Category: Conferences

Blog, Conferences

20 Days: The Magician

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The Magician from The Shadowscapes Tarot
The Magician from The Shadowscapes Tarot

Only 20 days left until the Readers Studio. Can I get a *woo*! Yeah. Today’s major arcana card of the countdown is none other than the Magician. Another one of my personal faves, (seems like all these first cards are the easy and fun ones, huh?) The Magician stands for manifesting one’s dreams. This card describes a person who knows how to take all the elements the world gives us and combines them in ways to take their dreams and turn them into reality.

Usually manifesting my dreams is something I am very good at doing. However, I’m in the midst of some heavy hitting changes in my life (including a move from one location to another). I’m distracted and not feeling up to manifesting anything. However, I know that I can turn this frown upside down and take this card in as an opportunity to use these changes going on and to really sit down and understand what I want out of the next few weeks leading up to The Readers Studio (and eventually beyond the trip) so that I can achieve everything I want my life to have.

Blog, Conferences

21 Days: The Lovers

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The Lovers from the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert
The Lovers from the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert

The next stop on this journey is The Lovers. When I first saw this card, I smiled. The Lovers is all about friendship, love, and the pursuit of living a completely fulfilling life. Which is an endeavor we all should try and strive for in life.

That said, in my Readers Studio journey, The Lovers shows my happiness and excitement for the upcoming adventure. Going to one Readers Studio is like being in heaven. However, being able to attend the Readers Studio for two years in a row is amazingly divine. I get to gather with my tarot tribe, expand my tarot repertoire, and indulge in the number one love of my life (after my husband, kender)–tarot, of course! I love learning new techniques, and I cannot wait to see what James Wanless, James Wells, and Shawn Nacol has to offer us this year. I’m also excited because I get a 4 day slumber party with Drew and RoseRed. *squee*

Blog, Conferences

22 Days: The Hanged Man

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The Hanged Man from the Shadowscapes Tarot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
The Hanged Man from the Shadowscapes Tarot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

The Hanged Man, a card near and dear to my heart, is the first stop on our journey. There is a dualistic meaning to this card. The first, to see things with a new perspective, comes from the fact that the critters on the card are usually placed in a upside down position. When I draw this card for others, I try and get them to look at things as if they were standing on their heads. Secondly, this card is a card of sacrifice. This meaning comes from the story of Odin and how he sacrificed himself on the World Tree to gain the knowledge of the ruins to save his people.

So, in my Readers Studio journey, The Hanged Man reminds me to keep an open mind. While I attended last year’s Studio, I cannot let those preconceived notions to rule my time. Readers Studio will be everything I want it to be, as well as nothing I want. 🙂

Blog, Conferences

The 22 Days ‘Till Readers Studio

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My good friend Drew reminded me that tomorrow kicks off the ’22 days until Readers Studio 2012.” I mentioned that it would be fun to draw a Major arcana card a day for a countdown and he agreed to whip up a list of random cards. For those who don’t understand the connection, here’s the explanation: there are 22 cards in the Major Arcana. These are the cards most people think about when they hear the word “Tarot”. Specifically, The Fool, The Devil, The Lovers, etc. Hence the reason for my excitement. Then he challenged myself and RoseRed to blog, or tweet, or post our thoughts about each card.

This little countdown kicks off tomorrow and goes daily until Wednesday the 25th. Of course, I also plan on trying to blog from the conference itself… however, my track record on being able to do this isn’t too great. If you’re interested in joining in our merry little project you can contact me (or Drew) and get the list we’re working from. Or you can create your own and join in. Can I blog something small each day about the majors? Stay tuned to find out.

Blog, Conferences

Readers Studio Lessons Learned

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The wonderful Theresa Reed, aka the Tarot Lady, inspired this post.

Now that the Readers Studio is over and I make my transition back into the daily life here in Vancouver, WA I wanted to jot down some of the things I’ve learned over the past three days. Before I get into this post I want to thank Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone for being awesome mentors, as well as for hosting this wonderful event. I also want to thank everyone who attended this year for making this event so special for me. I felt so loved and welcomed and apart of something larger than myself. My goal this year is to now do everything in my power to save up enough cash to get me back for next year. I dunno if I can do it but I’m going to do my darnedest to get me back to “home”.

  1. Don’t be afraid of standing up and speaking my thoughts to others. I made a lot of new friends and had many enlightening conversations with people that I would not have if I didn’t step up and take the plunge.
  2. Action items from James Wanless’s class: meditate at least once a week (it really IS good for me); I need to shut up (and turn off my creative brain) long enough to write in my blog and work on my book draft (can’t get the work out there to people if I don’t “butt in chair and write”); keep a card out on my altar as a focus for more insight and meditation.
  3. Astrology may have a lot to it but it’s just another layer to the tarot onion to help provide depth and insight to things going on in my and clients lives. I was very fortunate to have Corrine introduce me to the potential power of combining tarot and astrology and I also had a few pro-astrologers at our table who were fantastic with helping the newbies out. I also gleaned some insight into my own chart from those folks.
  4. Likewise, Significators can also add depth and insight into readings if done with a spirit of play and openness. We had fun trying out all the different techniques and I’m glad I have the Watchers tarot deck to perhaps play around with significators more.
  5. Not having wifi in my hotel room seriously hampered my ability to get my ideas out and on the page. I think moving forward, I may invest in in-room wifi no matter what. It would have been nice to go back to my room, chillax with the laptop and write my posts on the spot. Of course, this all depends on the cost.
  6. I glow when I’m around my tarot tribe. I don’t think there was a time when I wasn’t feeling happy, manic, and had a huge smile plastered on my face. It was hard to come up with enough adjectives to tell people how my experience was. I think I abused “incredible” and “amazing” and “exceptional”.

I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting, so I want to reserve the right to post more lessons learned as I recall them. I keep flipping through all the materials and my notes from the conference hoping that I don’t forget one iota of it at all.