My practice isn’t built on a framework of daily practice. I’ve never been good at daily routines, and I’ve lived long enough to realize that if it hasn’t ever come naturally to me, it’s not likely to change.

But what my practice IS built on is a framework of long-term, large-scale projects. I get ideas and have to follow those ideas to see what comes out the other side. Sometimes it’s writing projects, sometimes it’s personal development projects, sometimes it’s just experimental things. Most things in my practice can be traced back to a moment of “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if somebody did xyz? I should do that!”

Well, at the end of 2025, I got another flash of inspiration. I thought it could be cool to take the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck and write a spell for each card. Which, yes, has been done. I know of at least one book of tarot-inspired spells. But what I want to do is not create a spell based on the card meanings, but solely on the illustrations. I want to look at each card as if Pamela Coleman Smith’s drawings were pictoral instructions for conducting a spell. So, for instance, the Fool with his rose and bindle and dog is doing a spell on that cliff, and all I have to do to figure out what spell he’s doing is to look at the objects and figures and setting and actions depicted and figure out which are symbolic, which are literal, and how to put all those things together into a coherent, logical ritual for a specific purpose.

And then, of course, try out each spell and document what happens.

So just after New Year’s, I started the project. I’ve written the spells up through the Hermit, and done all of them through the Hierophant (except for the High Priestess because I’m waiting for the right situation to come along). Plus I skipped ahead and did Strength because the perfect scenario for using the spell came up and I didn’t want to miss it.

It’s not the writing project that I thought would be the next on my plate, but that’s the cool thing about having a spontaneous, creative, idea-driven practice. I never really know where I’ll be led next.

I do think it will take a couple of years at least to get all the way through the deck and see how all the spells play out. And normally I wouldn’t talk about the project publicly until it was done because I really hate to feel like I’m being watched while things are in progress. But I know there will be things I can share that won’t give the whole thing away before it’s done, but will be useful or interesting and best shared in a timely manner.

And I’d love to hear the thoughts people have about what they’d hope to get from a book on this kind of project. Feel free to comment on this post and those that follow! I hope this is interesting to at least a few witches out there!