Saturday at The Readers Studio is usually the fullest day. I was up at 7a.m. and didn’t sleep until 3 a.m.. I learned some amazing new alchemical techniques, a new spread, discovered a kindred spirit, and chatted my way to a hoarse throat. Click on the read more to find out all the details.
I realized this morning when I woke up that the bum feelings were due to the sudden shock my system took when the three of us went into NYC. This broke the illusion of the Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) that groups create when they come together for an intense, short time. Festivals have this energy and this year’s Readers Studio had it in spades.
Thankfully, everyone here was so accommodating and they gave me hugs, space, time and energy to recharge and refuel my batteries so that by the time Shawn Nacol took the stage i was hungry for knowledge. His class, The Roots of Tarot, was an amazing, energetic look at how the four elements and processes of alchemy relate to the tarot. Talk about perfect timing and a great end to my year long Alchemy element working. We learned how to read the cards in a way that allows us to transform our base materials into something better.
The afternoon’s session, done by James Wanless, proved to be both enlightening and zany. He showed us a new spread called the Whole Body spread that allows us to understand where we’re at in terms of the different aspects of our bodies. I partnered up with Shari Smith and we had a grand old time applying what the cards said to immediate events in our lives. We also discovered something else…
At one point James was talking about our foundations, in the form of genes. At the sound of this word, we heard the word JEANS… and at the same time, we both looked down at the pants we were wearing. We had a horribly confused look on our faces that read, “what does what we wear have to do with our foundations?” James then mentions that these jeans, are our DNA. With this new bit of information, we stared at one another, and broke out in fits of giggles. This incited Drew to say, “Do we have to separate you two?” And it’s with that and the other various giggle fits that we decided that it’s a “bad idea” tm to have the two of us in the same space… because we incite the forces of chaos and giggles. I’ve decided that Shari is a kindred soul twin and we need to be silly more often together.
After James finished his class, we got a flurry of activity once again around the booth. More things were sold (buy ALL the things!) and we were able to leave in time to get ready for the main evening attraction, the banquet.
I was so excited to wear my new blinking lite bustle and belt system that I got at PantheaCon. Rose braided my hair and fitted my blue dreads into it. We decided that I looked like a night sky with my black pants and tunic on. Drew and Rose made the perfect 2 of cups couple with their-almost matching blue corsets. Our dinner table featured wonderful conversation companions of Jude Alexander, Donnaleigh de la Rose (who was an 8ball gypsy, totally awesome) and Theresa. we shared stories about what we’ve learned; compared the energies from last year to this year; and took tons of photos of all our outfits.
I hobnobbed until midnight. Barbara graced me with a reading from her fabulous Pronosticator. The image it gave me was “the hanged man,” and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the gala that is the last night here. Shari and I showed off our quarter-playing prowess (after being dared to do it). And I fluttered around talking to Angelo and lots of others about their tarot styles, life stories, and just bonding in happiness with the wonderful, loving and supportive community I’m involved in. Oh, and Shari and I scared Wald Amberstone with our dynamic duo energies. I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to look at me, or listen to what I have to say on our coaching sessions without thinking about the craziness that the two of us do when our powers combined. Donnaleigh paid me one of the ultimate compliments in that she wanted to take me home. I just about cried cos I wanted to take her, and many of my other tarot family home with me!
All in all, my cup was filled to the brim (and more) with love and light and laughter and amazing stories. I’ll fly hope early Monday morning happy and content and with a huge smile on my face.
