Readers Studio started a little differently for me this year. Last year, my friend Courtney and I were up far too early on the Friday morning to watch the Royal Wedding before heading to the conference, leading us to consume massive amounts of coffee once we arrived in order to stay awake. This year, I drove myself down to the conference from my home about 45 minutes away. I still needed the massive amounts of caffeine, however (some things never change). Continue reading »
How do I explain 2011 as a year, besides it being a very tarot-filled year? On March 14th of this year, I officially entered into a contest that changed my life, the Tarot Apprentice, and jumped through four tarot-y hoops of fire to come out in the end the winner. Looking back on the experience, I was glad friends pushed and encouraged me into doing it. I would not have a thriving tarot business without it. Nor a kick-ass website. Nor a fantastic mentor. Nor another year plus worth of studies with Hekademia. But enough gush about 2011…
An unscheduled blog post, for a very important cause!
There is a few more days left for you to help my friend Courtney Weber to help Vermont by buying a reading from her. Please see the details below!
TAROT TO HEAL THE WORLD! Hello, friends! I am contacting you to ask for a few minutes of your time to assist in my latest endeavor. 
As you may know, several areas of Vermont were decimated by Hurricane Irene and many people I know and care about were directly impacted. There is a local grassroots effort going on to get the region back on its feet (the government is doing little at this point) which has asked for contributions. For the month of September, I am donating every dollar I make reading Tarot to this cause!!!
Everyone on this list has a blog, podcast or both! I am hoping you all might be willing to mention the cause on your blog, feeds, or allow me to call into your podcast for a five minute spot. People can purchase readings on the Tarot of the Boroughs website via email, phone or Skype–every single penny goes to the Bethel Relief Fund. The link to the fund is here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=272337666111248 The web address iswww.tarotoftheboroughs.com!
Thank you all for your consideration!!! Just a couple of words will reach a lot of people and a lot of people need help right now.
Many blessings!
Courtney
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| The first card I pulled from the “cauldron” at SF BATS. A definite reminder to “go with the flow.” |
The final class on Saturday afternoon I decided to attend was Ellen Lorenzi-Prince’s “Discover Your Tarot Genius” where Ellen took us through both the ancient and modern concepts of genius by giving us exercises with our decks, pulling cards and speaking from our “genius” (spirit) self, and then giving another person a reading, speaking from that “genius” self. I think my genius self likes to speak to me by playing songs in my head that spark my intuition as I pull cards. Those songs usually correspond to any reading I’m doing, so no matter how strange or “off-point” they might seem, I always acknowledge the source and pass on the message (and usually am greeted with “How’d you know that?”).
On Saturday evening was the “Bats in the Belfry” cocktail hour/mixer, where it seemed everyone but me was dressed up to the nines. I used my “carry-on only” excuse to beg off from dressing up, but after seeing all the fabulous outfits, I did feel a twinge of guilt, which was soon remedied by Merlot and good conversation.
After the mixer, I was invited up to Jude Alexander’s room to play The Tarot Game, her creation. And by “play”, I mean howl laughing with fellow tarot readers. We were the “rowdy” group of players, where tarot and pole dancing combined, and where we created a song while looking for a specific card in a deck.
~*~
Sunday morning the conference reconvened with a performance by Nancy Antenucci, Rhonda Lund, and Dan Pelletier. Nancy co-wrote the short vignette to demonstrate facets of reading psychically. This performance directly led me to buy her book Psychic Tarot. I had been hearing such wonderful things about it previously, but had been on the fence about purchasing it. My doubts were swept aside with the performance. I will enjoy her book, and Nancy is lovely!
There was only two classes to squeeze in before the panel in the afternoon on the tarot (where it’s been, where it’s going) so I hustled off to the first class of the last day. Let me quickly explain: There was a choice of three to four classes during each 50-minute class period, and it was extremely difficult to decide which classes to attend. However, on the second day, I had no doubts as to where I was going. I had to give my props to my tarot homegirls.
The first class was Courtney Weber’s “The Tarot of the Boroughs”. Now, you all may remember my review of this deck (if not, see here). This class was all about the deck’s creation. Moreover, it was about what it truly takes to create a tarot deck, and by the way… if you want to learn tarot, the best way is to create a deck. Why? Because if you create a deck, you live the tarot. I cannot say enough good things about this deck.
After a lunch break, the second class was Theresa Reed’s “From Prophet to Profit– Transition from Tarot Hobbyist to Tarot Pro”. I am a very lucky girl to have Theresa as my tarot mentor, and everyone that attended this class was given a huge amount of information to take their talents to the next, and marketable, level. Even with me working with Theresa for the past four months, I still left this class with information I did not previously have, such as her 3-Step Process for success as a tarot reader.
Finally was the panel with some of the esteemed presenters from the conference. The crux of it is that tarot has come a long way, and the future of tarot is technology. There is no need to feel alone if you are a reader. Your tarot tribe is a mouse-click away. And if you need a reader, there are many ways to get a reading without having to be geographically local. Through technology, discussions on tarot continue to happen, and conferences such as the one I just attended get planned and get coverage.
Ask me in-depth questions about the conference by posting them in the Comments section below!
Classes I took at Readers Studio:
The three Master Classes:
Tarot and Astrology by Corrine Kenner
Okay, I thought I knew at least a little something about Astrology. Turns out I know diddly squat, but through Corrine’s class, I’m beginning to understand it a little better and how it fits into tarot. Very beautiful handouts, too, which I keep rereading over and over again, each time absorbing a little more information. I also can kinda read a natal chart, which I couldn’t claim to do before!
Tarot Spreads: Make Your Readings Even More Fabulous by Barbara Moore
Despite threats from Courtney, Theresa, and Barbara herself to have me teach her class, Barbara ended up doing the class, and it was extremely informative. Have you ever wondered why the Celtic Cross spread is so effective and is a wonderful foundation reading for those clients new to getting their cards read for them? Layout, layout, layout and how the human brain works when seeing cards laid out above, below, to the side, and crossing the significator. Truly an informative class, and Barbara makes anyone believe that they can create useful spreads for any occasion or client request.
Hunting the Lady: Using the Significator Skillfully by Caitlín Matthews
This class would have been worth it just from hearing Caitlín sing in person (gorgeous!), which she did often to call her class to order and to bring us back after working in groups. This class made me want to do reading using significators, when I usually don’t. And by don’t, I mean I use a randomly selected significator and start my reading based on that. Which is valid, but could go deeper if I applied some of the techniques that were discussed during her class.
Night workshops:
Social Media for Tarot Readers by Theresa Reed
Taking Theresa’s class was a no-brainer. I’ve been using social media for a little while, specifically using twitter to pull cards for the day and give my interpretations of them. There is A LOT more that you can do with social media. Theresa also covered some pretty interesting ground about promoting yourself, taking the ickiness out of the word promoting. Less “used-car salesman” and more “I’m a good reader with this style, I’m here when you want a reading.” Using social media opens the entire world up to you as potential clients. The biggest lesson from this class? Just be you. The younger techno-savvy generation (am I part of that?) can spot bullshit from a mile away, and even more so if it’s bullshit on a computer screen. Don’t bullshit. Be yourself. And don’t write about yourself in the third person; that just makes you sound douchy.
The Game of Tarot by Alec Satin
More for fun than anything else! Did you know that there is a game of tarot? I sure didn’t. And no, you won’t be using your Rider-Waite Deck to play it, either. Alec was a very good teacher, and we were able to play quite a few hands with his supervision, because in my experience there’s no better way to learn something than by doing it.
