I participated in
cowriting session and we were given the prompt:“The closest thing I’ve ever seen to magic…”
The first thing that popped into my head was:
And wooooweeee did that take me back in time. I used to love hearing that song as a kid. JK, I actually still love it, even today.
I digress.
Magic.
As someone who talks and writes about magic quite often, you’d think this prompt would have been easy, but I’ve been sitting here and staring at the screen for fifteen minutes wondering what exactly I should write about. The problem is never “I don’t know what to write,” for me. The problem is always, “I have TOO much to write about and I don’t know where to start or which aspect to focus on, or which audience I should be writing to.”
It’s a blessing and a burden.
But the point of this session was the challenge of coming up with a post, drafting it in its entirety and publishing it directly after.
So I did what I usually do when I have a creatively related question — I asked my writing spirit guide.
And she not-so-subtly told me that I should write about her.
Sigh.
It’s actually a great idea, but I also chuckled because my writing spirit guide was (and still is) no stranger to being written about. She was famous alive, and she’s possibly even more famous dead.
A lot of people think I’m batshit crazy when I start to talk about how she’s my writing spirit guide, but you know what? I don’t care because when I get into the groove of communicating with her…it really does feel like magic.
My love of working with her is the reason so many of my clients, students and readers have asked for a workshop to meet their own writing spirit guide which I have to admit I’m over the moon to teach because as you’ll see, working with mine has changed my life in ways that I don’t think I can accurately describe in words.
It is, quite literally, magic.
So let’s get into what’s so magical about having a writing spirit guide.
Reverence
When you want to work with a writing spirit guide, you’re not choosing someone (and they’re not choosing you) at random. There is usually a connection between the two of you that at the very minimum involves reverence. We should always revere the dead for what they have to share with us, but with a writing spirit guide, the reverence is a bit different. For some writers, it’s the connection of race and/or shared experiences of systemic oppression or activism, etc. For some, it’s familial. For others, it’s a love of their writing and work in the world. Whatever the connection is — the common denominator is that you have reverence and respect for your guide.
I will share this hilarious example of hidden and misguided reverence and how I came to find out who my writing spirit guide was.
When I first heard the concept of a writing spirit guide, (I can’t even remember now who I heard it from or where, although I wish I could. I’d like to thank them) I was SURE that I already knew mine. I believed (erroneously) that because I revered this writer in my life already that we would somehow be connected in this beautiful magical way as well. (And there is a case for this kind of relationship, but that’s for another day). I even wrote down in my journal before I did the visualization practice to meet my guide that:
“I just know that Maya Angelou will be standing there waiting for me.”
Fast forward to the visualization and the moment I heard, “ask your writing guide to step forward and reveal themselves” it was NOT Maya Angelou who stepped forward.
Instead, it was Agatha Christie. She wore a grin and I could hear her as plain as day say to me, “That bitch isn’t yours. I am.”
And we’ve been talking ever since.
Here’s the thing… our true writing spirit guides (well, really, ANY of our spirit guides) are connected to us because they have the spirit and capacity to give us what we need when we need it. I’ve come to realize that while I still revere Maya Angelou and her work, there was a reason she didn’t show up for me. She has her own writers to guide and a set of skills that only they can appreciate. Just as Agatha has her own way of working with me for what I need.
The Signs
The day after I discovered that she was my spirit guide, I was “filing” my card reading and came across a card reading I’d done the previous year around writing and guidance and guess what?
That reading had Agatha Christie in the role of “guidance giver” and some of the same exact cards that I’d just pulled as supporting cards.
Shiver down the spine. Goosebumps over the arms.
She had been telling me who she was all along. I just hadn’t been ready to hear it or receive it. But I was sure now.
Her influence became apparent in so many other ways once I started actually noticing. And let me tell you — it never gets old. Every time I make the connection that it’s Agatha’s doing, it feels magical all over again.
Oh you want some examples? I have plenty. But let me preface this by saying that the biggest and most unbelievable (yet true) thing she’s ever done for me is written about here. I truly believe she orchestrated all the pieces to fit into place for that trip to happen.
But the signs aren’t always big and life-changing like a Dublin Workshop, it’s often on a much smaller scale. This past summer, I ended up sick stressing out about a decision I had to make regarding a workshop/retreat. The rub was that I’d already signed up, paid for and said I was going yet the logistics, the money, and the traveling was not ending up to be viable. I literally spent days sick to my stomach about it.
Then I just threw up my hands and said to Agatha one night, “Can you please just give me a sign that saying “no” to this opportunity is the right thing?”
The next day, *seemingly out of the blue, an old co-writer of mine reached out wondering if I wanted to co-write another series together. That same week, I got accepted into a mentorship program (that was also Agatha’s doing).
Most people (like my mother) will say that these are all coincidences. And I have no way to disprove that. I do not have any good “evidence” to support my claims that Agatha is my writing spirit guide.
Then again, does it matter? She is my writing spirit guide and that’s all I need to know for myself.
The Little Things
The secret to developing a relationship/communication style with your writing spirit guide? It’s the little things! I have spent a significant amount of time “getting to know” Agatha in different ways. The first thing I did beyond reading her actual books was reading some biographies that were written about her. I took some of these with a grain of salt because of course they are filtered through so many lenses and those are never the full and total story. But it offers a baseline of information at the very least. The other thing I did was talk to her as if I was talking to a friend or a relative. Meaning, I was curious about her and I asked her questions so that I could connect with her beyond asking her for things. The dead are a lot like the living in that sense… it’s not very nice to just ask and expect shit from them without giving something of yourself.
What I discovered during these conversations was how funny, smart-assey and boundaried Agatha was, even in death. Here’s an excerpt from one of our conversations [note — I often intersperse questions that I pull cards with to communicate… it’s just the way my gifts seem to work with communication. The cards help me interpret]:
I just finished reading one of your biographies and came away with the same question the author (and I’m sure millions of your fans) have asked. What really happened during your 1926 disappearance? So I guess, I’ll just get it out of the way then with my own version of the question:
Will you ever tell me what happened when you disappeared? Or where you went at least beyond the hotel?
Card Pulled:
The Wall → Keywords: Boundaries, Protection, Isolation, Under lock and key
Okkkkay. I guess that’s a no. I mean, I don’t guess… I know it’s a no because I felt that one in my bones. So… I guess that conversation is off limits. I get it and I will respect it. I don’t like it, but I respect it.
Perhaps you will have more to say with this next question which is about what the author of the biography calls the “Christie Tricks.” Essentially, all the little writerly tricks you devised while writing your mysteries.
My question is: will you share with me, in detail, any of your “Christie Tricks” that weren’t in the book? Do I get a special “in” on your process?
Card Pulled:
Agatha, you are a smartass. I’m dying because this is hilarious. Either you’re trying to be funny or you’re being literal. Because…
Chicken → sacrificing to appease deities or guides.
Yeah, okay, I’ll get right on sacrificing that chicken for you in exchange for one of your tricks. 🤣
Another Support Person
We all know what it’s like to have supportive people (living lol) in our lives. It feels amazing to know that when we feel like absolute garbage-shit, we can turn to those in our lives who will be there for us. But we also know that it’s just not possible for our living supporters to be with us 24/7. There will undoubtedly be times where we are physically alone in our insecurity, our grief, our wallowing. But that doesn’t mean we are completely alone. Our writing spirit guides are on call for us and so long as we have a respectful relationship with them, they want to help us.
Agatha is who I often turn to when the darkness starts to seep in and I can’t figure out how to wrap my head or emotions around what is going on. I turn to her when I need some instant comfort or relief and she always delivers. Always.
So yeah, when I say that I experience magic on the daily… I truly mean it because there is nothing more magical in my opinion than speaking with someone on the other side and getting a response back.
Interested in learning how you can find, communicate and work with your own writing spirit guide? Good news! I have a workshop launching in 2024 ALL about that!
*I say seemingly because nothing is really out of the blue when it comes to these things.
This is so delightful! I am just connecting to spirit and hadn’t even thought of a writing spirit guide! ✨✨