You have two chances coming up on the West Coast to take part in tarot workshops; meet people; hear about and see decks in the creation phase; find a teacher; buy new,  unusual and hard-to-get tarot paraphernalia, and have an all’round great time.

Saturday, September 27, 2008, 8:30 am to 6:30 pm. The Los Angeles Tarot Symposium (LATS)

The Los Angeles Tarot Symposium (LATS) was started by Barbara Rapp-Geerling of The Crystal Cave, with the help of Thalassa (BATS). It gives a chance for Southern California tarotists to meet on their home turf, although people come fom all over the country. This year it’s happening in Irvine (Orange County).

Correction: October 4-5, 2008. The Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS)

The San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS) took over where an earlier tarot conference series, begun in 1979, left off and as an off-shoot of the infamous Tarot Network News. Thalassa and Daughters of Divination* have done a great job of keeping it going when all else failed, carrying on a venue where tarotists from all over the US have been gathering for almost 30 years. It’s through connections made at BATS that numerous decks and books have been sold to publishers, and people have formed important support and friendship networks. The symposium is one-day but for those who choose to stick around there is a more informal Tarot Salon on Sunday at the hotel just around the corner.

Do yourself a favor by attending a symposium at one or both of these venues to experience cutting-edge tarot at its best and in the making. They are scheduled only a week apart so that travelers can attend one in LA, take a week to drive up the fabulous coast road, and then attend the second in SF. You’ll find more information on the EVENTS page. Photo: Thalassa speaking at LATS.

[* Even guys can be a Daughter of Divination.]