Author: benebell

StaarCon 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida

On By benebellIn conferences, tarot, tarot community8 Comments
Me, with Christiana Gaudet, founder of StaarCon. Photo credit: Frank Kwiatkowski of Tarot Awakenings (tarotawakenings.com)

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.

Accelevents Attendee Portal StaarCon 2024

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.

Continue reading “StaarCon 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida” →

Lepus Tarot by Witchy Cauldron

On By benebellIn deck review5 Comments

The Lepus Tarot by Witchy Cauldron, with illustrations by Artem Chernobai, arrived in my mailbox under somewhat mysterious circumstances. I’m not entirely sure how I came to receive it, but I sure am glad I did!

The deck’s namesake, lepus, means hares, or rabbits, and is also a reference to the constellation Lepus, eternally hunted by Orion. I love how the card back design even has constellation map vibes.

Continue reading “Lepus Tarot by Witchy Cauldron” →

Tarot de El Dios de los Tres (The God of Three Tarot) by Javier Navarro

On By benebellIn deck review8 Comments

Javier Navarro‘s Tarot de El Dios de los Tres (Tarot of the God of Three) first came out in 2021 and I’ve had my eye on it since. There’s something about it that immediately sets it apart from most tarot decks I’ve come across on the market. It feels counterculture, cheeky, and yet not without depth and substance of thought.

Major Arcana, Chariot through The World; Ace, Two, and Three of Pentacles

Navarro is an Andalusian born artist and illustrator who blends sacred imagery from world religions and pop iconography to design a universe that is energetic, joyful, and liberating.

Four through King of Pentacles; Ace through Seven of Cups

This isn’t a deck review, just a walk-through, as I have not done readings with these cards. For me personally, this is a collector’s deck. It’s a deck I’ve acquired for the artwork, to get to hold a gallery of beautiful illustrations in my hands.

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I Ching and the 60-Year Lunar-Solar Calendar Cycle

On By benebellIn astrology, divination, holistic horoscopes, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Tao of Craft (book), Taoism15 Comments

My Instagram post from five days ago noted that 2024 (or more accurately, year of the Wood Dragon) corresponds with hexagram 43. Some have been describing it as a forecast or prediction. That’s not entirely accurate, so I thought I’d clarify.

It’s not so much a forecast as it is an application of I Ching theory.

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The Knight-Waite Tarot by Astrologer and Psychic Michele Knight

On By benebellIn deck review11 Comments

Michele Knight-Waite is a celebrated, award-winning astrologer and psychic. Once voted “UK’s Favourite Psychic,” she is a media personality, best-selling author, and regular astrology columnist at various magazines. These days you can also find her on Instagram and YouTube where her generous spirit is on full display.

I love that she has channeled her many gifts into creating a modern RWS-based tarot deck that blends together the art of photo collage, with cameos from some of our favorite historical figures, and the familiar iconography of Pamela Colman Smith, who is featured on the High Priestess card.

There are notable graphic design elements here that I really love. Somehow, it’s both borderless and it has a border, where the full composition continues all the way to the edge, but then there is that classic tarot card white margin for the card title. See also how, for instance, in the Seven of Pentacles, the Pentacles “spill” over and out of the border.

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Cultural Clashes and the In-Laws I: The MIL

On By benebellIn personal27 Comments

This is going to be a multi-part series of personal reflections on my life experiences and interactions with having mainland Chinese in-laws and the cultural clashes that have ensued. I’m Taiwanese American, and politically my family has been as far Green* as it gets. The Taiwanese and Chinese have a longstanding history of animosity toward one another, an animosity that has often played out at the interpersonal level.

Part I will begin with my late mother-in-law.

____

* “Green” is an international political marker and movement that prioritizes participatory grassroots democracy, social justice, social progressivism, ecopolitics, and localism. Here it also relates to the Taiwan independence movement.

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On Password-Protected Posts

On By benebellIn Closed Circuit3 Comments

UPDATE:

Due to logistical and admin challenges of keeping up with e-mails re: the Closed Circuit, this has been turned off entirely. Apologies in advance for non-responsiveness. There is no longer a Closed Circuit track.

Any password-protected posts you might see from here on out are posts of supplemental materials for courses, workshops, or presentations. The blog post method is just the easiest way for attendees of these classes to access the materials. I give them the password during the class, and then they go to the password-protected blog post to download the class-specific materials.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Leaving the original text for this post below in case anyone is interested in the historical context.]

I’ve been receiving a number of messages expressing confusion around the password-protected posts, so I hope this note will help clarify.

The post that went up yesterday titled “How to Survive Criticism and Pitchforks (2024 Day Planner Add-On)” is password-protected because it is for those who ordered the 2024 Day Planner Add-On, explained here. In short, it’s tradition that I offer an optional add-on to those who order the annual Metaphysician’s Day Planners. For 2024, it’s that password-protected post.

That post falls outside the scope of posts on my blog designated “Closed Circuit.” All closed circuit blog posts are archived here: https://benebellwen.com/category/closed-circuit/

For information on how to gain access to Closed Circuit blog posts, read here: https://benebellwen.com/2019/07/13/revisiting-why-there-is-a-closed-circuit/

However, not all password-protected posts are Closed Circuit posts. Therefore the password you get for the Closed Circuit posts will only work on Closed Circuit posts.

Thank you for your understanding,

Bell

Frater Setnakh’s 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, free download, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, promotional, tarot4 Comments

I previously showed the above in a #54321tarot tag. Whether you get the coins or cards, if you’re interested in the 72 angels correspondences, there’s a free download from me at the very end of this walk-through.

The download is so you can do a direct comparison between the 72 angels and tarot correspondences per Christine Payne-Towler’s Tarot of the Holy Light and the tarot correspondences per Frater Setnakh.

This post is a photographic walk-through of the 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards created by Frater Setnakh.

Continue reading “Frater Setnakh’s 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards” →