Saturday, October 26th, 2013
Fort Washington Holiday Inn
432 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Washington, PA
Looking to deepen your tarot readings and explorations? Join us for the second annual Northeastern Tarot Conclave, entitled Tarot Chiaroscuro: Contemplating the Shadows and the Depths of Tarot, in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania for a full day of interactive, experiential tarot workshops with Rachel Pollack, Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, Diane Wilkes, and Alyce Walker.
The Presenters:
• Rachel Pollack, Author of many books, including seminal works on the tarot, as well as award-winning novels. Has taught tarot (and writing) internationally and is extremely well-known, respected and loved within the tarot community.
• Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, Creator of several tarot decks including the Tarot of the Crone and the new Dark Goddess Tarot. She also writes tarot-related articles, poetry, short stories, and meditations.
• Diane Wilkes, Certified Tarot Grand Master, Webmistress of Tarot Passages and author of the Jane Austen Tarot
• Alyce Walker, Shamanic healer who blends various disciplines (massage, aromatherapy, tarot, astrology, and flower essences) in her work.
The Workshops:
Fiends Into Friends--Transforming the Cards We Fear Everyone has cards they dislike, or fear getting in a reading. Often we try to soften their impact, or even change the picture to something nicer. Death, we say, is not anyone dying.The grieving figure in the Ryder Five of Cups will turn around, pick up the cups and go on to the next phase of life. These may be valid points, but they can also drain the energy from the cards. How can we really use that energy? Inspired by the Greek myth of Athena transforming the "Furies" into the "Kindly Ones" we will each work with our own fearsome cards.
Beyond the Veil Between truth and perception lies a veil, sometimes more than one. Perceptions may be overshadowed by anxiety or shrouded by conventional wisdom. In this workshop we will practice techniques to shed the layers, for greater clarity into the heart of the matter as well as for understanding your personal process of perception.
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs William Inge's play explores the dark family shadows and secrets hidden "at the top of the stairs." Using the Death card in the Dark Goddess Tarot as our guide, we will journey to discover and heal our own ancestral mysteries
Location: Fort Washington Holiday Inn, 432 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Washington, PA If you are traveling by public transportation, the hotel is across the street from the Fort Washington Train Station.
Schedule:
9:00 to 9:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30 to 9:45 a.m. Welcome and Introduction
9:45 to 11:45 p.m. Rachel Pollack: Fiends into Friends--Transforming the Cards We Fear
Break
Noon to 2:00 p.m. Ellen Lorenzi-Prince: Beyond the Veil
Lunch
3:00 to 5:00 p.m Diane Wilkes and Alyce Walker: The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
5:00 to 5:15 p.m. Closing
A vendor selling a nice selection of opened-but-unused tarot decks will be available during lunch for your shopping pleasure.
This event is limited to 45 participants, so register now to avoid being shut out of this unique experience.
Cost: $100
Lunch: The hotel restaurant will be open during lunch hour, but feel free to bring your lunch. There is no usable refrigerator at the facility.
Lodgings: The hotel has offered rooms to our Conclave participants at $99 per room (use: NortheasternTarot Conclave when registering)
BUT THERE'S MORE!!!!!
Rachel Pollack and Ellen Lorenzi-Prince will be conducting a special four hour workshop on Sunday, October 27th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at a private estate 20 minutes from the hotel.
She Who Shines In Darkness
This phrase is the literal meaning of the name Persephone, who appears in both Ellen's Dark Goddess Tarot (as card XX, Liberation, and Rachel's Shining Tribe Tarot (as card XVII, the Star). The phrase is also a combination of the names of the two decks, SHINING Tribe and DARK Goddess. Thus it becomes the pathway to bring the two decks together for an exploration of how we ourselves can shine in the mysteries of our own dark places.
The story of Persephone tells of a young girl who is kidnapped by Death to become his bride. Through her mother Demeter's courageous and dogged intervention, the maiden is allowed to return to the world of the living, though only for part of the year. But now she has a name, Persephone, and great power, for she holds the promise of new life to the dead souls who, while alive, were initiated in her Greater Mysteries, a nine day ritual held for over 2000 years in Eleusis, outside Athens.
The question is: where did this power come from? How did a terrified girl in a dark place become the Queen of the Dead, out-shining Hades himself? We suggest it arises from not looking away, not closing our eyes, to whatever is hidden in darkness. By facing such things, we ourselves can Shine with our own power.
Ellen and Rachel have both celebrated the Mysteries at Eleusis and then on the Island of Crete, their legendary origin. In this workshop we will use the two decks, both in personal readings and a touch of ritual--with Ellen and Rachel acting as priestesses of Darkness and Shining--to explore our own secrets and the way they give us power.
"Only light can come out of light, but all things can come out of darkness."
(from Rachel's novel, Unquenchable Fire)
Cost: $60
This workshop is limited to 20 participants and those attending the Conclave have first priority in attending. Snacks will be served, but be sure to eat breakfast, as the workshop ends at 2 p.m.
We look forward to seeing you!
Just bring yourself and a tarot deck.
Don't be afraid of the dark...
Refund policy: Full refund until 10/1/13. After that, no refund is available.