TABI Conference 2011

I had a great time at the conference in Birmingham on Saturday, 23rd July!

Cilla Conway on Tarot & Oracles

The first workshop featured Cilla Conway on Tarot & Oracles. I was really edified to find that she advocates a method just like the one I recently adopted, using the oracle cards to shed more light on the energies surrounding the issues, after the tarot cards have been spread and read. She demonstrated her technique with fellow conference attendee, Doolie, then we got to pair up and try out 3-card spreads on each other. It was great to see so many people at my table using the same combo I had brought myself--the Druidcraft Tarot with the Druid Plant & Animal Oracles. I received a reading from Louise that suggested that my son has acquired a girlfriend who, if not pregnant already, is at the very least exerting a calming influence on him. Well, I contacted him as soon as I got home. No pregnancy, but he has met a girl online that he's enjoying chatting with. He was quite taken aback that I knew something was up involving a girl. Tee hee for tarot. It was also great fun to meet and exchange readings with Chloe. Her advice was also greatly appreciated.

Mary Collin 'Working as a Tarot Professional'

Next, Mary Collin gave a presentation of tips for organising yourself and making business connections. It went overlong, so we didn't get to try out one of Mary's ideas, which is to use some of her acronymic lists as the basis for tarot spreads. I think this would be an excellent tool not only for personal brainstorming, but also for spreads to use with clients with business-related queries. I will definitely be looking further into those ideas and developing card spreads and reading techniques about this topic. So thanks, Mary!

Emma 'Intuition with the Thoth'

After Mary's workshop, Emma Sunerton-Burl explained using your intuition to read the Thoth, which is a highly esoteric deck and can be intimidating. She began her session with a 30-minute guided visualisation of the Star card. I think the photo above is appropriate because it sums up for me what it was like--Emma's voice seemed so far away, and was so quiet, I couldn't hear her and so sat and ended up doing a sort of breathing meditation. Ah, well.

Will Worthington and Alison Cross.

 For me, the highlight of the day was the interview with Will Worthington, illustrator of the Druidcraft Tarot, Druid Plant & Animal Oracles, Green Man Tree Oracle, and Wildwood Tarot. It was fascinating to hear the story of how his art career began, how he became involved in deck production, and his thoughts on his success through tarot and oracle decks. Will doesn't normally do workshops, and so it was a great honour to be able to hear him speak.

Disappointingly I was unable to attend the second day of the conference due to Sunday train services being so completely rubbish! But I loved attending the 2011 TABI Conference and definitely intend to do the full thing next year, including staying overnight! And if they have something between now and then, I'll go to that one, too.