Spelloween 2025: Day 3

Don’t mind me. Trying to get back into the groove of habits left behind. Today is October 3, 2025, and it’s time to have some fun. Each day of the month of October, I’m going to put together a little spell that involves one of my favorite tools: Tarot cards.

None of this is meant to be taken seriously, unless you want it to be so. All of this is in fun and with good intentions. All of this is meant to bring me joy. If you get some of that joy-juice as well, then all the better.

Day 3: The Chariot – Holding The Course

Gather the following:

• The Chariot card from your favorite tarot deck. Depending on the task, this card will be absent from your deck for some time. You may make a copy of the front of the card for use in this work. If you copy the card, it would be good if you can shrink the size of the copy to a third of the original card.
• A sheet of plain paper such as copy/printer paper. Lined or graph paper will do as well. At least US Letter or A4 in size.
• A writing utensil.
• A written declaration of your will and intent to make your way through life. (May I suggest: A copy of the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. It’s a personal favorite.) You may have a written/printed copy, or have the text available on your favorite digital device. It would be good to have a paper copy as you will be referring to it often.

The spell:

1. Place your paper on the table in “landscape” orientation, that is, with the longest edge facing you. On one corner write your name, handle, and/or preferred moniker for private work. On the far corner (that is, the corner that does not share an edge with the corner your name is on), write a goal that you are wanting to work towards. That goal could be something concrete such as collecting a certain amount of money in a savings account or achieving a certain level of mastery in a new skill. The goal could be something intangible such as sustaining an improved self-image. The goal is yours to define, but choose a goal that is obtainable, even if it takes a while.
2. Draw a line from your name to the end goal. The line could be perfectly straight or wildly curvy. If the line meanders, do leave room for you to write short phrases or keywords, and to create way points along its length. Having a meandering line is preferable as doing so will create areas on the paper for the next steps to take advantage of.
3. Consider your end goal, and identify waypoints and markers of progress along the way. If your end goal is to achieve mastery of a language, then a progress point would be reading a children’s book in that language. If your end goal is to craft a blanket, then progress points would be making a set percentage of the end result. On your paper, mark these important waypoints on the line.
4. Consider the obstacles to your progress, be they tangible such as a lack of funds or the reduction of available time, or intangible such as doubt and imposter syndrome. In the empty spaces around the line, write these impediments as they would relate to your progress and end goal. If fear of failure has you hesitant to start, then you would write that closer to your name. The end of the practice studio lease would be written closer to your end goal (I hope.) Do not try to list every possible obstacle, but focus on key obstacles, worries, and concerns.
5. Take your tarot card (or the copy you have made) and hold it in your hands with the palms facing each other. Hold your hands up as if in prayer and call upon what spirits, gods, and/or powers that you invoke for magic or esoteric workings. Declare to yourself and to your audience (if any) that it is your intent to accomplish the end goal you have written on your paper, and that you are aware of the difficulties in the path you have chosen, but it is also your intent to maneuver around them and accomplish your goal.
6. Place the tarot card/copy on your name on the paper, face up and upright from your point of view.
7. Recite your declaration. As if on a game board, slide the tarot card/copy along the line of progress you have made. Each time the card/copy passes an obstacle or a waypoint, stop and reflect if you truly have made progress to and/or past that point. If so, verbally acknowledge the progress and continue until you reach the point in the line that corresponds with where your personal progress actually is. Be honest with yourself.
8. At this stop, recite your declaration and invoke the powers that the Chariot card represents: The clarity to see what lies ahead, the will to proceed despite the difficulty, and the determination needed to keep yourself moving in the right direction. Then leave the table and go do the next step in the thing. (You may pack up the paper and card if you need to table space. Just keep in mind where your progress marker left off so you can lay everything back out later.)
9. After you succeed in navigating the obstacle or confirming the waypoint, return to the paper. Reaffirm your intent to yourself and your audience (if any), and move the card/copy to the next step. Repeat Step 8 as necessary until you reach the end goal on your paper and the end goal in your work.
10. If you used a tarot card, formally release the card from the working using your preferred method of reconciliation and return the card to the deck it came from. If you used a copy of the tarot card, you can keep the copy as a memento or use it in other work related to your original goal. You can also dispose of it in a safe manner.
11. Optional: Get your favorite dessert because you’re old enough to have dessert on your terms, dammit.

Modification: If you’re artsy and/or daring, make a fantasy map of your goal path. Make a copy of the tarot card, or create a token that uses the imagery and symbols of The Chariot. Mount your map on the wall and use double-sided tape or other temporary adhesive to place your token on the map.