Ekaterina Popova | The Silo

Conventional, creative, and centering uses of the cards to help you get inspired and come home to yourself.

Tarot imagery has inspired artists for centuries and continues to do so today. The iconography, the storytelling element, and, of course, the mystery of the unknown have a huge pull for any creative.

I personally came to this field later in life, or you could say that it found me.

As a kid, I wasn’t allowed to dabble in such tools. Growing up in the church, these kinds of practices were considered ungodly, and I ended up with a complicated relationship to magic, metaphysical, and occult items, even in a strictly artistic sense. On one hand,, they fascinated me and drew me in; on the other, they felt wrong and uncomfortable due to past programming. As I explored the cards more, they showed me a few interesting paths that surprised me, inspired me, and helped me see them in a whole new way.

I ordered a deck during COVID, when many of us were naturally drawn to healing tools and modalities. To be honest, the cards felt intimidating and even scary, especially when confronting some of the more intense ones like the Tower, Death, the Devil, and others. I set it aside, unsure of how to engage.

A few years later an amazing author and fellow Substacker, Chelsey 🔮 Tarot for Creativity, found me through our commn publisher Chronicle Books. I recorded an episode about her book Tarot for Creativity, and her framework for journaling and self-reflection rather than divination took me in a new direction that was gentle, curious, and non-condemning. I still use her brilliant book today, and it opened doors to even more resources and creatives that inspire me.

Chelsey Pippin (Mizzi)

My friend Sarah Potter Sarah Potter , a celebrity tarot reader, changed my life. Her book Sober Magic uses the tarot journey combined with the 12 steps to help individuals (myself included) move away from drinking and into more presence, self-awareness, and healing. Thanks to Sarah and her tarot guidance, it has been 10 months since I had my last drink.

In terms of navigating the scary cards, I have to shout out Tarot for the Wild Soul Lindsay Mack. The “bad cards” no longer intimidate me, and I found compassion, curiosity, and a deeper, less obvious meaning when interacting with certain images and messages. There are no doubt millions of amazing creators, experts, and readers who can guide you on how to use this tool, but I appreciate pracitioners who bring a gentle, trauma-informed angle.

Tarot for the Wild Soul

Today I want to share a snippet of visual art history of this practice based on a beautiful exhibition I visited at the Morgan Library.

Artist and Writer Ekaterina Popova at the Morgan Library

Morgan Library

Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951) and Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1942). The Fool, from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (Deck “C”). London: William Rider & Son, ca. 1921–31 (first published in 1909). Chromolithograph. New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, PML 199373.

The show consists of two parts. The first explores the origins of tarot in Renaissance Italy, and the second its contemporary interpretations by artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Among these creators are familiar names like Pamela Colman Smith (1878 to 1951), Leonora Carrington, and Chris Ofili.

According to the museum, “Created as a courtly game of skill, tarot was not associated with occult secrets, divination, or the power of fate until centuries later. By the twentieth century, the cards came to serve as a source of inspiration for artists, offering an alternative to the strictures of modernist aesthetics and allowing them to explore other universes and imaginative possibilities.”

As I got more interested in the world of Tarot, I started to notice the influence of the cards on artists. At a surrealism exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the gift shop featured a deck by Dalí. And it wasn’t until I visited a Leonora Carrington exhibition at L Space in NYC earlier this year that I realized the artist herself had made a stunning deck.

Remedios Varo, Leonora’s best friend, is featured at the Morgan Library as well.

The inspiration for this exhibition was the Morgan’s Visconti-Sforza Tarot cards, the most famous deck to survive from the Renaissance.

Below, I am sharing a few of my favorites from the show.

I am curious. Do you use Tarot in your creative practice? If so, how?

Bonifacio Bembo, Death from the ViscontiSforza Tarot Cards. Italy, Milan or Cremona, ca. 1456-58. The Morgan Library & Museum

Chris Ofili (b. 1968). Midnight Conjurer, 2026. Ink, watercolor, staples, and paper collage on paper © Chris Ofili. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.

Leonora Carrington at the Morgan Library

For The Silo, Create! Magazine and Ekaterina Popova.

Why the path to a sustainable creative life requires prioritizing your own joy and vision before the world offers its validation.

Art by Heather Rios

The path of pursuing a career in the arts for the last fifteen years has taught me that the journey is both as simple and as complex as you can imagine. Early on, I spent so much time wrestling with what to do, what to paint, later on what to post online, and who to reach out to. I was constantly hoping for some miraculous event that would finally put me on the path to my dream life.

I used to think that when someone finally noticed me, I would do the work. I thought that once the work sold, I’d paint bigger, or once I got the grant, I’d finally start that new body of work. But the reality is always the other way around.

The Science of Starting with Joy

We often think that success leads to happiness, but psychological research suggests the opposite is true. According to the “Broaden-and-Build” theory developed by Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, positive emotions like interest and love do more than just make us feel good in the moment. They actually broaden our sense of possibility and our ability to process information.

When you start from a place of doing what you love, your brain is chemically primed to see opportunities that a stressed or “discipline-only” mind would miss. This isn’t just fluffy advice. It is about how our biology responds to interest. Love and curiosity trigger the release of dopamine, which enhances creative problem-solving and cognitive flexibility. By starting with the thing you love, you are literally building the mental resources needed to sustain a career.

Moving Beyond the “When/Then” Trap

The real secret is that the vision must always come before the validation. We often wait for a sign to start, but devotion is required long before the proof arrives. It is not about a hardcore, drill-sergeant lifestyle of waking up at 4:00 AM. It is about really loving what you do and wanting to spend more time doing it. As a byproduct of that time, you get better. You articulate your vision more clearly, and people eventually respond to that.

Just this morning, I received a payment for paintings sold last month. While that feels normal to me now, it was once a burning hope for a younger version of myself who just wanted someone to want the things I loved creating. I’ve realized that I am only responsible for nurturing my own vision and falling in love with the process. People can sense when things are forced or formulaic, but they truly feel passion and love. When you resonate with your own work, the world eventually starts to resonate with it too.

Making the Day a Work of Art

Moving forward, my focus isn’t just on scaling a business or “growing my art career,” but on a deeper question: How can I make my day a work of art? When the path is enjoyable, you don’t have to force yourself to show up. It is kind of like how no one has to force you to get ice cream in the summer. You want that sweet, creamy, delicious dessert. If you are struggling with a creative or even business block, ask yourself if you are making the work for you or if you are following external pressure.

When you make something you are proud of, you naturally want to share it with the world. The social media and the newsletters happen on their own because they are just a byproduct of that excitement.

Let’s keep it simple.

Let’s follow our hearts and respond with love. That is what we, and the world, actually need. For the Silo, Ekaterina Popova/ Create Magazine.

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The Visual History Of Tarot Cards