Written by: Moonstone / Helen

Here’s a personal view of the TABI Conference which took place last on 24^th July 2015, from Helen of The Moonstone Oracle.  Thanks also to Vivianne Kacal for the use of her photographs!

Friday night dinner

I have been a member of TABI since March 2015 and I enjoy it immensely. I signed up for the conference for a couple of reasons: a) I am taking Tarot seriously now and I want to learn and b) to meet people and make friends. Both of these aims were more than met over the weekend. Actually, they were met, slapped on the back, had drinks bought for at the bar and taken home to meet the parents.
I got there early Friday evening and after the quickest check in ever, beaten only by the quickest check out known to man on Saturday morning I was quickly ensconced on a comfy chair in a lounge area chatting away to people that I knew from the forum. More people arrived and everyone was friendly and launched into conversation only slightly aided by the large & full glasses of wine that the friendly chap behind the bar was serving. Goddess bless him.

I thoroughly enjoyed dinner. My selections from the menu made me very happy and I could very easily have eaten the main a couple of times over. I am going to have a go at doing my own potato cake with feta and pistachio’s (see learning new things on every level). I also sat next to one of the guest speakers, Jane Struthers and I had a fascinating time chatting with her although I admit I probably chatted at her. I was also sat within chatting distance of Caroline, Coral and Alison and the hours flew by.

Alison Cross on Court Cards

Caroline filled her car with to take home. There was a fabulous pile of items that were in the raffle, and on the tables were a pile of freebies and a few of us christened our mugs to see us through the morning.JBreakfast the following morning was an easy going affair and Caroline was so calm and pragmatic about getting everyone organised and where they should be and from what time. The conference room itself was set out with lots of room and huge stacks of stock. Alison Coals and Ania were selling their own lovely items and there was a lot of official TABI stock. Seriously, there was a lot of stock and what they couldn’t offload (mugs mainly).

Alison Cross took the floor for the first workshop and talked us through using the elemental aspects of the suites, condensed into the court dignities to help our readings. Alison explained two methods of using these condensed elements as ways of reading reversed courts. It was fascinating and illuminating. I had picked out the Queen of Cups as my avatar/significator and when she is reversed, she made so much sense as the King of Wands. I am so looking forward to dipping my toe in the murky waters of reversed cards in general and court cards in particular after this workshop.

Jane Struthers on Relationship readings

Jane Struthers then took to the floor and gave a quick talk on Relationship readings and also explained a little about Astrology and the Major Arcana before letting us loose on a couple of spreads. The first spread we did centred on our own relationships with ourselves, authority, our neighbours, our intimate friends and our work. There were twelve houses or stations in total on which we were able to build a fairly comprehensive snapshot of ourselves and how we relate to our world. I was not surprised to see the Queen of Cups show up again here in the house of my relationship with myself – different well shuffled deck… The second spread we did, took my breath away with its accuracy and pertinence and took all of a couple of minutes to do. Jane finished off with a further explanation of Astrology and the Court family, linking the Kings, Queens & Knights to modalities.

Then lunch, again not bad at all and as it was Andy Boroveshengra’s birthday, there was cake and a round of Happy Birthday sung to him.

The next workshop was Andy Boroveshengra and the Petite Lenormand. There were a few technical difficulties that got ironed out and then he took the floor. It was fascinating. Andy spoke about the history of the cards and the regional differences throughout Europe. It appears that Britain is extremely late to the Lenormand party and we do not have the depth of experience that is prevalent on the continent. Andy, Caitlin Matthews and a few others are leading the way for us here, which is brilliant. Andy explained card meanings and how like in other forms, they mean one thing on their own but that their meaning is nuanced by cards around them. In Lenormand, their meanings are weighted by proximity more than anything else. The nearer to or further away from the querent determines them.  Andy also used 3 cards literally to name songs and to highlight just how straightforward they can be. I am so looking forward to my Lenormand journey now and like all the other speakers, Andy gave out very useful handouts and guides and I have started already with my daily spread to help me on my way.

We had a comfort break after that and Alison and Caroline ran the raffle. I was lucky enough to win a signed copy of the Byzantine Tarot that Carla had lugged from the UK Tarot Conference in London a few weeks ago. As I was sat next to John Matthews at this point, he very kindly dedicated the book to me so it was more personal than generic. Actually, both John and Caitlin signed both of the tarot decks I bought from them. I wish I had managed to ask Andy to sign his book but maybe next time. There was so much love, camaraderie and genuine interest in others and their decks that I am sure the good energy created will live in Conference Room 1 at Conference Aston for a long time to come.

A Grand Tableau as part of Andy Boroveshengra’s Lenormand talk

The final workshop of the day was held by Caitlin Matthews who rather fabulously opened it by singing a blessing down on us. Superb. Caitlin then talked about the various Marseilles type decks and their history. We then looked at the pip cards, the cards that can cause us to run away or panic. This was excellently demonstrated in Vivianne’s photo of Caitlin with her arms up.  Caitlin had handouts too, unfortunately I didn’t get my mitts on one so I was working a little bit blind here. We did a few simple exercises to get a feel for a spread or quick answer to a question using the suits as Yes or No. We then did a rather groovy exercise of shuffling the cards and laying them out in piles of 6 cards and looking for our significator in one pile and the thoughts in another pile and conducting a reading based on these cards. We also did a few other spreads and I liked the spread where you create 3 piles by turning over the cards until you reach a major arcana card and this tops the pile.  As this could create piles varying from one card to many many cards, tips and shortcuts were discussed at this point. Like with all the other workshops, the time passed far too quickly and then Caitlin sang a closing blessing down on us. I wish I could sing.

The conference then closed and the participants scattered to their respective corners of the Isles. The stock was all packed up and cars loaded (I hope Caroline’s suspension survived) and then that was it. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hopefully I will be able to make it to many more to come.