Four Things I Learned at the Masters of the Tarot Conference at Omega Institute

I was a presenter at The Masters of the Tarot Conference at Omega Institute this summer. It was opening weekend at Omega, after a year-and-a-half pandemic closure.

Mary K. Greer and Rachel Pollack have led this annual conference for many years. For me, it had been a goal to attend, and a dream to present, for just as long.

One of the perks of presenting at a conference is the ability to attend the classes of your fellow presenters. I could write volumes about everything I experienced and learned over that three-day weekend. For this post I thought it would be fun to share just a single tidbit from each presentation; some inspiration that I will take forward in my own life and tarot practice.

Friday night we gathered for an interactive session with Mary K. Greer. This was an icebreaker which quickly taught deep tarot skills. One thing I learned from this session is the power inherent in simply describing a tarot image.

I am not typically an image-based reader. Some decks read better for me than others, but I do not overthink the art. I often joke that I could easily read with seventy-eight pieces of notebook paper. When Mary had us describing images rather than reading cards as I normally would, I was immediately out of my tarot comfort zone.

As it turned out, I spent much of the weekend pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone. This is why our gatherings and conferences, both in person and online, are so valuable. We never know everything there is to know about tarot, or about ourselves. We must always keep pushing and challenging ourselves to grow.

What I learned about describing a tarot image is this. There is a magic that happens in the connection we make with the image, the words we choose to describe the image, and the spiritual forces that are always available when tarot is present. Of course, I knew this, because I have seen new tarot students look at a card and find wisdom within it time and again. Yet, being forced to verbally describe the image without benefit of classic interpretations and symbolism was surprisingly personal, powerful and insightful.

The next session was Saturday morning. I was excited to present “How Tarot Helps Us Heal”. I will leave it to those who attended to share what they learned; I hope they learned a lot!

That afternoon was Madame Pamita’s turn to present.
Madame Pamita taught a hands-on approach to tarot magick that was as fun as it was enlightening. I learned quite a bit in this class, even though I use and teach tarot magick regularly.

One thing I learned from Madame Pamita that will be helpful as I continue to teach tarot magick is a simple way of talking about tarot magick versus divination. The problem I have encountered is this. When we do divination exercises in class it is common to say, “pick a card,” or “pick two cards to tell you…”. When we do tarot magick exercises we are not picking at random. We look at the cards and cognitively choose cards to serve us in the magickal work we are doing. It has sometimes been very hard for me to communicate this difference effectively. Sometimes, when I ask students to choose a card cognitively, rather than at random, they are confused and do not know what to do.

Madame Pamita shared simple nomenclature for which I am grateful and very excited to adopt. We choose cards either face up or face down. When we choose cards face down, we are choosing at random, and divining. When we choose cards face up, we are selecting the cards whose energy we wish to employ in magick. What could be simpler, or more brilliant?

Saturday evening was Rachel Pollack’s session. I was excited that Rachel asked all the presenters to sit on a panel and discuss issues that we face as professional tarot readers. At the end, Rachel chose a member of the audience for whom to perform a sample reading.

Rachel, like Mary, is a seemingly limitless supply of tarot knowledge. It is thrilling that Mary K. Geer was a headlining presenter at StaarCon 2021, and that Rachel Pollack will be headlining for StaarCon 2022.

One thing that Rachel said during our panel discussion has stuck with me and has caused me to shift the way I speak and think in a very specific way. Rachel was talking about the different sorts of readings we do, and the language readers use to describe their readings. Rachel took exception to readers who say they use tarot to ‘empower people’. This is something we often hear. Never had I heard it the way Rachel hears it.

Rachel said that if we ‘empower someone,’ we have really disempowered them. No one person can empower another. Personal empowerment can only come from within. If we, as readers, try to empower someone, we see ourselves as the keepers of power. That is not empowerment.

Going forward, I will consider that I might use tarot to help people discover their power, utilize their power, or know their power.

I approached our Sunday morning session with Shaheen Miro with that sad end-of-summer-camp feeling. I had no desire for the conference to end, nor to leave Omega.

Shaheen’s workshop provided the biggest challenge of the conference for me. This is because Shaheen’s presentation had us working with art and intuition.

While I am a very creative person, I am not an artist. In fact, I am the one member of my family of origin who cannot draw and paint. This was a source of shame for me as I was growing up. Worse, I was always the one who would spill the paint and make a mess.

I was tempted to shrug off Shaheen’s presentation and enjoy a few hours strolling the lovely Omega campus. It would be easy for me to say that what Shaheen was serving simply wasn’t on my diet.

Yet, over the weekend I had developed a fondness and admiration for Shaheen that would not let me take the cowardly way out.

In that workshop, I did not learn that I have a hidden talent for drawing. I did learn that nothing bad would happen if I experimented with markers and crayons. I learned that I could express my intuitive thoughts through color and shape. For me, that was huge.

We are fortunate to have a tarot and divination community which offers so many opportunities, online and in person, for fellowship and learning. Each conference has its own unique personality. The Masters of the Tarot offered a deep connection to community and tarot, as well as an opportunity for growth and healing. I am delighted to have been a part of it.

Another Successful Psychic Foodraiser: Holiday Open House 2015

On December 20, 2015, I was able to revive an old and favorite holiday tradition of mine, the Holiday Open House.

Early in my career, the Open House was simply a day during the holiday season when I would give free readings and holiday snacks to anyone who stopped by. I remember my young children (they are now adults) dressed up in their fanciest clothes to serve cookies and soda to the guests as they waited to see me for a holiday reading.

Eventually, as I started to build tarot community, the Open House became a group project for a great cause. My students and colleagues worked with me to raise toys, funds and food for the needy.

Over the years, I have held the Holiday Open House in a number of locations, including six locations in Connecticut and two in Pennsylvania. There were some years I held two Open House in separate locations, in order to serve as many people as possible

 After moving to West Palm Beach, I held the event in the Harvey Building where I had my office. In the five years I kept my office there the event grew to an enormous size. Our 2012 Open House featured twenty-two readers and healers, and raised 600 pounds of food.

Our volunteer host, Brenda, organizing 600 pounds of food in the lobby of the Harvey Building at the 2012 Holiday Open House.

Now that I’ve opened my office in the Tampa area and founded the Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup, it seemed time to revive the Open House tradition. This time I chose a different kind of venue- the private room at Beef O’Brady’s in Land O’ Lakes. I hadn’t thought about the advantages of having food and libations available, but now I see it as a definite plus!

Regardless of Beef’s tempting menu, the snack table at the event was full of treats provided by our attendees. A number of people did enjoy a bit of holiday cheer from the bar during the afternoon’s festivities.

Our volunteers for the event were fabulous. We had amazing professional readers, including Beverly Frable, Michael Newton-Brown, Jan, Brenda and Lori, who read for folks throughout the day. These pro readers did a wonderful job sharing their skills with the many people who stopped by.

 We also had a new student, Michele, working with Lenormand cards. She kept pace with the pros and received great feedback! There is nothing like reading for the public to let you know you’ve got what it takes to be a reader.   Helping readers develop their skills is a definite side benefit of these Open House events.

Three wonderful readers made time to stop by to share a few readings during the day. We were honored to have Erika, Magda and Aria Sparrowsong with us for a few hours.

One of our tarot meetup members, Joy, offered a unique service. She is a calligraphy artist, and created colorful tags with special words for people. It was fun to see the words folks chose. Some did their name, or a concept or theme they wanted to keep in focus.

One person asked the Universe for guidance as to what words she should use. The message that came to her was “New Beginnings.” Then, she sat down to have an oracle reading. The first card drawn in the reading was called “New Beginnings!’

I was really happy with the level of support from our meetup members. Everyone who was available stopped by and helped out. Marianne and her daughter stayed all day to help me host!

The local community turned out in force, all ready to enjoy a day of fun and insight, and to help the needy.

Our crew of volunteers also included a coworker of mine from Origins Spa and Wellness Center. Rochelle did an amazing job giving ten-minute chair massages.

Our volunteers provided their services for free, in exchange for donations of food. The next day, I brought our collection of food and cash to Feeding America Tampa Bay. Our donations equaled 1,092 meals for local area families. It really feels good to make such a substantial contribution!

Afterwards, in the spirit of TarotCon, some of us stayed for a “Survivor’s Dinner” at Beef’s. The fellowship and fun continued, even after the Open House had officially ended.

The following week, I heard feedback from someone who had attended the Open House and taken the time to sit with each reader. A few readers mentioned a pregnancy around her. She is well past the age for pregnancy, and wondered why this message kept coming up. At Christmas dinner with her family, a pregnancy was announced. It became clear that my friend would have a special role in this child’s life, just as many of our readers had foreseen!

Thanks to everyone who volunteered and to everyone who participated. We’ll continue the tradition next year.

Enjoy the pictures from the event below, and, if you are in the area, make sure to join the Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup!

A New Tarot Meetup is Born

The online tarot community can be an important part of a tarotist’s educational, professional, spiritual and social life. For tarotists who live in remote areas, the online community may be the only connection to tarot friends they have.

Nonetheless, there is something satisfying and unique about meeting with an in-person tarot group.

The Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup had its first meeting on Sunday, November 9, at Panera in Lutz.

Meetup is a wonderful website that helps us find things to do and people to do them with. It’s cheap for organizers, and free to join. Simply log in, enter your interests and your city and see what you find!

Organizing a tarot meetup isn’t a business decision, it’s a labor of love.

To begin our first meeting we each chose one card with which to introduce ourselves. The card could be chosen cognitively or at random, or could be a personal significator. The card could be who you are today, or who you are always.

As we went around the table, we each spoke about our own card, and then gave the group a chance to speak about each person’s card. In this way, we learned more about the cards, and more about each other.

One person discovered his personal significator as he did this exercise!

Of the nine of us who were there, three of us chose the Queen of Cups. Overall, the Queen of Cups perfectly describes the synergy, empathy, intuition, compassion and flow of our first meeting.

Our next meeting will be December 7^th. We’ve decided to focus on performing and observing readings to share practical reading techniques.

Join the meetup, and join us!

Mixed Virtue

I have always been a fan of Doreen Virtue.  I had the pleasure of exchanging readings with her live on broadcast radio when I was the morning show co-host and “Resident Psychic” of Q105 in New London, CT.  She was charming and genuine, and her reading for me was relevant.

While I am not usually a fan of oracle decks other than tarot, I do really like Virtue’s “Ascended Masters Oracle Cards.”  Their message is universal.

I gave “Healing with the Angels Oracle Cards” to my mother.  I own a copy myself.  I used the “Healing with the Angels” deck with my assisted living class.  The senior citizens loved the images, and found the process of divination with this deck insightful and meaningful.

Doreen Virtue’s many oracle decks are always beautiful and well-made.  I appreciate the quality of her products, and of her message.

I have always had a bit of a problem with the concept of angels as gentle spiritual helpers.  Biblically, angels are fearsome beings.  I also have a problem with presenting creatures such as unicorns, fairies and dragons as spiritual helpers rather than mythical beasts.  I am comfortable with them as symbols more than as actual ethereal beings.

Doreen Virtue is neither the first nor the only teacher to suggest that these beings are actual spiritual entities.  D.J. Conway successfully presented dragon magick.  Faerie Wicca has become a respected Wiccan tradition.  I have softened on my stance against these concepts over the years.  The fact that beings such as angels and dragons appear in the mythology of a variety of cultures is compelling.

Now Doreen Virtue has published a tarot deck.  I haven’t seen it yet.  It’s called “Angel Tarot Cards.”  According to my research, Virtue has changed many of the Major Arcana names.  The Tower is “Life Experience.”  The Devil is “Ego.”  Overall, seven of the Major Arcana names are changed.

Virtue has associated each of the Major Arcana with an archangel.  The four suits are denoted according to their element, rather than an icon.  Each of the four suits is color-coded, and pictures a particular mythical creature.  The Fire suit is dragons, while the Water suit is mermaids.  The Earth suit is fairies and the Air suit is unicorns.  I would have switched those two, but that’s just me.

Among modern tarot, none of these departures from tradition is particularly original, but neither are they disturbing.  Associating specific angels with the Majors is simple archetypal assignment.  Tarot artists like Lisa Hunt, Kris Walderr and Julie Cuccia-Watts have been doing that for years.  This is also true for using mythical creatures and special colors for the suits. 

Softening the presentation of certain Major Arcana cards is also nothing new.  Many tarot artists choose to rename some of the cards.  Eileen Connolly did it quite successfully with the Connelly Tarot.  Lisa Hunt and Ciro Marchetti have also each created beautiful, usable decks with renamed cards.  To rename so many of the 22 Majors is a bit odd, but not terrible.

I am quite sure that this new Angels Tarot Deck is as lovely as Virtue’s other decks.  I might like to own it, and can think of some students and clients who would enjoy it.  But I do have a problem with it.  I have a serious, serious problem with it.

My problem is not with Doreen Virtue.  While I personally find her a bit fluffy and fanciful, I know many people appreciate her.  My problem is not that Doreen Virtue has created a tarot deck.  My problem is the way she is marketing the deck.

Virtue is calling this deck the “first deck of tarot cards that is 100 percent gentle, safe, and trustworthy”! 

Excuse me?  First, what is up with “gentle and safe”?  When did tarot suddenly become a laxative?

All kidding aside, it is heinous to market one’s product by casting aspersions on its predecessors. Politicians do that.  Healers shouldn’t.  To suggest that all tarot that has come before is “unsafe” is wrong on every level.  The only way a deck of cards could be “unsafe” is that it might give you a paper cut.

I have said this before and I will say it again.  I am tired of spiritual teachers maligning tarot out of laziness and ignorance.  Tarot words, images and symbols are only scary if we don’t take the time to learn what they mean.  Through that study, we grow, not only in our understanding of tarot but also in our understanding of ourselves and of the Universe. 

Virtue goes on to say that “All of the words in this deck, as well as the artwork by Steve A. Roberts, are positive and beautiful, while still retaining the magical effectiveness of traditional tarot”.

I know that some people really do prefer a deck without harsh images and words, while others see it as “watered down.”  I am OK either way, but Virtue is doing a huge disservice to many tarot artists by suggesting she is the first to do this.  Eileen Connelly has done it, Lisa Hunt has done it, and many others have done it.  Shame on you, Doreen Virtue, for making this false claim!  And shame on you, Hay House, for publishing it!

Doreen Virtue needs to realize that, in her position as a revered teacher, people will actually believe what she says.  She has a responsibility to be accurate.  I am truly disheartened by her lack of integrity in this matter.

I am in a quandary.  Do I buy this deck because I am sure it is beautiful and interesting?  Do I boycott it, because Doreen Virtue has clearly dissed tarot, and the tarot community?

With all the lovely decks from authors who operate with integrity that I have yet to add to my collection, I think I choose to boycott.

The truth is this.  With only a few notable exceptions, our community of tarot artists, authors, teachers and readers is honorable.  We support each other, we acknowledge each other’s efforts, and we build on each other’s contributions to the tarot corpus.

Which of us would dare say we were the first to do something, when we clearly were not?

Which of us would inaccurately malign a spiritual tradition that so many hold dear?

I suppose it is no surprise.  Doreen Virtue has made a career of reinventing spirituality to make it palatable and easy to digest.  Up until now, I have defended her.  Today, I have this to say.

The path to spiritual enlightenment and healing isn’t easy.  It’s not supposed to be.  Angels are fearsome for a reason.  If you aren’t willing to wrestle with the angels, and if you aren’t willing to study the traditions, you will never find enlightenment, and you will never heal.

But, you can certainly have fun looking at the pretty pictures.