Temperance: Genre Alchemy
Have you been feeling like you could use a change in your writing routine? Perhaps you would like to find a regular weekly slot to work? Or even something more drastic like a complete change in direction?
If you're feeling this way, consider whether there is anything you need to change in your writing routine. This could mean clearing away something outdated (like an old software or a form of procrastination). It could also mean a new direction or a new project.
Today, I'm answering a reader's question about a major transformation in their work. I created a spread to respond to the question, and I will guide you through the cards I pulled. If you have questions about your own writing practice, now might be the perfect time to use this spread to seek guidance.
This is the question:
“I've just finished a round of submissions with a thriller, and the novel didn't sell this time. Now, I'm excited about a new project which would take me in a completely different direction: I'm thinking of writing a dystopian trilogy. I would love to know what the energy of this change is for me.”
The spread I designed is called the Change in Direction spread.
The first card I pulled was Alchemy (sometimes known as Temperance).
This card reminds us that transformation is not about destruction. Instead, it is a process that distils your experience, wisdom, and unconscious patterns into a new form. In the case of these week's querent, that transformation is genre alchemy.
THE CHANGE IN DIRECTION SPREAD
What is the opening message from the deck?
What energy needs to be released during this moment?
What energy needs to be called in during this moment?
What unconscious influences are at work in this decision?
What conscious influences are at work in this decision?
You can use this spread for any question about a change in direction, it doesn't have to be about genre, but could be about a project you want to develop, a course you are thinking of taking, or a character you want to cut.
1. What is the opening message?
The first card I pulled from the Rosebud Tarot deck was Alchemy. This card shows a scene of ritual domesticity. A figure prepares a potion surrounded by flowers, candles, and their familiar. Outside, the air is glowing with distant stars.
Diana Rose Harper writes about this card that: “New is only ever a rearrangement of old, a careful assemblage, a collage of ingredients magically birthing transcendence, a transcendence rooted in radical presence, a new life, new understanding, new seeing that could not exist without history."
The message is that the querent already has what they need, just at hand. By using familiar ingredients, they can create something glittering and new.
But this is also a question about genre, specifically about the move from writing thrillers to writing dystopian fiction. I think this card can give us a hint here too.
The scene is domestic, and could easily belong to the world of a thriller. A figure, alone at night, looking out of a large window, could cut a chilly and paranoid scene. But with the galactic swirl outside, there is already a hint that all is not what it seems, and that wider planetary forces might be involved in what is happening here. Instead of this being a figure alone at night, what if they are alone on the planet?
Perhaps this card is telling the querent that the two genres are not so distant after all, and a shift in perspective could be all they need to write this work.
Before I dive into each of the remaining cards individually, I want to note that there are four minor arcana cards here, each one connecting to a different element. Fire, water, earth, and air are represented, emphasising that the querent already has what they need contained within them.
2. What energy needs to be released?
Card: The Velocity of Water (in other decks this card is known as the Knight of Cups).
This card is traditionally about movement, and rapid action, and less about reflection. The Knight is often seen riding a horse, and here, the figure is seated on a horse, but resting almost casually. The suit is devoted to the emotions and the subconscious. This card often turns up when emotions are moving too quickly, when there is a reactive, rather than reflective spirit, and when imagination can become dark and even turn to jealousy.
For the querent, this might mean that they need to release the emotions that emerged when their former project needed to be put away for a while, and to avoid bringing those potentially destructive emotions to a new project.
3. What energy needs to be called in?
Card: The Six of Earth (in other decks this card is known as the Six of Pentacles).
Six is often the number associated with wholeness and harmony. It signals a return to order after the often distracting and disruptive energy of the fives. This is a lovely combination with the earthly suit, which is about grounding, settling in, and making use of the abundant resources you have within you. We see two figures at work preparing the ground for planting: a crucial, but hidden, aspect of the growing process.
For the querent, this might be a sign that much of the joy they will derive from this project will be in doing the spadework and creating deep foundations.
4. What unconscious influences are at work in this decision?
Card: Generosity of Air (in other decks this is known as the Queen of Swords).
The suit of air relates to intellectual endeavour, and complex analysis. It also speaks of anxiety and fear. The figure of Generosity has a mastery over their suit and has endless inner resources. They are clear-sighted, fair, and thoughtful. They can set clear boundaries. In this image, we can see how self-possessed the figure is, her feral companion at ease by her side.
For the querent this is a chance to examine unconscious beliefs they have about the new project. Is there a fear that such a big piece of work might be overwhelming, and it might be tough to create clear boundaries? Or might there be a deeper fear about mastering the feral aspects of the work?
5. What conscious influences are at work in this decision?
Card: Three of Fire (in other decks this is known as the Three of Wands).
This final card is a potent one that speaks of formation, creativity, and drive. The suit of fire offers a generative spark to any project. Threes are about community and co-operation, and they often emerge to tell us that we don't need to work alone. That could mean working with a writing circle, an accountability buddy, or in a co-working space. Or it could mean connecting to other writers through their work and taking inspiration instead of working from a blank page.
For the querent, I think they know that it is time to start this project, because they have received the spark of creativity needed to seed this bigger work. This is a card of expansion and growth, and it bodes well for new work.
The spread appears to be supportive of this shift in genre, and wants to remind the querent that they have all they need already, to alchemise into this new project.
I hope you enjoyed this wander through the otherworld.