This past weekend was RS11, the annual Reader’s Studio held by Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone of the Tarot School in New York City.  Reader’s Studio is not the only great annual international tarot event, but it is arguably the most notable.  For a tarot reader, it is a place to see and be seen.

Sadly, I’ve yet to make it there.  It is held in the spring, a time when I’m often just too busy for any festival that doesn’t involve a Maypole.

This year, since I had so many friends attending RS11, I thought it would be fun to have some roving reporters giving me updates on the goings-on.  It didn’t work too well, and I understand why.  When I am at a conference or a festival, the last place I want to be is on the phone talking about it.  I want to be in the midst of the thing, doing it!

I did manage to see some RS11 tweets, updates and photos go by on social media, only to confirm what I already knew, and what my one trusty reporter was about to tell me.

Readers Studio isn’t about the great workshops or classes, it’s about the opportunity to have conversation, connection, fellowship and networking with some of the world’s most amazing people.

My one trusty reporter is Marcy Currier, who just called me from her Honda Fit on her way home from RS11.  Marcy is a dear friend, student and colleague, whose forthcoming Mystical Frog Tarot is likely to be as charming as she is.

Marcy had never before attended The Reader’s Studio.  This year I encouraged her to go.  Now, she is encouraging me to attend next year.  I guess that says it all.

One of my Tarot friends in South Florida is Donna Rawnsley, who also attends Reader’s Studio.  We tease her at Tarot Circle because she is always saying that the best part is hanging out in the bar with all the great people.  Marcy concurs.  Staying at the hotel, sharing meals and drinks together is what makes Reader’s Studio so special.

Marcy was delighted to meet her tarot peers, and to see the different ways they presented themselves.  At Reader’s Studio, readers are able to be genuinely themselves.  The height of that self-expression is celebrated at the costume banquet.  Marcy couldn’t stop talking about the costume banquet, which is a traditional Saturday evening event for many tarot conventions.

The thing about Marcy, though, is she is the queen of costumes.  She is the most creative costume maker and wearer I have ever met.  So if she was blown away by the costume banquet, and by the general finery and fashion of the attendees throughout the weekend, I can guarantee you it was truly something to see!

I guess no matter how bold we are, as tarot readers we have to know that a lot of the rest of the world thinks we’re weird.  At a tarot convention, we are free to be as weird as we are.  I remember having a similar sense of comfort at my first national tarot event, an ATA Convention in Albany where I first met Wald and Ruthann.

Marcy enjoyed learning the ways different readers work their tarot businesses, and work tarot into their lives.  The tarot world seems bigger to her now, with more possibilities, At the same time, it must also seem smaller, because it is now a world of friends.

The tarot world is lucky to have some talented people that are willing to travel and present at events like Reader’s Studio.  The line-up for this year was stellar as always, so I was interested to see whose presentation would really touch Marcy.

Yesterday I kept my eye on the Twitter feed, and noticed particularly a post that said many people were having breakthroughs in Barbara Moore’s class.  Would Marcy agree, I wondered?

She did.  It was about number three in her stream-of-consciousness cell-phone download into my ear, after how she wished she had stayed at the hotel and how she loved all the great hats.

What she said was that Barbara Moore’s workshop was fantastic and hands-on, and that there are now one hundred new spreads in the world!

What else does Marcy want to say about Reader’s Studio?  It left her with a whole new sense of open-mindedness about what tarot is and who tarot is for . . .because tarot is for everybody!

That is an interesting statement from a professional reader and teacher!

She also enjoyed the opening ritual for newcomers, and the opportunity to meet luminaries like Lon Milo DuQuette and Amy and Monte Farber.

My psychic prediction of what comes next for Marcy?  She will now begin to enjoy what seems to be for many of my friends the most delicious aspect of Reader’s Studio . . . planning to attend the next one!