“When weird meets weird then weirdness grows” is what Maria Alviz Hernando has to say about the importance of diviner friends and community. Isn’t this the main reason we go to tarot conferences? Episode Three is extra-long because it is packed with extra goodness, including a Tarot Conference Survival Guide from Marion Kirk, and a peek at Peter Coe’s psychic fair set-up. Frank and his panel discuss the imperatives of self-reading. Maria Alviz Hernando and Christiana discuss the journey that helped Maria become a world-renowned diviner.
“When weird meets weird then weirdness grows” is what Maria Alviz Hernando has to say about the importance of diviner friends and community. Isn’t this the main reason we go to tarot conferences?
Episode Three is extra-long because it is packed with extra goodness, including a Tarot Conference Survival Guide from Marion Kirk, and a peek at Peter Coe’s psychic fair set-up.
Frank and his panel discuss the imperatives of self-reading. Maria Alviz Hernando and Christiana discuss the journey that helped Maria become a world-renowned diviner.
Christiana: Episode three of the StaarCast Variety Show is brought to you by the Knight of Wands. Join me Christiana Gaudet, my co-host Frank Kwiatkowski and all our great show contributors as we take our passion for divination out and about. Hey, Frank, it is time for episode three of the StaarCast Variety Show. How are you?
Frank: I'm doing great, Christiana. Yes. Episode three. I'm very excited. We are still doing this thing. It's really kind of taking off a little bit, isn't it?
Christiana: It is just like StaarCon is. And of course, StaarCon 2023 is coming soon, January. January 20th through 22nd. Tickets are available now and if you come to StaarCon 2023, you will get to meet María Alviz Hernando, who will be speaking live and in person. She's flying all the way from Madrid to come be with us and this episode, episode three, features an interview with her.
Christiana: And I've never spoken with her before. Only like, you know, back and forth on social media. First time speaking with her. Oh, my gosh, she is brilliant. I love her. I know you're going to love her, too.
Frank: I can't wait to meet her. I can't wait to meet all of the people that are going to be at StaarCon come January. I did reserve my hotel room at the I believe it's a Hilton. Isn't that right, Christiana?
Christiana: It is. It is. It is the Hilton Airport Palm Beach Hotel. And it is it is great, man. We've got a free shuttle from the airport and it is a resort hotel. Bars and restaurants and even a tiki bar. So I'll see you there.
Frank: Sweet. Looking forward to that. Also part of this week's episode, we are doing another tarot topics discussion panel. This time we have a different set of panelists. We have Jaymi Elford, we have Kim Danbert, we have Lainie Sevante Wulkan. Fascinating conversation. Can't wait to do that.
Christiana: Wow. That is that is a great lineup of people. And they're all connected to StaarCon Lanie, of course, will be presenting at StaarCon 2023. Kim and Jaymi have presented 21 and 22. So they're all part of our StaarCon family. And we have had not one but two video submissions from StaarCon 2023 presenters that we will be sharing with you this episode.
Christiana: All the way from Scotland, we have got Marion Kirk and she will be flying in to be with us in person and she has shared with us for this episode a tarot conference survival guide. You are going to love this and we have a first time presenter, Peter Coe, and he shared with us just a little behind the scenes of the set up of an outside psychic fair.
Christiana: So we have tarot readers out and about this week.
Frank: Out and about a little bit of a theme this week. I like. It'll help some of our people who want to go out and about and read read some tarot cards out in public.
Christiana: Absolutely.
Frank: Just a reminder too, for anybody watching, we are looking for a diverse group of people who are making a contribution to the show. So if you have an idea for a little ten minute video that you would like to present to us here on the StaarCast Variety Show, drop a line to myself or to Christiana, either through Facebook or you can email her at cgaudet@staarcon.com.
Frank: Isn't that right Christiana?
Christiana: That is right. And just remember, there are two A's in StaarCon.
Frank: StaarCon with two A's. Exactly.
Christiana: Yes. Yes. You know what? I just want to say too, that I am really excited about and I want everyone else to be excited about, too. Amber Highland, who was in last week's panel, is, of course, the editor of The Cartomancer. She will be speaking at at StaarCon 2023 and the fall edition of The Cartomancer is coming out really, really soon.
Christiana: It's available for preorder as we speak.
Frank: I can't wait to read it. I just read actually that you made a little contribution to the magazine yourself. Christiana, it's my understanding you're reviewing the Grateful Dead Tarot, isn't that right?
Christiana: Yes. And it's a little more than a review. So you know, me, I my first tarot reading ever was for a stranger was done on the lot of a Grateful Dead show, you know?
Frank: Feels like a stranger.
Frank: Or?
Christiana: Oh, yes.
Frank: Grateful Dead reference. Sorry about that.
Christiana: Absolutely. And so I always wanted there to be a Grateful Dead tarot. And so many people tried and it just never happened. And finally, it has happened. And the designer and the author sat with me in a Zoom call to answer all my questions. And so this is a review, but it's more than a review. It's how this deck came to be, and it is special and it is beautiful and I'm so excited to share it with everyone
Frank: I know.
Frank: It's a matter that's very close to your heart. I can't wait to read it, but unless there's anything else, maybe we should get to the show here. Christiana.
Christiana: Let's do it.
Frank: Let's do it.
Christiana: First up, as we prepare for StaarCon 2023, Marion Kirk has a survival guide for attending an in-person tarot conference.
Marion Kirk: Hello everybody watching and welcome to your Quick Fire Survival Guide to a Tarot Conference. If you have never been at Tarot conference, it is fantastic. For those of you who have been at a tarot conference, you know, it's fantastic. However, that is just a wee guide, then. Oh, let's be prepared. Yeah, because after all, a lot of us haven’t been anywhere for quite some time.
Marion Kirk: So I am just want to make a disclaimer before we go and this is all just a bit of fun. Okay. So first things first. You arrive at a tarot conference and you are super excited. You are you are just buzzing inside and you're like, oh, my goodness, oh my goodness, I can't wait. I'm gonna see this person. I'm going to see that person.
Marion Kirk: And it's going to be amazing. Yes it is, however, tarot conferences take a huge amount of psychic energy. And psychic energy is amazing and wonderful, but it can be exhausting. So tip number one, a crystal smokey quartz, black tourmaline, black obsidian, any of the darker crystals that create and promote grounding and you don't have to have one that size a tiny wee pebble stone, tiny wee pebble crystal is absolutely fine. Keep it in your pocket. Keep in your purse. Keep it somewhere else that you feel safe for it to be.
Marion Kirk: I'll leave that up to you because that just keeps us grounded and it's all very exciting. Can you tell how excited I am? ‘Cause I am. And it just it just helps us for that. Second thing, hydrate, drink lots and lots of water or juice and tea or coffee. Well, you know, that's up to you. Depending on your caffeine tolerance, allegedly, alcohol is not something that hydrates you.
Marion Kirk: I knew I was shocked at that news as well, anyway, that some maintain that alcohol is the nighttime or if you’re a speaker and you're really nervous maybe 15 minutes before you go on stage, just nip to the bar get a wee quick shot of something, you know, a wee southern comfort. Not that I would do that, you know, and you can go ahead and just have fun because that's the main thing we are going to learn and loads you you're going to be absorbing loads and loads of information and there’s a term called conference brain because by the end of the few days your brain is actually and you literely cannot absorb anything else.
Marion Kirk: So when you get to a presentation and you're super excited, you've got your tarot besties beside you and you have all decided what talk you are going to go to and what intensive you are going to go to you look at what do you physically need right now there's two schools of thought around that. You can either go in, sit and absorb the information and through the process
Marion Kirk: of osmosis, that means absorption. Hmm. You can sit and just listen to the presenter. And maybe if there's an exercise, you can do the exercise. Right. Other people, other people love to journal, love to take notes, love to basically word for word write down everything that the presenter is saying and that's amazing as well however top tip, StaarCon has the replay for thirty days so it's up to you it's just a wee suggestion that in the actual physical presentation you just sit and you engage with the presenter and you watch the presenter and if you come to any you have any like mind blowing like moment, say amazement, you know, in your brain
Marion Kirk: just like I've never thought of that before then yes write that down in your notebook because you know that wee moment is as anybody's anything like me I have amazing ideas and then 5 minutes later it’s like, hmm, what was again? Right so have a wee notepad and pen and also if you’re interested in highlights one pen four inks. It's an option.
Marion Kirk: Well okay so next things next. Right. So you're there and you've got your notepad and pen. Mm. Now. How many decks of cards do you bring? We all, we all would love to have, you know, a plethora of cards with us because you’re like, I need that deck for such and such a class or maybe I should bring that tarot deck for this
Marion Kirk: other presentation or. Mm. Oh that you just, you just, it's a comfort and it's like your tarot decks are your comfort blanket and you don't want to leave home without them. I used to think at a tarot conference and especially StaarCon there is going to be tables and tables and tables and amazing people, creators, artists, publishers, all selling decks. I know! Amazing.
Marion Kirk: So what I would recommend is one, maybe two decks from home. And remember, if you're traveling by air, then you have got a limited amount of space in your luggage. Okay, so I would suggest just leaving space. Leaving space on the way there that you can fill up with all the amazing things that you're going to be tempted with and and you're gonna buy.
Marion Kirk: Okay. Trust me as a wee aside. My first tarot conference, I went with a spare suitcase and said spare suitcase was filled with my new tarot decks that I bought. And going through security, I got stopped because the cameras couldn't distinguish what was in my suitcase. And yes, it was all very embarrassing. We have by the security I believe in America it's a TSA and were joyfully lifting each box of tarot cards out of my suitcase.
Marion Kirk: And at one point they were going to open them. Now I was hyperventilating. It was all very traumatizing. So if you don't want to do that, if you want to avoid that, then you know, heads up, right? So let's see what else. Handouts. When you are at presentations you are more than likely going to get handouts. If you want to
Marion Kirk: retain the pristine smoothness of said handouts. May I suggest a plastic wallet ok it's going to be American letter size is E4 because I'm not in America so I don't use American letter size. Any kind of plastic wallet that you know is going to fit the handouts, pop them in there and it's amazing and then when you get home your handouts are not going to look like they went through a spin cycle in the washing machine.
Marion Kirk: Okay. So last but not least, oh no second last, I’m hating myself here bring a bag, you know, doesn’t need to be like this but bring a specific tote bag to put all your bits and pieces and so you put your deck in, you put your notebook. You put your plastic wallet for the handouts. You can have space for a bottle of water and a wee snack.
Marion Kirk: That's another thing. Take snacks, whether it's from the hotel whether it’s from a shop and you just pop them in your tarot bag, eat little and often again because that adds to that grounding aspect. Okay. Because trust me is so exciting, right? So yeah. So ground yourself at all times as much as you can and now finally, money okay whether that is credit card debit card knowing your PayPal, what else, I don't know whether you would trade tarot decks, currency any kind of currency that you know will be accepted by vendors because I say there is nothing worse than going there and and have some cash as well because sometimes, you know, whether it's the internet whether
Marion Kirk: it is something, you know, sometimes your card’s not going to work when you want. So have some cash as well. So my loves that is my fun guide to surviving a tarot conference. I hope to see you all in January. I am so excited and yeah. So until then take these steps for the adventure. So okeydoke. Bye bye.
Christiana: Now it's time for a panel discussion. Can you really read Tarot accurately for yourself?
Frank: Hi, it's Frank here. And once again it is time for a tarot topics discussion panel where we bring together a group of tarot professionals and aficionados to share their perspectives on a tarot related topic of discussion. Let us begin by saying, welcome to our illustrious panel. Hello, everybody. Welcome. Welcome. Happy to have you all here. And I will introduce our panelists for this this episode.
Frank: And our first panelist is the co-creatrix of the Food Healing Oracle Deck, Nourishing Wisdom from Mother Earth and the forthcoming Second Helpings Deck, More Nourishing Wisdom from Mother Earth. She teaches classes on tarot’s major arcana, archangels and ascended masters and nature's five elements, and how food has deeper and mystical messages for us all. To learn more, visit. Food Healing Deck dot com.
Frank: Let's welcome Lainie Sevante Wulkan. Hi Lainie.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Thank you.
Frank: And our second panelist is known internationally for her gifts to connect with the spiritual world and has been conducting psychic readings professionally for 40 years. She's co-hosted a call in radio program, attended the Readers Studio Tarot Symposium presented at the World Tarot Congress, and has also presented at StaarCon for the past two years.
Frank: To learn more about her visit Kim Danbert dot com. So please help me welcome Kim Danbert. Hi, Kim.
Kim Danbert: Hi. I sound so old don’t I?
Kim Danbert: I am that old. I am.
Frank: Oh look. I love your. I love your hair. It looks awesome.
Kim Danbert: Oh, thank you. I woke up this morning. It was like that, huh?
Frank: Very nice. All right. And moving on to our third panelist, tarot is our third panelist, Inner Compass. She uses it to explore the world we live in and create meaning. She wrote the award nominated, Tarot Inspired Life and designed the Triple Goddess Tarot.
Frank: Portland, Oregon, gives her a wonderful backdrop to write and innovate. To find out more about Jaymi and her offerings, visit LinkTree backslash Jaymi underscore Elford and let's welcome Jaymi Elford. Hello. Yes. Jazz Hands. Welcome. Welcome. All right. So for those who are new to the tarot discussion, tarot topics, discussion panel. I just pull a little question out of the hopper here and we get the responses from all of our panelists to see what they what kind of perspectives they have to offer.
Frank: So let me pull out here and see what I've got. All right. Here we go. Are we are we ready for a little discussion here?
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Is there a theme music or a drum roll? Just out of curiosity.
Frank: You know, we're still pretty new at this Lainie. That's maybe something that we will work toward.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: I have a feeling.
Frank: That's a good idea.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Okay.
Frank: All right. So our our question today is and this is a debate you sometimes hear among tarot readers is can people read accurately for themselves? There are some people who believe that you should really go and have your cards read by another person. And then there are others who believe that you can, in fact, read accurately for yourself.
Frank: I'd love all of your perspectives on this, and if you do feel like you either can or cannot read accurately for yourself. Just explain a little bit why you feel that way. And let's see, do we have a volunteer, somebody who would like to go first? Everybody, of course, is going to have a chance to chat. Maybe I'll go to.
Frank: All right, Lainie raised her hand. Lainie.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Jaymi did, too. But, you know, I'm. Okay. I'm on the fence with that one because sometimes I can read for myself and sometimes I can't. Depends how serious the question is, but I actually do read for myself. But I would always love to get a back up plan and a backup reader. But I think that if you're going to read for yourself, really practice the self awareness of becoming neutral, really stepping outside, going within, and really separating yourself from the ability to call in spirit and bring in that information.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: That would be my my thumbnail opinion on that.
Frank: All right. All right. Well, that's a that's a good way to get us started off. Jaymi, would you like to expand on what Lainie said or where do you where do you land on that?
Jaymi Elford: Yeah, I believe that anybody can really read for themselves. And there are I mean, I know I do as well. There are a couple of tricks in my repertoire that I do. First off, we all have bias. You know, I like to tell people that are at psychic fairs to, you know, if they're able to spend however much money they have, go see as many different readers ask the same question to those each of those readers.
Jaymi Elford: And you will understand the idea of reader bias or, you know, interpretation, because, you know, there's four of us here, Frank. You know, Frank asked the question, we're all going to come at it similarly, but differently. So, you know, first off is to recognize everybody, you know, that we all have a bias and that, yes, we all you know, if there's an answer that's kind of like more yes or no or positive kind of negative yes, we all want the positive slant out of it.
Jaymi Elford: But when I read for myself, some of the things I'll do is I'll take somebody else's book and use that as my reading. You know, that way I get myself out of the the bias pool where I'm not, you know, desired for that one question. And instead I have like Kim or, you know, when Frank gets his book out, you know, if he asked her meanings at all, I'd say, Well, what does Frank say about all this?
Jaymi Elford: Another thing I do is I do quick readings where I mainly I pull a card and I write down what I see straight off before my conscious brain kicks in and goes, That's not what this card really means. You know, I do. I don't like I think it's Ferol Humphrey who coined the term blurts b l u r t s where she will just say, just blurt out what you think because that's trusting our gut a little bit more.
Jaymi Elford: And then, of course, Courtney Weber wrote a fantastic book to help you kind of see what happens when you put your bias in and or when you're able to remove it called tarot for one. And she taught a class at this a couple of years ago at NWTS. And one of the things she taught was pull all the cards that you want from that question out and then with the remaining deck or even you can even pick a new deck if you want those cards to possibly come out, you know, lay down and see what the universe has to say about it and then, you know, kind of dialog between the two.
Jaymi Elford: So there are yeah, I believe that anybody can read from themselves. It's just it depends on what out what bias you have towards the outcome and whether or not you feel like you can like, Lainie said you can be removed from that situation.
Frank: Hmm. Well, that's a lot of very valuable information, Jaymi. A great perspective on that. I'd love to hear what Kim has to say about that. I mean, as I mentioned in the introduction, she's been reading for 40 years. And I think implicit in that is that you've been reading for others for 40 years. I don't know how much you read for yourself as well.
Frank: Kim, what do you think about the question? Can you read for yourself accurately?
Kim Danbert: I love this question. Can you read for yourself? Yes. Can you do it accurately? Sometime I want
Kim Danbert: to say I agree.
Kim Danbert: I agree with what both Jaymi and Lainie said.
Kim Danbert: I think I'm right.
Kim Danbert: There on the edge. But I of course, I come at things from
Kim Danbert: my own
Kim Danbert: bias, which is my belief in Christianity. And in Christianity it says the gifts are without repentance. The Bible says the gifts are without repentance. So you've been given a gift to interpret tarot. Why would you be given a gift to interpret tarot if you couldn't do it for yourself? So I believe absolutely we can do this. I think Spirit comes to
Kim Danbert: us when we open up ourselves
Kim Danbert: to divinitory practices. And so I absolutely believe that. And I do believe that. What you were saying, Jaymi, about just look at the blurt. What is the first idea that you have when you look at this card? You're asking the card and then asking the question, what are what is the first thing that hits you? It's one of the exercises that I saw Mary Greer do one time at a convention.
Kim Danbert: And she said, what's the first thing that hits you? If it's if it's the cup, it's the horse. What is it? Describe that thing. Come up with some adjectives. What do those adjectives have to say about the question you asked? So I think there are ways to do this.
Kim Danbert: Why would we.
Kim Danbert: Why would we have this ability if we weren't able to do it for ourselves?
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Even for new readers, they can cover up the words. So they create. They remove that bias and just look at that picture and tune right into that intuition. Really, really. Helpful.
Frank: You know what? Where this question came from is I was on a tarot discussion Facebook page and somebody I don't think this was meant to be to start trouble, but somebody posted on on a Facebook page something to the effect of it is impossible by its nature intrinsically to read cards accurately for yourself, because there's no way you can.
Kim Danbert: Can I say something about that?
Kim Danbert: You are you asking if you think it's impossible? It is impossible for you.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: It's already one and done.
Kim Danbert: I've seen it in that group, though. I don't speak for me. You know, if you think it's impossible for you to do that, it is impossible for you.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: You already have us debating.
Jaymi Elford: And that's why I like the idea of, like I always say, that I am an experimenter with tarot. You know, it's like, you know, a lot of us that grew up in the eighties or, you know, the nineties were taught you can't buy your own decks, you must wrap them in black silk only black or purple, that what I like to call the thou shalts and all that, and we blew that out of the water.
Jaymi Elford: How many decks are there out, you know, and growing? I mean, I've written for over 20 decks, you know, and yeah, you could probably see repetitions if you put all my deck books together. But there's also that the nuance and everything in it. And if you don't experiment and say, Well, why can't I play with my deck? Or like I have a whole class around drinking, you know, like literally called imbibe and divine, where you drink a couple of glasses of alcohol and decide whether or not you want to drink while under the influence and read for other people or if you want to read for those that are, you know, I mean, it's you
Jaymi Elford: got to experiment and see what works for you.
Frank: Hmm. So. Oh, no. Go ahead, Kim.
Kim Danbert: I'm sorry. I was.
Kim Danbert: You were mentioning how.
Kim Danbert: Many decks there are now, and I was thinking about that because when I.
Kim Danbert: You know, all that long ago.
Kim Danbert: When I actually first started doing readings, I got my first deck at a magic shop. And you mentioned those black silks and everything. I spent a fortune in that.
Kim Danbert: But I still
Kim Danbert: have that deck.
Kim Danbert: I still have that deck.
Kim Danbert: Right in front of me. Sacred Rose
Kim Danbert: Tarot. I’ve modified it because
Kim Danbert: I ran over it with a chair.
Kim Danbert: No judgment.
Jaymi Elford: As
Jaymi Elford: it happens.
Kim Danbert: Anyway, so I had an event and I was in an office chair. I ran
Kim Danbert: over one of my
Kim Danbert: cards, but she had three decks, you know, take it or leave it now that I, I none of us know how many decks there are, do we?
Kim Danbert: I mean, I don't know.
Kim Danbert: It's really having a moment, don't you think?
Frank: Hmm. So maybe. Maybe Kim, kind of to piggyback on what you're saying, there are certain decks that you have designated for self reading compared to the ones that you would use for reading for clients would you say that's accurate?
Kim Danbert: I think it's a good practice to get into. I think that it's good to designate that that this is me communicating with spirit or this is me, you know, getting guidance and nobody else.
Kim Danbert: I don't read for other people with those decks and I think it's good practice to get into it because that way it's just, you know, it's saturated with your energy and your spirit in your spirit guides and the people that you love and the crystals that you have, you know, it's that saturated for you and it's going to speak to you.
Kim Danbert: It will speak to you. I think that there are.
Kim Danbert: I have found some people
Kim Danbert: in my practice that are maybe they want to learn everything, you know, all the appropriate interpretations.
Kim Danbert: The
Kim Danbert: cards. And I don't see anything
Kim Danbert: wrong with that.
Kim Danbert: Anything you learn, I think
Kim Danbert: it's really good. But that is regurgitation. That is not interpretation.
Frank: All right. We are almost out of time. 10 minutes goes by way, way too fast. But I would like to bring everybody in just kind of quickly on one final point, as it's related to our question here, because what I've heard from from all of our panelists is in essence, that we bring our biases to self readings.
Frank: And to some degree, we have to accept that and sort of sort of work with those biases that we bring intrinsically to the readings. That doesn't mean that we can't do accurate readings for ourselves, but we just have to be aware of those biases. Lainie, how do you overcome that? How do you learn to recognize the biases that you bring into self reading?
Frank: And then how does that help you kind of navigate the cards that you draw for yourself?
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Well, it brings up what I was going to say is that it's super helpful when you can dabble and can admit crystals, but when you can bring in a few other little divination tools for, for instance, a pendulum and you can clear the space double check, you can actually pull the bias aside when you have your cards, when you have your pendulum, you can look at a flame of a candle, even whatever works for you that's in your toolkit.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: I would say bring it out, especially when it comes to self observation and whatever sort of other healing techniques I have a whole whole a whole list of them. But I would just start with some really simple ones. And I know pendulum, whether you act as a human pendulum and you, you move forward as a yes, you move back as a no, you use the hand pendulum.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Those are also very, very helpful to eliminate double check and stand in that inherent knowing of confidence within the intuition, knowing that you've set yourself aside and you're letting Spirit provide the work and you're doing the listening.
Frank: All right. Very good. And what about you, Jaymi? You mentioned a number of different techniques that you've kind of picked up from other people. Is there one that's your favorite that works best for you?
Jaymi Elford: Hmm. I'd say the one that works best for me, the one I go to mostly is to, you know, first off, you know yourself. You know, even if you know the outcome you want and even if you know kind of your your gut check on, maybe either they line up or not, you know, put that into the reading because that's okay too.
Jaymi Elford: And then secondly, like for me, the one I go back to is I will pull books from others. That's really the one that I kind of do on occasion. I'll, you know, do my own gut checks all you know, where the meanings or the meanings, my personal dictionary in meanings on to things first and then I will, you know, set not second guess but you know, if I have to get that bias of mine out of the way, then I pull somebody else's book.
Jaymi Elford: Like Liz Worth’s Going Beyond the Little White Book or Mary K. Greer. But the trick with that is to not overwrite what you've seen, because then you'll start doubting your own gut and you'll start looking at the masters for, you know, what they say this therefore they and they published, therefore they're better than mine. They're not. We're not.
Jaymi Elford: Everybody's gut has equal footing in readings.
Frank: Well said. Well, thank you. And Kim, I'll give you the last word on this one final little bit of advice you would give to somebody who's reading for themselves.
Kim Danbert: Believe what the cards tell you the first time they tell you. Don't start pulling out other cards because you don't like the death card.
Frank: Don't trust.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: I'm with her. I love that. I tell people that all the time.
Frank: Well, this has been an excellent panel. Thank you all very much for being with me for today's tarot topics discussion panel. That's all the time we have for this week. I want to thank you all for watching and we'll see you all again next time. Bye bye, everybody.
Lainie Sevante Wulkan: Thank you.
Christiana: Next, Peter Coe shares his set up for an outdoor psychic fair.
Peter Coe: Well, good morning. We're out in the trenches here. We're doing a metaphysical fair. And in Northern Virginia, in fact, it's in Falls Church. And my assistant Megan is with me. And here's what we're offering today. In our event, we've got a collection of great decks from from Schiffer Publishing, and there's a couple of decks from US Games and LLewllyn also plus a collection of Hay House decks here, the Edgar Allan Poe deck and the Hummingbird Oracle have been two of the best selling decks that I have ever had at any of my events.
Peter Coe: I guess because they're so awesome. And over here we offer a collection of Reiki infused bath salts and five different varieties and also sprays, protection sprays, enhancement sprays, attraction sprays. So we got a wide collection of things and the event's about to start in just a few minutes. So we're off and running. Oh also back here is where I'll be doing readings I’m all set up and there’s
Peter Coe: Megan again. All, all happy and willing to help me today. Thank you.
Christiana: It's time for five questions with StaarCon presenter María Alviz Hernando.
Christiana: María Alviz Hernando. Thank you so much for joining me on the StaarCast Variety Show, Episode Three. How are you?
María Alviz Hernando: Christiana, thank you very, very much for having me. I could literally not be more excited for this. I have not slept like seriously. So I am fangirling it hugely. I'm super, super excited to be doing this, to be joining StaarCon and everything else. So thank you very much.
Christiana: Well, thank you. I appreciate all of that. And I know you have a lot of fans, too, watching this so was so fabulous and some people are looking at this and saying, oh, but we've seen this face before. You were actually featured in our first episode of The StaarCast Variety Show for our tarot guessing game.
María Alviz Hernando: I was, I was I didn't remember until now, but yeah. True. Yeah. It was the Ace of Wands wasn't it. I think.
Christiana: It. What was it?
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah I think it was.
Christiana: Yes I think it was.
María Alviz Hernando: I think it was the Ace of Wands. Yeah.
Christiana: Okay. Very well done, all right. So before we do our five questions, just tell me, like, where in the world are you? Right now?
María Alviz Hernando: So I am in Madrid. In Spain? Well, actually, I'm in a town near Madrid, but that would be like it's just specific and yeah, this is say it is over 30 degrees or so. We are in a lot of heat. Well, like the whole summer has been a heat wave like perpetually so that's the current situation that we have now.
Christiana: And for all our American friends, that would be 30 degrees Celsius.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah.
Christiana: Right. Because we are just Fahrenheit. So 30 degrees is like below freezing for us. So that's just a funny.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah. Again, I don't know how to do Fahrenheit. It's like, I don't know, like an oven, like it's like 200 degrees and it's like, that's my oven. That's not a human temperature.
Christiana: So I'm so excited that you will be not only presenting at StaarCon 2023, but getting on a plane. I actually how many planes are you going to have to take to come to Florida?
María Alviz Hernando: Just the one because I was so lucky to find a plane that was like a direct flight.
Christiana: So good.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah, it's so good. And even like the hours are not too bad. So I won’t be so jetlagged. So I have been super super lucky actually. See? Go ahead. Oh, no. The only thing is I'm not. I'm arriving at Miami International, so I will have to take the train or something, but that's on land, so I feel safer doing that.
Christiana: And you know what? The train is actually fun taking the train from Miami to West Palm Beach. These are things we do for fun because it's comfortable. The scenery is cool. You'll enjoy the train ride. It'll be great.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah, that's wonderful. Then I am sure I will enjoy it more than being up in the air.
Christiana: And definitely better scenery.
María Alviz Hernando: Great. And so looking forward to that.
Christiana: Yes. And again, we're so excited. I was just telling you before we got started that of the international people and we have quite a few international people coming and participating and of course you have the choice. You can participate in person or online, but you are like the first to very publicly book your plane ticket. And now a lot of other people have booked their plane tickets because well, if Maria's coming, we can do it too.
Christiana: So. So thank you for being a good role model in our community.
María Alviz Hernando: Well, thanks to you for inviting me. Like, I really I had to do it. And I was thinking about it and actually I decided it while I was partying with a friend. I was like, yes, let's, let's do this. I was like, what do you think? And she was like, do it, I was like, okay, I'll do it.
María Alviz Hernando: Then I began to just look into things and yeah, it's a bit crazy, but I am really, really excited. So yeah, why not?
Christiana: Yeah, why not? We're so excited to have you. So five questions starting with tell us in terms of your divination world, your tarot world, all of that, what do you do right now, day to day? What's your daily life? I know that you like me. Are a full time professional diviner. What is your divination work in life look like right now?
María Alviz Hernando: Well, so my divination working life, mostly it's seeing clients like, you know, like the most obvious part. And I do that mostly online. I think that, you know, since the whole pandemic and this situation, we all were forced into the online world. And the people have discovered how comfortable it is to be in your pajamas at home, getting your reading.
María Alviz Hernando: We all want to do that, not even having to get dressed. So mostly online, that's what I'm doing. Also taking students and teaching and the I am now focusing a bit more on creating a content that I'm hoping to put out there at some point soon. And learning are actually I had been you say I had been a a lot of time like having a bit of a block when it when it came to learning new things because I didn't know like where to look at or what was missing.
María Alviz Hernando: And I began to like obscure correspondences, like wanting to get to become a better diviner and a better reader. And what I realized is that, like, the more my understanding of the world in general and what's in it grows and expands, the better reader I become. And the, you know, the more than that able to get specific and that it doesn't have to do with divination.
María Alviz Hernando: So I'm like learning a lot of random things and that's a huge part of my day now lately.
Christiana: So can you give me an example? I'm just now I'm fascinated. Give me an example of a random thing you have recently learned.
María Alviz Hernando: Yes. So, for instance, something that I began to have much to do with what I'm doing about learning a bit more about how real estate works, which is something that people ask a whole lot. But I had no idea of how the whole process of, you know, looking for a house under, closing in a house and something inspections that you have to do and how that whole process works, I have absolutely no idea.
María Alviz Hernando: And it's something that people ask us all the time, like, you know, am I going to buy a house or is my offer going to be accepted or when I'm going to move and learning more about that, which is like very mundane. When I am reading on something that is related to someone moving, I can more accurately translate what the cards are trying to say because I'm know what I'm talking about.
María Alviz Hernando: I know what I'm talking about. And the before I was just trying to make sense of them. So when you were reading with knowledge of the subject, you are a better reader because you can translate the language of the cards into the language of what's happening, if that makes any sense.
Christiana: That is brilliant. That is absolutely brilliant. Yes. That makes a huge amount of sense. And it's such good advice for anyone either who is a professional reader, who wants to become a professional reader. And it's not any advice I've ever given anyone ever to pay attention to the things that happen in life real estate, relationships, cars, you know, whatever.
Christiana: Because if you understand that language, you will see how your divination tool is speaking in that language.
María Alviz Hernando: Exactly. Yes. You know, I am now like learning random stuff and watching lots of videos of things that don't really apply to my life or are not even like of interest to me. But that can be happening in the life of my clients. And that that's something that has, you know, in the past few months, it has made me a better reader, I believe, because I can now like be much more specific when I know the possibilities of what can be going on.
Christiana: So perfect. I love that. I love that. Great. Okay, so your divination origins story, how did this all start?
María Alviz Hernando: Okay, so my divination inception what started, the whole thing was a necklace made of fluorite. That is fluorite. How you say it?
Christiana: Florist flowers.
María Alviz Hernando: All right. Are that the crystal? Fluorite. Fluorite, fluorite, fluorite. So it was a crystal necklace with a piece of fluorite that started the whole thing. When I was a mere 14. So I was a child and I had a friend who gave me a necklace that had a piece of fluorite and told me a what to me what, like, like what to me was like a super crazy story of storing energy into the necklace and that the energy of crystals and all that that sounded like so crazy to me at the moment.
María Alviz Hernando: It was like my first ever contact with anything like this, but it was like the whole gateway to all the craziness that came after the, you know, fun story is that at the beginning I thought that only like fluorite was special or like it like fluorite had powers and the rest of crystals, did not. And I began.
María Alviz Hernando: To pay
María Alviz Hernando: a lot of attention to like that crystal in particular. And this led to once I was with my father and there was a local market like medieval themed market that we do here in my city yearly and the there was one of this woo woo stands of crystals and I saw a pendulum made of fluorite and my father bought it for me and that was like my first ever pendulum, my first ever divination tool spoiler.
María Alviz Hernando: I broke it quite so because for it it's very fragile. It's so, yeah, I broke it quite soon and then a friend who gave me the fluorite necklace talk told me about tarot. The first thing I ever knew was that she has a girlfriend read that the major arcana and I began to want to know more about tarot and the whole thing.
María Alviz Hernando: And as a result, I ended up buying my first deck, which I have. Here it is. I'm showing it to the camera, The DaVinci Tarot. This was the first deck I ever had and that I bought behind the back of my parents. Hi, Mom. That's how it happened. I began reading the major. The major arcana only.
Christiana: Wow.
Christiana: Wow. That is just so great. And so how did you take that into a full time professional gig?
María Alviz Hernando: Well, I'm not quite sure how that happened to be. Like, you know, it it just happened. I began with a tarot, divination and the spirituality and everything related that probably, you know, that you start with this and you just become weirder and weirder. So so, you know, I was very young, so I had a lot of time to in my hands to look into all things.
María Alviz Hernando: And I spent quite a lot of time with the tarot. I began reading for friends because back then, even though it was not so back then, but Facebook wasn't a thing and there was the Internet. But it didn't occur to me that there would be information about this. So I had one book I am going to show it here on a camera.
María Alviz Hernando: It's a very small booklet like this. It has let me show or let me say out loud it has 60 pages, but it's just a booklet. So this was my whole information and the whole of, you know, the whole of the information and my my whole tarot world for a lot of years. So just this booklet and the few spreads it showed.
María Alviz Hernando: And though the information contained in something that for those that are just listening is either no thinner than a notebook. So not very big but this was what I had. So it came to a point in which I had to improvise and I had to go the way of trial and error when practicing with people. And that made me or led me to meeting all the weird people, fortunately.
María Alviz Hernando: So, you know, when weird meets weird then weirdness grows and that's how I began to see people that made a living out of this or who were attempting to do so. And it occurred to me that it could be a possibility and, you know, from then on, one thing led to the other. I had a few jobs up.
María Alviz Hernando: I did not like to really feel. And I had the realization that I didn't want to dedicate a whole third of my day to someone who was smarter than me. So I was like, you know, I have to do something that I am motivated actually, you know, to to doing and to dedicating such a huge amount of time to.
María Alviz Hernando: And that doesn't to my soul and spirit. So I decided to give this a go. And I became aware of the Internet as a tool to expand because first I tried locally with miserable success, like a scientist. And it was it was a not a good thing at all. But then I discovered the Internet and I discovered, you know, other options, people, Aeclectic Tarot, if you remember that wonderful forum idea to use that as a you know, a whole lot of people that I met there and the doors that open and a lot of trial and error and lots of pasta, I, I am actually a full time reader.
Christiana: And.
María Alviz Hernando: So that's it.
Christiana: Thank you so much for sharing that. You know, there are very few of us, you know, there are lots of lots and lots of readers, lots of readers who sort of do it part time or have other incomes. Yeah, not that many people who have made their full time career in divination and also aren't scam artists.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah.
María Alviz Hernando: Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's something that you needed to to. Yeah.
Christiana: Yeah. No, I definitely yeah.
Kim Danbert: Yeah.
Christiana: And I know you are very active with the International Divination Association.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah. The World Divination Association.
Christiana: Thank you. World Divination Association. So I have.
María Alviz Hernando: It like a halo here.
Christiana: Yes, you do. Yes, you do. And I was so honored that your named me the world's best tarot reader of 2021.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah.
María Alviz Hernando: And I was, you know, I was in the run for that. I was super honored to just be there in the voting and the I remember that that day I was like, dude, I hear, you know, nominated is what would you say nominated.
Christiana: You were nominated.
María Alviz Hernando: Nominated with Christiana Gaudet, who is like a tarot goddess. So that's enough for me. I was like fangirling so hard at just, you know, being there so super super deserved and yeah, of course you are the reader.
Christiana: Well and so so you can win it in 2022.
María Alviz Hernando: Well I think both actually we are knowing more about the nominees nominees on tomorrow. I think either knowing in which they I am the so I think that the nominations are coming out tomorrow
Christiana: So exciting.
Christiana: So would you just as a sidebar here, tell a little bit about what the World Divination Association does?
María Alviz Hernando: Yes, of course. And so the World Divination Association was founded in a 2015, I think I think it's 2015 by Toni Savory and she is my very, very dear friend and I love working with her so many opportunities that it has opened up for me. And you know, I love the World Divination Association because it is a place where you can meet lots of like minded peers that love divination in general, regardless of the system.
María Alviz Hernando: It is an association that aims to establish, let's say, a system so that have bones upon which to build your readings so that, you know, there is there is something that I say that is if in your worst day you are a mediocre reader, you are not that bad, and that that's what the system does for you. It gives you some bones to work with to give some structure to your readers, to your reading
María Alviz Hernando: story, so that, you know, even if you are uninspired, even if you are not feeling like it, even if your intuition is just not there, nowhere to be found that day, you know, so that even at your worst you can at least be mediocre. So I think that's, you know, some good foundation to have the having systems in place to, you know, be able to start talking to start with your reading when when you don't know where to begin with or when you have maybe a querent that's not too communicative, but you still know, like, what are your steps?
María Alviz Hernando: And you still know how your system works, the, how your cards talk and the you know that you know, one plus one is two and then you're intuition kicks in and it makes everything a full round experience. But having that something makes you so confident. I have found as a diviner the that is of what the World Divination Association tries to do, establish that foundation and also gives it gives a lot of opportunities to the community in general for everyone to participate.
María Alviz Hernando: Everyone can become an active member and everyone is welcome to share their experiences, to teach, to become a teacher, to publish in the blog. So, you know, it's a lot of I mean, it's a place with a lot of opportunities and a lot of movement in general and where you can make so many friends. So I love it.
Christiana: I love it too. I have to say, I've been honored to teach a couple of times with the World Divination Association and and just met so many great people. It's, it's a wonderful thing. And so I'm switching up the order of questions because this is such a good segue since we're talking about this amazing international online community that you're part of.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah.
Christiana: So we can talk about how important community is and what we do. And that leads me into let's talk about StaarCon 2023.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah. So yes.
Christiana: I actually have two questions here. Just in general, being there, being part of this in the in-person experience especially, what are you most looking forward to?
María Alviz Hernando: So honestly, I mean, I am looking forward to the whole learning and the doing my presentation all. But the thing that I am like the most looking forward to the most is actually getting to hang out with people that I have looked up to for so many years that I look up to now and like getting to be in the same room and, you know, get drunk and talk about life and, you know, share some cigarettes.
María Alviz Hernando: I'm like having the opportunity to share like actual moments of life with people that to me have been this role models is something that I am looking forward to like very much
Christiana: Right there.
Christiana: You know and it's true that for those people who are going to be there with us joining us online, the Accelevents platform is very immersive and you really feel like you're there a lot of ways and that's great, but you know you're not wrong. There is really something to be said, and this is my favorite part of every conference I've ever been to.
Christiana: I love the education, I love learning, I love teaching. But man, afterwards, having a meal in the bar, those conversations.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah,
Christiana: That is that that is what it's all about. And oh my gosh, the we're going to be at has a tiki bar. Imagine this man. It's a tiki bar overlooking a lake. So the tiki bar is here, there's a lake, a fire pit.
Christiana: So if it's a little chilly, there's a fire. And the pool.
María Alviz Hernando: Really.
Christiana: Is all right there. No, there are two other bars, too. So if you don't like that party, you know, we've got three bars at this hotel or maybe two. Two or no, I guess you are supposed to go, but this outdoor tiki bar with the lake, the pool and the fireplace. Oh, it's going to be so good.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah, that sounds great. I mean, I am already impressed because, like the bed is bigger than my apartment. So.
María Alviz Hernando: So.
María Alviz Hernando: So, you know, when. When I saw the rooms and everything else, it was like, dude, look what else we can all hang out in that huge king size bed.
Christiana: You know, I got to say, the best time I had at NWTS, the Northwestern Tarot Symposium other than teaching, was hanging out on a bed in a hotel room doing readings. It was like, Jenna Matlin, Melissa Cynova and then a few people I hadn't met before and we were all sharing readings on a bed in a hotel room.
Christiana: So you're not wrong about that either.
María Alviz Hernando: Right?
María Alviz Hernando: So yeah, super excited about that whole thing.
Christiana: Is there anything that you would like to share about what you'll be teaching about what your presentation will be?
María Alviz Hernando: Yes. Well, my presentation that if I'm not wrong, because it's one of those super long titles that you write when you are inspired. But then you can’t remember I actually took notes of what the title exactly is so that I wouldn't make a fool of myself and apparently I decided to call it The Forest and the Tree. And it is about enhancing your tarot readings by describing with the patterns that you find absence, presence, and that it is about looking.
María Alviz Hernando: It is about looking at the reading as a whole thing, about paying attention to how the reading the cards that you have on the table behave. Let's say how they interact with what how the reading interacts with its environment and its environment being its context and the question and the querent. But the cards that you have on the table and the cards are not on the table so that it becomes less of a one by one kind of reading style.
María Alviz Hernando: And you can see the amount of information that is given by looking it as all that is.
Christiana: Right there. And I remember when you sent me your description, I was like, Oh, she is a good reader right then, because that is the key. It is absolutely, in my opinion, how we go from, say, in tarot seventy eight cards with classic meanings, classic interpretations, various associations, how we go from that to a nuanced, insightful tarot reading that is very specific to the querent, the questions, how does that happen?
Christiana: That's the magic of it. And then how do we quantify that magic? You are doing it. You are doing that thing that I'm going to tell you. Many have tried,few succeed. So the fact that you see that and can conceptualize it and can teach it that is that's the thing. That is the whole trick of it. It is it is a beautiful thing.
Christiana: And I am so excited that people will be able to attend your class and get that, you know, because when I first started out, we didn't like we literally did not have social media. It was not a thing. I'm old, right? In fact, when I first started out, I didn't have a website. I would go around town and put up posters on bulletin boards for the things that I was doing.
Christiana: And I was completely just local. Things have changed, obviously, and trying to figure out how to teach my first classes and share that with people. It took me a long time to put that together and you've got it. So I'm very excited not only for you, but for all the people who will take that class. Amazing.
María Alviz Hernando: Thank you very much. I couldn't be more excited to do that. And it was really hard to hear that from you because I like you know, you are one of the first tarot people that I heard of when I had the idea of looking up on the Internet. And I have followed all your work for a very long time, and the fact that you are telling this to me is something that, you know, really I would jump if I didn't have to behave now.
Christiana: Well, it comes truly from the heart and the head.
María Alviz Hernando: Thank you.
Christiana: Yeah, absolutely. So final question. It's just a fun one final question.
María Alviz Hernando: We're ready.
Christiana: Yeah, yes, yes. Five questions. I'm looking for a current favorite, current favorite about anything divination. It could be favorite deck, favorite method, favorite card, favorite book, a current favorite. What are you really enjoying in the world of divination right now?
María Alviz Hernando: I have a couple of things here that I wanted to show you. The first is this is the Fyodor Pavlov Tarot deck.
Christiana: Oh, I have never seen that.
María Alviz Hernando: It is a, you know, I am like, I'm showing you this right here. You can find it. It is there is a mass market version coming out in September, October, and I think it's U.S. Games that is printing it. This is the indie version. And what I say about this, that is if there ever was a perfect deck created this is it for me.
María Alviz Hernando: This is the deck that I think we tend to look for like the deck in which you love every single card in which everything is beautiful, in which everything appeals to your eye. There is no one card that you see that you say, What is this? It is just perfect. So I am so very much enjoying this deck. It's a Fyodor Pavlov Tarot and I don't know if you can look it up, guys.
María Alviz Hernando: It's going to be sold, I think with one of those are pretty accompanying books that they are doing now with the full color images and everything else. So it is just perfection. So this is my current fave and since I am being like very creative lately with, you know, learning things and trying things. I have this small deck of cards that's called the Devil's Acre, and it is an oracle deck, 36 cards, a fortune telling deck that is based on the Victorian London and kind of Jack the Ripper-y.
María Alviz Hernando: So I really love this deck and I'm using it the whole lot.
Christiana: Wow,
María Alviz Hernando: that's it.
Christiana: I love that. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. And of course, when you say U.S. Games, my ears prick up. I'm from the Northeast. So I live in Florida now, but I'm from the Northeast and lived for many years in Connecticut where U.S. Games is based. So I've like literally been to their their facility, shall we call it.
María Alviz Hernando: Oh, that's lovely. How is it?
Christiana: Oh, oh, my, oh, my. So When I, when I, when
María Alviz Hernando: They have
María Alviz Hernando: all the decks there?
Christiana: Oh yes. They do.
María Alviz Hernando: {garble}
Christiana: Place. I went there twice.
María Alviz Hernando: Oh.
Christiana: The second time I got to meet Stuart Kaplan, I was so happy because of course he passed away. A few years later, I got to meet Stuart Kaplan. There's a picture of me in front of his big painting of Pamela Colman Smith. It is. It's like a just a building. It's it's just a small building next to a dog park.
Christiana: They have a dog park. U.S. Games has a dog park so that the people who work there can bring their dogs to work.
María Alviz Hernando: That's perfect. Can they bring their cats?
Christiana: No.
María Alviz Hernando: Amost perfect.
Christiana: So that was amazing. I got to see like the original paintings from some of my favorite decks.
María Alviz Hernando: Wow.
Christiana: I got to see the actual factory where they make them and they have a museum. They have like a card museum you can go through. It's really cool and the people are all so nice. A lot of families, a lot of mothers, daughters, a lot of families. It's just an amazing place with amazing people. And so I just I'm such a fan of U.S. Games. And the fact that this deck is going to be published by U.S. Games just makes my heart sing. Guaranteed, I will get it. So now I do have to ask you a follow up question. I know I said I was done, but I'm not
María Alviz Hernando: Yay.
María Alviz Hernando: One more question.
María Alviz Hernando: Tell me
Christiana: On a professional level with clients, how many different divination systems do you use? Not necessarily in the same reading, but in general.
María Alviz Hernando: Okay, so professionally I use tarot, of course I use the Oracle Belline, which is a bit unheard of. I, I think about it. It's a wonderful tool as well if you guys can look into it. I have found it to be a really, really interesting tool. It also brings up intuition, but it has a very easy system to follow.
María Alviz Hernando: So I am in love with Oracle Belline I use the Lenormand as well and on occasion I use kipper, kipper. I'm not sure how to pronounce the kipper. Yes. So that's it. Mostly it's tarot and Belline. And then what? Occasionally Lenormand and kipper.
Christiana: Can you spell Belline so we know it.
María Alviz Hernando: Yeah. Let me actually like find my bag. Oh we have people that are hearing so it would B E L L I N E Oracle Belline.
Christiana: Okay.
María Alviz Hernando: That was correctly spelled right just B E L L I N E. Yeah, yeah. Oracle Belline is a fabulous deck and fabulous system. I really love it.
Christiana: Perfect. Okay. And actually, here is the question.
María Alviz Hernando: One final.
Christiana: Question. If people want to reach out to you for a reading or a
Christiana: class
Christiana: How to do it.
María Alviz Hernando: So well. I am always available at the World Divination Association, so you can just go to the website and you will find links to my sites. That's w w w World Divination Association dot com. Or you can find me on Facebook on the Facebook groups of the WDA. You can find me María Alviz Hernando on Facebook.
María Alviz Hernando: And there I have my own website as well, which is the sybils tarot dot com and the are on Instagram as well. I am @ the sybils tarot. So yeah that's how you find me.
Christiana: Perfect Maria has been such a delight to spend this time with you. Cannot wait to meet you and have a drink with you at the tiki bar in West Palm Beach.
Kim Danbert: tiki bar!
Christiana: Yes, indeed. January 20th through 22nd, 2023. We will see you there.
María Alviz Hernando: Yes. And I am so looking forward to it.
Christiana: Me, too.
María Alviz Hernando: Thank you very much for having me.
Christiana: Thank you.
Christiana: Let's play a game. Can you guess the tarot card?
Rosemary Harrington: Hello, everyone. My name is Rosemary and you may have seen my article, The Myth of Duality in the summer edition of the The Cartomancer.
Rosemary Harrington: If you would like to see what other things I'm up to, you can check me out at Good Journeys
Rosemary Harrington: Tarot dot com as well as on my social media @ Good Journeys Tarot. I collect decks as well as read
Rosemary Harrington: tarot for
Rosemary Harrington: other people and I would love to meet you. My key words today are fulfillment, success, integration and closure. Until we meet again. Good journeys.
María Luisa Salazar: Hi, I am María Luisa Salazar from Peru and I believe that our tarot readings are an extension of who we are. What I mean by this is that whatever you believe, whatever you are into, your cards are going to be a reflection of that. So let's talk about the mysterious card of today it. Talks about completion. It talks about the end of a cycle.
María Luisa Salazar: It talks about being able, to go whereever we dream of.
Amie Emberharte: Hi friends.
Amie Emberharte: My name is Amie Emberharte. I am a tarot reader, a certified life coach, a vocal coach, a podcast producer, and an all around magic maker. I write a column called Amie's Phoenix Fire for the The Cartomancer Magazine, which focuses on the transformation and healing that's available to us using tarot. I also am thrilled to be involved with StaarCon.
Amie Emberharte: I've been around since almost the beginning and this year I'll be presenting for the third year in a row an intensive workshop this time that I am really excited about. I've also worked with Northwest Tarot Symposium and presented there. So I offer services, speak and write really to a global clientele and I love what I do. My four words and four key words are manifestation achieved.
Amie Emberharte: Successful completion, dreams realized, and mastery attained. You can find me at Emberharte dot com, that's E M B E R H A R T E dot com or on Facebook or Instagram. Social media. Amie A M I E Emberharte.
Christiana: Do you know what the card is? It's time to guess.
Christiana: If you guessed The World, you got the right answer.
Christiana: And there we have it. Episode three What did you think, Frank?
Frank: Episode three In the books. I really enjoyed this episode. Great interview you did. And I really liked what we got from Marion and from Peter. The game was fun again this week. I wonder how everybody did with guessing the card and I really had a great time hosting that tarot topics discussion panel. Thank you to thank you again to our participants for being a part of that.
Christiana: Absolutely. And we are always looking for participants. So if you want to send us a video, if you want us to give you an assignment for a video you might make or something you would take part in a game, a panel, just reach out to us. And you know what else it's time to do? It is time to get your StaarCon ticket whether you come in person or online.
Christiana: It's January 20th through 22nd, 2023 tickets are available now and you want to get them because supply is limited. Just go to the website www dot StaarCon dot com and that's S T A A R C O N.
Frank: It's a beautiful new website. Anybody who hasn't been there yet check it out. It's been completely redone. It's very nice. Not that it wasn't nice before, but it's much improved and even better now. Check it out.
Christiana: Thank you so much. One of the things we love about the website is it's got a lot of archival material. So you can really see how we have grown and how we are growing and it's just so exciting. So thank you so much, Frank. We'll see you next time. Thanks to everyone for watching and listening. Get those submissions into us and get those tickets.
Frank: Thank you, Christiana. And thank you, everybody, for watching. See you next time.
Christiana: This has been the StaarCast Variety Show with Frank Kwiatkowski and Christiana Gaudet. Special thanks to Marion Kirk, Peter Coe, María Alviz Hernando, Kim Danbert, Jaymi Elford, Lainie
Christiana: Sevante Wulkan,
Christiana: Rosemary Harrington, María Luisa Salazar,
Christiana: and Amie Emberharte.
Christiana: StaarCon 2023 is January 20th through 22nd. Tickets are on sale now. Join us for one day, two days or all three days in person in West Palm Beach or online on Accelevents. Learn more and get your tickets at StaarCon dot com. That's S T A A R C O N dot com.