Friday Night at the UK Tarot Conference 2008
Having arrived in London three days prior to the conference – and cashed in a bucket of frequent flier miles to fly first class on British Airways so I could sleep the entire flight to London – I was actually rested and localized time-wise for this year’s UK Tarot Conference, organized by Kim Arnold of the Psychic Cafe.
The conference began on Friday night with a master class taught by Rachel Pollack at the Swedenborgian Centre in the lovely Bloomsbury district of London. (I swear there’s something in the air that makes one feel much smarter and more clever just walking through Bloomsbury Square!)
Rachel took us on a delightful two hour adventure through the history of Tarot, and the various uses throughout history. She shared readings she’s created, and discussed ways to create our own readings. She also discussed her newest book, Tarot Wisdom, which she described as “78 Degrees of Wisdom after 40 years of reading Tarot.” The book wasn’t yet available at the time of the conference. (Update Nov. 5, 2008: I’ve acquired a copy! I’ll put up a link to a review as soon as I’ve re-read it.)
After the class, many of us adjourned to the Atlantis Bookshop a few blocks away for a festive cocktail party. I spent time chatting with many delightful people about our favorite topic, and then suddenly it was much later than it should have been! Having made a great deal of effort to overcome jet lag this time, I didn’t want to end up exhausted before the main day of the conference, and headed back to my hotel to dream Tarot dreams.