StaarCon, the Southeastern Tarot Artists and Readers Conference, based out of Florida, is relatively new on the scene, with its first conference in 2021 for which I was lucky enough to be a keynote speaker.

Currently in the U.S. tarot conference circuits we’ve got the Readers Studio in New York founded by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone (click here for my coverage of the 2018 event and here for the 2019), the Northwest Tarot Symposium (click here for my recap of NWTS 2022) recently taken over by Michelle and Roger Welch of SoulTopia, and the Masters of the Tarot Conference at the Omega Institute, co-founded by Rachel Pollack and Mary K. Greer (click here for my thoughts on the event).

StaarCon has the personableness and small-group-feel of the Omega conference, some of the razzle-dazzle characteristics of the iconic Readers Studio, and the ability to attract big personalities the way NWTS does. Oh, and because video recordings of all master classes are available all year long and there is the post-conference tarot lounge events and virtual gatherings, it’s reminiscent of Ethony’s Tarot Summer School at the Tarot Readers Academy (my blog posts on it in 2016 and in 2018). So if you’re looking for that tarot conference with a little bit of something for everyone, then that’s StaarCon.

I was invited back as a keynote for StaarCon 2024, my first time attending in person (the 2021 conference during the pandemic was virtual only). What’s unique about StaarCon is its hybrid model, with the virtual event managed by Accelevents. Meaning you can elect to attend in person or attend virtually from the comfort of your own home.

For the price of admission, you’re getting access to a wide array of master classes on tarot techniques, tarot adjacent studies like astrology, crystals, and sound bath meditation, in-depth targeted explorations on how to read the cards, powerful and transformative guided visual journeying sessions for connecting with an animal totem or quantum healing, tarot business essentials, more academic-driven workshops, to creating and selling your own deck, just to name a few of the topics covered this weekend.

Lisa Adams, the Renegade Mystic, provided intensive yet practical Astrology for Beginners sessions, which were great for anyone who has been meaning to learn Western astrology basics but never got around to it, or who would benefit from the in-person teaching environment that Lisa provided. Mary Ellen Collins, an incredible teacher, taught ways to combine divination systems, such as tarot and astrology, tarot and charms casting, and tarot and crystals.

Madam Adam, who has blown up on Tarot TikTok in recent years, bringing the world of tarot to a much larger mainstream audience than tarot has ever enjoyed before, held several incredible master classes. They’re a full-time tarot reader who has cracked the code to launching a successful tarot business, and their “Marketing Your Tarot Business” talk on how to navigate the various social media platforms, comment culture, algorithm and analytics was really insightful.

Beth Conklin led us through a guided session in “Discovering Your Animal Totem; an Indigenous Perspective.” (I got the chance to chat with her and she’s just amazing!) Christiana Gaudet always dazzles with her charisma and stage presence, not to mention I had a lot of fun dancing on swords (you had to be there to know the reference). Maria Alviz Hernando from the World Divination Association presented a fantastic three-part session on the Nine Card Tableau reading technique, and Mam’selle Kamille, the Seven Seas Mystic, taught us how to make a Gris-Gris Bag while immersing us in the history and traditions of New Orleans magic.

There was a workshop that took us on a deep-dive into the Thoth Tarot led by the peerless Joe Monteleone. Ack! I’m so pissed I didn’t get a chance to chat with Joe one on one! He and I met a while back at… oh crap, I want to say NWTS? And he’s awesome. Another master class that piques my interest is Kabbalistic Tarot from tarot reader and Kabbalist Mark Horn, author of Tarot and the Gates of Light. He also happens to be one of my favoritest tarotists in the world, and if you follow my work at all, you’ll have noted that I’m constantly citing and referencing his work.

Sadly I missed both Joe’s and Mark’s master classes live and due to some technical hiccups with the platform, video recordings of their classes aren’t up yet. I’ve bookmarked both for the time being. As of this writing there are still a handful of classes that don’t have uploaded recordings, such as Catiara Marie‘s on Tarot Reversals: Are They Necessary? I met Catiara at NWTS a few years back and she’s great, bringing traditions back with that old school fortune-teller flair.

I loved T. Susan Chang‘s workshop on Tarot Prescriptions, which was all about using esoteric correspondences as healing metaphors. These are methods I’m most definitely going to be integrating into my practice and adopting.

It probably makes perfect sense to everyone who knows me and everyone who knows Tarot Correspondences (2018), Tarot Deciphered (2021), The Living Tarot (2023), or the podcast Fortune’s Wheelhouse that of course I would be a huge fan of Susie’s work. So it meant the world to me to get to hang out with her at StaarCon. Funny enough we have the same tastes when it comes to both food and wine, guaranteeing that any get-together with her is going to be fantabulous.

At the event there was one panel discussion, and I would just like to throw out there into the universe that I wish we could have more panel discussions at tarot conferences. They’re always one of my favorite features at these sorts of events. This one was titled “Creativity, Magick, and Divination” on how creating art and magic, spell-casting, ritual, and spiritual connections are interconnected.

Why are panel discussions my favorite? You get a diversity of voices all at once, for starters, and the different perspectives can play off one another instantaneously. I love the chemistry. I love the exchange. I love that it’s interactive. And even when there’s a moderator with a list of questions, it’s still free-form and fluid.

Keynote speaker Emilie Muñiz, creator of both the Simplicity Tarot and Simplicity Lenormand published by US Games Systems, gave us an all-inclusive crash course on running a successful six figure tarot business online. If you run a tarot business or have any interest in launching one, her course is a must, because it covers a lot of ground, and covers each facet of that ground in detail, with essential tips you can apply to your business immediately. There is a lot one can learn from her no-nonsense approach to running an income generating sole proprietorship.

StaarCon 2023 hosted a wide range of master classes with something for just about anyone and everyone. I appreciated the opportunity to broaden my own horizon with classes such as Connie Wong‘s “Meet Your Guardian Angel or Spirit Guide,” a session on something called the Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique (QHHT), which attendees then experienced firsthand. I learned a little more about concepts like soul tribes and soul contracts.

On Friday there were technical difficulties experienced by those joining virtually, but I gotta say, by Saturday and Sunday, the platform was pretty fantastic. And all events are recorded so you can watch them in your own time over and over, and also get to see the full transcript of the chatroom.

Attending virtually has its perks. I like that you can engage with other virtual attendees in the chatroom in real time while the presenter is speaking. For a few of the master classes, I opted to attend virtually from the comfort of my hotel room even though I was there physically at the event already. (I know.) But hear me out– I felt like I got a better view of the presenter. And I felt more relaxed and at ease in the privacy of my own room, attending virtually.

My keynote presentation was titled “An Overview of Occult Influences in the Tarot.”

(Note to Attendees: I will also be doing a follow-up virtual event via AfterGlow, so stay tuned! Announcements forthcoming via the StaarCon platform. The follow-up AfterGlow event will be more interactive, meaning we’ll get to chat. Also, I’ll supplement with all the bits of thoughts and commentary I totally forgot to mention during my live keynote.)

Oh yeah, there’s also the AfterGlow virtual events that’s part of your admission ticket to StaarCon. For instance, throughout the year starting February there are scheduled tarot lounge events on learning the Oracle Belline, a deep-dive into reading court cards, a tutorial on how to enchant your jewelry, business and marketing courses for tarot professionals, and much more. Now that’s definitely unique to StaarCon. I don’t think any other tarot conference has that feature.

But back to what I did my keynote on. It was a 90-minute nuts and bolts foundational primer on the advent of occult tarot, taking us on a tour that started in 18th century France, through the 19th century, and then the impact that the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn had on occult perspectives of the tarot crystallizing by the early 20th century.

We considered why the occultists of these eras were interested in the tarot as a tool for esoteric teachings, what they were convinced was hidden in plain sight on tarot card images, and the five key influences on occult tarot: Hermeticism, Pythagorean mysticism, Hellenistic astrology, Renaissance alchemy, and the Kabbalah, then explored how those five influences converged through the lenses of Gnosticism, Rosicrucianism, and Freemasonry.

I covered a lot of ground, so perhaps I went in a few too many directions in too short a time, but my simple thesis was this: Why approach the tarot as an occult tool? You approach the tarot as an occult tool when your objective is to know All, because to know All is to know The One, the Divine Monad. Occult tarot isn’t about knowing the future or even the past; it’s about transcendence, achieving a state of liberation and control over your own pain and suffering. It’s endeavoring for knowledge and conversation with the Divine.

This next bit I’m sharing because I thought it was funny: My presentation was between 2:30 pm and 4:00 pm. Now, in the below screenshot from my Fitbit app, look at the spike in calories burned while I was lecturing.

The analytics would give the impression I was doing some serious cardio and aerobics at that time, but no. In fact, I was standing still and just talking! Ha! That’s so weird! I wonder why!

The Saturday evening Bardic Circle was an incredible and entertaining showcase of artistry, talent, and reflections on the tarot community. Dame Darcy, creator of the Mermaid Tarot, played the banjo and sang. Ciro Marchetti, possibly the most influential tarot deck creator of the 21st century (here’s my review of what I consider his best work, Encore Tarot) did stand-up comedy. Ooh, also, all attendees got a copy of Tarot Decoratif in our goodie bags. Stacey Williams-Ng, artist of the Southern Gothic Oracle and voodoo priestess Kamille Barnes recounted that time they went on a ghost hunt and paranormal investigation on Marie Laveau’s New Orleans property.

Mitch Osborn walked the room through an improv “Whose Line Is It Anyway” tarot edition. John Sorbo, who is just one of the most wonderful kindred spirits and kind souls ever, sang Oh Danny Boy, and it was America’s Got Talent level extraordinary. I’m talking I want a recording of it so I can play it on repeat. As Christiana put it, after John sang, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Dionne C. Monsanto led everyone in a call and response, beseeching a Jali, an elder of the community, to tell us a story, per West African song and orature traditions. Historically Jalolu were the historians and storytellers of royal lineages. Dionne presented the question: do we not see the similarities between the Jali and the tarot reader/storyteller? What an incredible and deeply moving way to close out the night.

About the venue. The conference rooms at the West Palm Beach Hilton are not configured well for tarot conferences. They were long and narrow rather than ballroom style, which meant people in the back could barely see or hear the speaker up front, and attendees couldn’t be arranged in the more intimate circle formation.

I love the brilliant idea of a hybrid conference model, meaning you can attend virtually and/or you can attend in-person. Best of all, you can attend in-person, and then watch the recorded video of the workshops virtually afterward, via the Accelevents platform.

That’s a feature I really appreciated and made use of. I loved watching videos of all the workshops I missed, or re-attending the recorded workshops to refresh my memory of the in-person live event.

From the presenter perspective, however, the hybrid model meant that as a speaker, you really wanted to be thoughtful about making sure you were standing, speaking, and positioning yourself with respect to the camera and microphone in a way that accounted for both the in-person and hybrid experience. So for me at least, I felt some added pressure as a presenter to have to account for both.

Nancy Hendrickson, author of Ancestral Tarot and Ancestral Grimoire both published by Weiser Books, wrote up a reflection piece on StaarCon 2024 and finding your tribe within the tribe here, “Do you know your tribe? Can you see the forest for the trees?” I highly recommend clicking over to her Substack page to read the article.

“We may think we all belong to one big tribe,” writes Hendrickson, with respect to the attendees at StaarCon, “but in reality many tribes walked the hallways of the West Palm Beach Hilton,” noting that “the flavors were distinct.” To give a few examples, she lists out the Work is the Thing Tribe, the How Can I Make Lots More Money Tribe, the Academic Tribe, the I’m All About Business Tribe, and the Puppies and Unicorn Tribe, just to name a few.

That’s incidentally a great summary of the variety of master classes presented at StaarCon. You got inspiring, spiritually moving sessions emphasizing that the Work is the Thing. If you’re a tarot professional, you would have loved the many How Can I Make Lots More Money workshops. There certainly were a number of classes for the Academic Tribe. And while I’m not quite sure what the scope is of the Puppies and Unicorn Tribe, I believe there were plenty of angels, ascended masters, holistic healing, channeling, Age of Aquarius, alternative medicine, and Akashic Records offerings that I found quite intriguing.

Can’t wait to see what’s in store for StaarCon 2025. They’ll be announcing the keynotes soon, so stay dialed in to the StaarCon Community.