like, well, then what would happen? And it's like, well, then I would, you know, lose my house. It's like, well, then what would happen? And it's like, well, maybe I would go live in my grandmother's shed. And it's like, well, then what would happen? And it's like, well, I'd drink coffee on the porch and look at the trip. Like you get to this place where it's like, that sounds good. I'm not saying that all of our worst fears end well, but usually the fear, if you like take it through the steps and kind of break it down, you it doesn't seem as scary somehow, because you've already kind of imagined what you would do in that case. And usually there's just this like generalized, like, ah, and there is some, you know, worst case, like you actually fantasize the terrible thing, but it kind of like
Fear Inner Parts And Real Constraints
SPEAKER_00swirls into another worst case scenario in another one. And if you kind of like sit and break it down, it does break down a little bit.
SPEAKER_01I feel called to name two things around this fear piece. One is often when we do that level of like deeper questioning, in my experience, it often connects to a fear that my inner child has, which naturally doesn't know that I'm a grown-ass adult and I would be able to handle things. And so when I did that most recently, when I was sitting with um the fear of, you know, I have this income goal, and I've been getting it's weird, like I've been getting receiving some of that that is pointing me towards that goal, and then and why I'm like, why am I feeling so afraid about it? And so I burrowed down deeper and it was connected to this young part that is afraid that if I fail, people will leave me. And so I had to really, it had nothing to do with money, it had everything to do with safety and connection and relationships, and so I really had to sit with that that part of me that was like, you can't like fail your means, you'll lose the people you love. And so then once I was with that, then I could bring in my adult self, my core self, and be like, okay, actually, what does that look like? And then the second thing I think to speak to, which we've been alluding to, but maybe is worth naming more explicitly, is some of the fears are very real. So some of them aren't, right? Like, but some of them, especially when we consider living in white supremacy, culture, patriarchy, ableism, heterosexism, cisnormativity, like all of the things, like some of those things are very real. And so I wouldn't want our listeners to feel like we are saying that, like, it's all in your head because it's not. And I think that's one of the limitations, one of the constraints of manifestation in the way that it's represented, I think, in common spiritual spaces, is you can just think yourself out of systemic oppression. You know, you can just think yourself out of all of these things. Does that does that land for you too?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and something you listed in our notes, which I've found to be true, is that you know, a lot of manifestation suggestions come with because it is working with your thoughts and the energy of your thoughts. And so then there's, you know, like working with affirmations, like, and I think a lot of that sometimes is presented like start believing the exact opposite thing of what you believe, and that's just the brain won't do that, it will do nine of wands, it will be like, no, fuck off. So we have to. I think affirmations are helpful. I don't think they're like worthless by any means, but I think we have to calibrate them where it's like I am open to receiving more money in my business than I have before. Not like I'm making, you know, $300,000 next year, which is not that exceeds my goal, but um for what it's worth. But um yeah, if I was telling myself that, there would be total shutdown because I really my brain is like, no girl, how's that gonna happen? No, no, no, no, no, no. And yeah, so I think we yeah, just like starting to believe something totally opposite of what you've been thinking for 10 years is not going to change the fact that we live in a patriarchy, that we live in a white supremacist society, that we are living under the rise of fascism, you know, all of these things. So that's definitely one like red flag. If people are just tossing you affirmations that do not resonate with you whatsoever, then maybe not the best, maybe the whole approach, question the approach, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Well, and it yeah, it well, and I'll mention those two, like two. There's two books that I think would be, of course. I'm gonna offer a Gemini is gonna have two different books and two different perspectives that connected. So I recently finished the book. I wanted to look up the correct name, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Berkman. He also wrote, I think, uh 4,000 weeks and time management for mortals. So that is where I was reading, and he quoted a study around how sometimes affirmations that are really different create more dissonance in our brain and actually make us feel worse. So I would say if you're listening to this and you're curious about manifestation, but you have a really strong skeptical side, I like this book for that because it basically is talking about all the ways that thinking positive can make us feel bad. Um, and it was a really fascinating book. And then the other side, this other Gemini side, would love to mention the book The Source by Dr. Tara Swart. I know that there's some mixed, I think that's the right um name. I what I liked about that book is it connected manifestation to neuroplasticity. And so it was helpful to, and I and I believe some of the criticisms is it's still not that well-rooted in science and all of that, but it might be a nice bridge if you have like a less skeptical part. And then, of course, there's so many other books, I don't even have to name them all, that are overtly about manifestation, that you can find more of the traditional approach to that. But I really want to speak for folks that might be coming in with skepticism around it that those might be two books to start with.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Well, what have we not said? What's missing? Is anything missing? I liked this. Why is it just women? Why aren't men manifesting? And then I'm like, yeah, and if it's all women, why is it called manifesting? Um and I think that's so interesting that women, yeah, because like in a patriarchy, men just get to want what they want and they feel entitled to what they want usually, and they the whole system is set up for them to get it. I mean, yeah, white men, cis white men, cis white men, yeah. Um, so I don't know, yeah, that's just an interesting aspect of this that the manifestation conversation generally I think that's true too in a lot of like healing spaces and spiritual spaces, not completely true, but um very female dominated.
SPEAKER_01And very like a lot of a lot of white or white passing women, usually too that might be conventionally attractive, you know, able-bodied. Um and yeah, I was laughing at your comment. You're like, why is it called manifesting? I was thinking about this because I was going, I was kind of researching all, you know, and I will not go into the history. There is this nerdy part of me that kind of wanted to go into the history of manifesting, and when did it first kind of come into the spiritual space? Because we all remember the secret. Do you remember the secret? Uh that what? Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, if people are listening to this and they remember the secret, comment, like, subscribe, or whatever. Um, but that was kind of I think mainstream's first introduction to manifesting, and it was problematic in many ways. You know, on TikTok, I remember there's this trend, lucky girl syndrome. Um, did you you're not on TikTok, so that wouldn't apply to you as well. Um, so I think it gets really curious how manifestation can get kind of repackaged over time. And I think what I appreciate about our conversation today, and maybe what I hope listeners will take away, is like what exactly is manifesting? Can you have your own, can you have your own definition? Like, how do we think it works? Which we have really different definitions. So I think part of manifesting is experimenting with how does it work for you? Do you need to write it down? Do you need to speak it out? Do you need to have an alter? Do you need to have accountability? Like, there's definitely an experimentation aspect of this, which which connects the magician as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so do we have wildly different theories on this?
SPEAKER_01I don't think it's wildly different, but I feel like it was explained different. Maybe maybe it is the same, but just in like in different words. Maybe we have different conceptualizations of it. Because I'm not necessarily thinking of like atoms and quantum mechanics of things, I'm more thinking of somatic sensations, how I feel in my body, what is the you know, what is the felt sense. And this is actually connects to a conversation I had yesterday around, I think, the eight or nine senses. So we have, of course, sight, smell, touch, but then we also have proprioception, introsception. So I think maybe I'm anchoring a little bit more into the sense data of manifestation.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00Would you say or would I said that? And I do I think the sense the sense aspect is really important, and I think that's something the sex magic was teaching is to give yourself the to the extent you can the feeling of already having the thing, like it's already here. So in your body and in your imagination, or using your imagination to try to cultivate within the body the sensation of receiving or already having the thing, so that somatically, like the body's sort of already experienced what we hope is arriving later. And so I do think that that sensation and the body is incredibly, and the the magician is standing there showing us his full, I mean the tables in front of him, but standing up, arms stretched, very embodied
Affirmations That Do Not Backfire
SPEAKER_00posture, I think. And yeah, I think, you know, it's an ex it should be an experiment for everyone. And I think having your own or developing over time your own sensibility around how it might work, whether it's metaphysical or somatic or some combination or something else that we haven't talked about. And then, you know, what I would recommend is like getting clear on I think the other thing is that it's very hard for a lot of people, particularly women or female-bodied people or marginalized people, to sometimes identify what it is they even want. So just having clarity around your desire is uh like just a maybe like a third of a journey or something. Um, because yeah, I do talk to a lot of women when it's like, well, what do you want? It's like, well, it's hard to say because I just keep thinking this, this, you know, it's just like they can't get there. There's a lot of resistance to wanting or to defining what they want, maybe because they're afraid they can't have it, etc. And I think going back to Queen of Wands, it's like she knows what she wants and she is not sorry about that. And so I think the desire, the you know, the intention, having some clarity there. And then there's some tactics, whether it's like you said, an altar journaling, uh, writing it down as a declaration, doing a spell, etc., and then kind of releasing from that to like, okay, universe, do do what you're gonna do behind the scenes. That's none of my business. And also detaching from what shape it might take. Like if you're manifesting a car and then your uncle gives you his 2008, like, he's just like, here, it's like not the car you wanted, but now you got a car. You don't have to buy a car. You're like awesome. Like detaching from the how or the where, letting yourself be surprised, and then taking action of your own in a practical sense to further bring toward you the thing that you're wanting. Those are kind of the steps I would play with, in addition to looking at whatever nine of wands kind of energy you have inside and working with like inner child, your shadow, what you know, shadow parts, whatever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. You're what you've shared is connecting to so many different threads, and have a part that just wants to name there's so much nuance around this. I can think of, you know, just as a mental health professional, I can just think of a lot of nuance around this and ways that manifestation has used to harm people, like the name in the name of manifestation, harm people, exploit them. So I definitely want to hold that context in our conversation and name that. And also what you shared connect made me think of the book Pleasure Activism by Adrian Marie Brown, The Politics of Feeling Good. And I have Venus and Taurus, so it makes sense that I'm all about like the senses and you know what a happy night. Yes, yeah. What is your Venus in?
SPEAKER_00Do you know? Uh in Scorpio, but I'm a Taurus rising, so Venus is my chart ruler, but it's in a detrimented side. But Venus rules Taurus, so if your Venus is in Taurus, it's very happy there, it's very empowered.
SPEAKER_01She, yes, I love being comfortable. Um I really do. And I have a Libra rising, so my chart is Venus ruled too as well. So interesting how we're both, we've got a little, a little exchange there, but I think that that is maybe another little, another little tip is informing our Taurus Venusian energy of like what feels good, what is pleasurable to you. And yeah, that I haven't read the book Pleasure Activism, so I can't speak to its contents, but it's been on my list and felt important to name and all of this. And since we are, you know, tying this back to why is it only like you know, women that are manifesting? And I think there is something powerful when we are centering pleasure, right? Like in whatever form that looks like, pleasure doesn't just have to be sexual or physical, it can be intellectual, it can be relational and intangible.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I'll just say, I'll just add, you know, of course, like if you are in a highly activated nervous system state, a state of freeze, or recently coming out of trauma or experiencing depression, these things are not going to feel as accessible. And there's probably another order of operations just to focus on your own healing and stabilizing your nervous system is more important than, you know, so it isn't just like anyone anywhere in any state can easily pick this up and just apply it to your life. Um, that's not true. And what you're saying about pleasure, pleasure activism is an amazing book. There's a lot of different voices in that book and some really interesting pieces. And I was actually reading that, I think, during my Sex Magic Challenge, even though it's not entirely by any means about um sex. And I mean it's in there, but that's not the whole book. And the other part of the sex magic recommendation was you know, it didn't have to be, it could just be like your contact with your own skin, taking a bath, putting on scents or lotions that really feel good, or fabrics that feel really good, being comfortable, being giving yourself more
Pleasure Nervous System And Low Stakes Tests
SPEAKER_00pleasure, not in a purely hedonistic sense, but just like allowing yourself to enjoy. And I think that uh came through in one of Oprah's quotes, too.
SPEAKER_01I love that we have spoken to so many different layers of manifestation today and are really anchoring it into the tangible, like anchoring it into what can we see, hear, feel, and touch, and hopefully made it feel a little bit more practical for folks while also honoring the esoteric aspect of this as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think a fun way just to simply experiment might be to start with like, oh, I wonder if I can manifest. I was maybe trying this with like a haughtier balloon. It's like you just pick something you want to kind of like see out in the world that isn't, you know, like a lamppost or whatever, not like everywhere, but and then kind of like just meditate on that or think about it from time to time or draw a picture of it, or I don't, and then just sort of see when or where the universe might deliver that to you. Just like a really low, start with low stakes. If this is new for you, just like experiment, start small, see what happens, see what feels good.
SPEAKER_01I'll share a quick story around that because that's a way I've been I've been playing with like mini manifestations, like small things. And one of the things I was wanting was unexpected kindness from a stranger. And I went on a walk with my partner, and we should take a new route today. And then she was like, Do you want to go a different route? And I was like, okay. And on that route, which we hadn't taken before, this woman stopped us and was like, I just got a bunch of free dog toys. Random. And because we were walking my dog, and she said, Would your dog want them? And so I normally would, you know, can kind of keep my head down and like avoid talking to people when I'm on a walk, but because I was out on a new route and I wasn't feeling really open to that, I was like, Oh my gosh, of course. And so then we got all these dog toys. Of course, my dog did not need all of them. So then I went to the lobby of my apartment building and I was like, Do you want to give these to some of the dogs that are around here? And he was so lit up. She's like, Oh my gosh, yes. And so I think those are the little moments that I don't know, they make me believe in the power, and I sometimes I think those are more meaningful than the big things. Then, like, yes, our big income goals are important, but I think there's also something so trust building when you are open to how things come to you, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, and I think that's the other joy of it, especially starting in these small ways where it's not something we immediately like we feel like we really need it. I mean, we do need kindness, but you could have gone through your day fine without free dog toys. But when you have these encounters after you've been requesting, then you really feel like you're in conversation with the universe on some level. And I think that just makes life more magical and more creative, and it just feels good. It feels like less lonely, it feels like you know, the things you want and desire aren't just sitting in a secret dark vault that no one cares about, like there is they are meaningful, and the universe may be agnostic toward us, but sometimes cares. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01We go down a whole other route of how to receive is also benefiting the person that gives. Because in this story, this woman was so happy to get rid of these dog toys, like in her trunk, you know, like it was clearly like a huge relief. So the kindness was reciprocal, and maybe that's something for folks who struggle to receive. I'm actually really having that aha moment right now of like, oh, receiving is actually a benefit to the person giving and the person receiving when it's authentic and aligned.
SPEAKER_00And I think you said you pulled the Six of Cups recently, and that feels like a card where the giving and the receiving are mutually like you can't even tell who's giving and who's receiving. It's just sort of like the act is the thing, and everyone's winning in that card. So that's really sweet. Oh, I love that. Well, thank you, Ari, for another beautiful topic. Thank you for coming on the show again. I love having you here and all that you bring to the magician's table.
SPEAKER_01I love how deep we get to go around these topics and getting to play with them and expand into them in in ways that I could never anticipated. And I'm also,
A Kindness Manifestation With Dog Toys
SPEAKER_01you know, I saw your note about in our notes about the sex magic story, and so I'm really glad it like met and exceeded my expectations. I loved hearing that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, manifestation will make for some good stories too. So give it a shot. All right, Ari, I'll talk to you soon. We'll see you later. Thank you. Every time we dive into these conversations, I'm reminded of just how much nuance, texture, and radical possibility exists when we dare to look at our lives through both a practical and a mystical lens. If you're sitting with this episode today, first thank you for sticking with us, for being part of the conversation. And I want to invite you to take a deep breath. Let's do it now. And just notice what's alive in your body. Notice if there's a tiny quiet spark of desire that you've been keeping locked away in some dark vaults because you were afraid it wasn't possible, you didn't want to be disappointed, or because the way the world works just makes you feel like you don't have the time or the space to cultivate it, to reach out for it and connect with it. Remember what Ari shared near the very end of our conversation. Authentic receiving is a generative act when you allow yourself to open up to the universe, even in the smallest, lowest-stakes ways, like just looking for a moment of unexpected kindness, you're participating in a beautiful reciprocal flow that makes the entire world feel just a little more magical and a little less lonely. Which these days is huge. A little can go a long way, and we deserve a lot more than just a little, but it can definitely create those spaces, those openings where shifts can occur. Just a reminder: if your creative tank is running low, if you're feeling that tension between wanting to create and then protecting yourself from the vulnerability of creating, I do want to just remind you that Creative Channel is the perfect space to come and find a different approach to reorient toward your creativity and step outside a lot of the frameworks we've been taught around how it should look, how it should work, when it should happen, and what it means to do it successfully. We're going to sidestep a lot of that. We're gonna step into a beautiful creative sanctuary where those kinds of questions just don't apply. We're gonna, we're gonna reroute around them for a while so you can reconnect with creative energy in the same kind of way that you did when you were young, when it felt, I mean, you might still be young. We're all still kind of young, really, if you think about it. We're gonna go back to those times when it felt a little easier before the world was crowding into our brains with all of these thoughts of doubt and insecurity and questioning whether we could do it well or whether we should be doing it or whether anyone gave a shit about it. We're
Final Takeaways And How To Join
SPEAKER_00gonna do it because we give a shit about it, because it's really important to living a good life. And we deserve to have a creative practice that feels energizing and nourishing. Because it's not just about what we make and how we make it, it's not just about what we manifest and put out in the world, it's also the beautiful process of experiencing creativity and what it has to show us and teach us. It too is a magical force that we can connect with and can guide us. So, Creative Channel is available and there's a link in the notes. There's also links to Ari's work in the show notes, her intuitive bio offer, her website, and where you can sign up for her newsletter, which I highly recommend. Big thanks to Ari for coming on the show. Thanks again to everyone for listening. We're so glad to have you here and that you lend your ear to the conversation, and we hope to see you next time. If you love this episode, if you're liking the show, it always helps if you leave a rating and a review. I do appreciate it. I'll talk to you next time. Take care.