Random old photo to accompany the commentary. I’m holding the Tarot of the Holy Light by Christine Payne-Towler, which at some point long, long ago I received for free. Do I need to disclose that?
Psst… I have a “TL;DR Short Summary for the Not-Readers” that summarizes this otherwise very long blog post. So if you don’t have the time or you’re only a little bit interested and not that interested, then scroll all the way down to the end for the TL;DR Short Summary.
I’m reviving and sharing a blog post I drafted in 2019 that has sat in my WordPress saved file for the last 3+ years. It’s about FTC-issued disclosure guidelines (“Rules”) for social media influencers, and key takeaways to glean from the Rules if you’re creating content in the Mind, Body, Spirit spheres. I never got around to finishing and posting that 2019 draft, back when the FTC disclosure guidelines first gained traction, but I think now is a good time to reopen the discussion.
What’s of note to me is how the legal minds who are often the ones drafting these Rules seem to be people who have no personal experiences or insights into the communities they’re drafting the guidelines for. Even when they employ subject matter experts, those SMEs tend to be biased, or come from a very particularized segment of the community, and therefore do not fairly represent all interested parties.
There’s consumer protection, which nobody’s against. But then there’s untenable rules of compliance that aren’t clear enough for practical application by the people the rules are demanding compliance from.
By the way, none of this is my legal opinion, and do not rely on it as such. All of this is personal commentary in reaction to the FTC disclosure guidelines as someone who considers herself a deck reviewer but who could potentially be categorized as an “influencer.”
Whew! NWTS 2022 was a blast! This was Michelle and Roger of SoulTopia’s inaugural year as the organizers of NWTS, the Northwest Tarot Symposium in Portland, Oregon. And wow, what a comeback for NWTS, thanks to SoulTopia’s tireless efforts, persistence, and stewardship. This year, the tarot community really showed up for an impressive turnout, to the point where we might’ve outgrown the Monarch Hotel! Time for a bigger even more spacious venue? =)
Anyway, this is a casual recap of the event from my vantage point.
The World Divination Association, founded by the amazing Toni @thecardgeek, hosts the annual World Divination Association Conference, a virtual event that brings together an impressive roster of authors, creators, and modern mystics. I’ll be one of the speakers this year, sharing my learned experiences and insights into reading tarot professionally for others.
For those who heard previous info about me doing a course on Freud and Jung, and how to apply psychoanalytic and analytic theory to tarot readings, due to some tech obstacles, I’m changing my workshop topic. The Freud and Jung workshop would have been PowerPoint intensive, along with a massive workbook, tons of researched reference materials, etc., and it wouldn’t have worked in the virtual event setting.
So I’m pivoting and going with a talking-head-video-livestream format where I’ll be talking about reading tarot professionally for others– not the business aspect, no, but the actual tarot reading part of it all. The heart and soul of reading tarot.
Recent scientific findings have established a link between genetics, inheriting memories from our ancestors, and those inherited memories being retained within our neurons.
In other words, a deep reservoir of untapped knowledge is resident within our own genetic and cellular memory.
This master class will address using tarot as a tool for triggering an altered state of consciousness, which can then facilitate retrieval of genetic memory from the unconscious.
We will be using ritualized tarot techniques to recall generations past, to have conversations with our ancestors through tarot, to find out who they were, where they were from, what their lives were like, and most importantly, what messages they have to share with us, for us at present and for their own future lineage.
We then transport the tarot techniques to a different level of genetic memory, one that helps us to access our own past lives.
Past life tarot reading does not require you to believe in reincarnation. Rather, a past life reading can be a fable or metaphor for the greatest recurring challenges you face in your present life and the narrative of the so-called past life will instruct you on the best possible ending for your own life story.
How do you overcome recurring mistakes and finally learn those life lessons you know you need to learn? Past life tarot reading is one of the most reliable techniques for facing personal error because by projecting the story as someone else, we’re able to be more objective and honest with ourselves.
Finally, we will address how the content covered relates to mediumship and how a professional tarot reader can use these reading techniques to bridge ancestral connections and do past life readings for querents and clients. The premise of that is reaching beyond the memories in the personal unconscious encoded within you, to tap in to the collective unconscious.
The contents of this online course was first presented at the Tarot Readers Studio in New York on April 28, 2018. If you weren’t able to attend that event but are interested in the subject, then this course is for you. Although modified from the 2018 Readers Studio master class, the ideas and research conveyed remain the same.
Course Objectives
Contact with your ancestors and through the tarot, to find out who they were, where they were from, what their lives were like, and most importantly, what messages they have to share with us, for us at present and for their own future lineage
Past life recall to help break current unwanted cycles in your life and to finally learn the life lessons you need to learn, reveal your soul contracts, and make modifications to soul contracts as needed
Deliverables
Closed-captioned* videos that are a combination of animated PowerPoint slides with voiceover and my talking head:
An Introduction to the Theory of Genetic Memory Retrieval (20 minutes)
Instructions for the Ancestors Reading (30 minutes)
Guided Ancestors Reading for Yourself (12 minutes)
Instructions for the Past Life Reading (19 minutes)
Guided Past Life Reading for Yourself (12 minutes)
Demonstrating Modifications of the Two Reading Methods (23 minutes) [*this is the only video not closed-captioned]
Final Tips for Reading as a Professional Psychic-Medium Tarot Reader (15 minutes)
Past Life Reading Tarot Spread Quick Reference Sheet
Retrieving Past Life Memory: Reading Worksheet
Closed Email List-Serv Group
As soon as you enroll, your e-mail address will be automatically added to a closed e-mail list-serv or group forum on Google Groups. You’ll be able to interact with other enrollees, practice these readings by doing exchanges, and asking follow-up questions. If recurring points of confusion come to light, I’ll make additional videos or write up bonus materials that will then be uploaded onto this list-serv.
Using Course Content
It was my intention when crafting this course that I convey to you a comprehensive workshop that will be adequate for preparing you to then go out into this world and share, adapt upon, and even teach the content in a way that blends your pedagogical style with the ideas I’ve presented.
So please feel free to use the ideas I’ve presented. Take this course, extract what you want to integrate and adapt into either your personal spiritual or your professional path (both are welcomed uses of this course content). Tailor the content to your unique style and point of view. Please feel free to use these techniques in your capacity as a professional tarot reader, healer, or spiritual counselor, or integrate it into the courses and workshops you teach. Or just use it to supplement your personal and private spiritual practices.
I encourage you to find your own unique spin on the information I’ve shared, create your own unique derivative of the reading techniques, and present the research I’ve consolidated and synthesized for you in a way that is true to your own voice.
How to Order
$33
To order and receive the course materials via e-mail:
PayPal to the e-mail address abelldelivers@gmail.com. Yes, it’s going to say “James Zhang from Castro Valley.” That’s the Hubby. Also, this is the preferred method of payment.
If you are unable to use either Google Pay or PayPal, please contact abelldelivers@gmail.com directly to coordinate.
When you send payment, please include:
Your name or a name identifier for me to reference you by,
Your e-mail address, so I know where to send your ordered course materials to, and
Identify the course you’re ordering.
That’s it!
But if any of that sounds confusing or you just don’t know, no worries. Email me at abelldelivers@gmail.com to let me know you want to place an order. We’ll take it from there together.
Once I receive your payment as the purchase order, your course materials will be delivered to the e-mail address you specified within 2 business days.
If you don’t receive the course materials in the e-mail inbox specified within the two business days, then something went wrong. Doh! Please email me at the below address asap.
abelldelivers@gmail.com
DELIVERY NOTE: So far I’ve been good about getting the course materials to you in approximately 48 hours from when I receive the PayPal payment, so if that time has gone by and you haven’t received anything from me, first check your Spam folder. Second, check to see the e-mail address associated with your PayPal account. I may have sent it to that account if no e-mail was provided in the notes section of the transfer. If still nothing, then something went wrong somewhere, so contact me at the above e-mail addy ASAP so we can get things squared away.
Bibliography
Ben-Yakov, Aya, Yadin Dudai, and Mark R. Mayford. (2015). “Memory Retrieval in Mice and Men.” Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 7.12: a021790. Retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Caetano-Anollés, Derek, and Gustavo Caetano-Anollés. “Piecemeal Buildup of the Genetic Code, Ribosomes, and Genomes from Primordial tRNA Building Blocks.” In Koji Tamura (Ed). Life 6.4: 43. Retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Devin R. Burrill amd Pamela A. Silver. (2010). “Making Cellular Memories.” Cell. 140:1:13-18.
Kaja Finkler (2005). “Family, kinship, memory and temporality in the age of the new genetics.” 61:5:1059-1071. Social Science & Medicine. Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Kastellakis, George et al. (2015). “Synaptic Clustering within Dendrites: An Emerging Theory of Memory Formation.” Progress in neurobiology 126: 19–35. Retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Lei Yang, Alec A. K. Nielsen, et al. (2014). “Permanent genetic memory with >1-byte capacity.” Nature Methods, 11:1261-1266.
Poo, Mu-ming et al. (2016). “What Is Memory? The Present State of the Engram.” BMC Biology 14:40. Retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Roozendaal, Benno, and James L. McGaugh. (2011). “Memory Modulation.” Behavioral Neuroscience 125.6: 797–824. Retrieved from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
Steven Henikoff and John M. Greally (2016). “Epigenetics, cellular memory and gene regulation.” Current Biology. 26:14:644-648.
Sullivan J.A. (2014). “Is the Next Frontier in Neuroscience a ‘Decade of the Mind’?” In: Wolfe C.T. (Eds.). Brain Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Wolf Reik & Gavin Kelsey. (2014). “Epigenetics: Cellular memory erased in human embryos.” Journal of Nature. 511:540-541.
Zoë Migicovsky and Igor Kovalchuk (2011). “Epigenetic memory in mammals.” Front. Genet. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada.
“My legal counsel advised me to never do business with Chinese companies, because all of them will rip off your intellectual property.”
Paraphrased, but an accurate representation of what was said by a very prominent deck creator in our community. She’ll tell you my paraphrase isn’t accurate and that I’ve misrepresented her. She takes issue with me saying she used the word “all.”
I can’t recall if that precise word “all” was ever used, so let’s believe her and say I’m mistaken. She never said “all.” It was me who read into what was absolutely, unequivocally implied in the subtext.
Oh, wait. The below was sent to me, after I started feeling pretty terrible about maybe misconstruing what she had said. I was beginning to second-guess myself, thinking, man, I now feel like crap for thinking she said “all” when she didn’t. Many of her friends were messaging me, privately and publicly, telling me I got her all wrong, I am remembering her words wrong, and she never, ever said “all.”
Some deck creators saw that same post I saw and immediately thought it was problematic and insensitive.
Other deck creators believe she means well, but perhaps she worded her sentiments wrong– let’s chalk this one up to poor word choice. Maybe. But what I’ve seen from her, she is one fine writer.
And still others think I am the one who is way out of line, being overly sensitive, probably because I’m Asian, and poor, poor Karen for getting misunderstood.
I’ll concede that the truth is probably somewhere in that middle “no man’s land” intersecting point of the Venn diagram. I’m not 100% right, but then neither is she.
Here’s the thing. That was not her first offense. From what I have personally witnessed, it was her third. If we consider what the entire community has witnessed, who knows how many times she has repeated this rhetoric.
Thank you to the hundreds (according to YouTube at least, who knows, right?) who showed up to participate this morning in the chatroom when the above video premiered.
By the way, can any of you help me with this? I really thought I had the recorded LiveChat transcript function turned on. I checked it several times before the video premiered and I checked it after. It’s on. However, it seems like the chat transcript from this morning has disappeared.
Does anyone know how I can make the chat transcript from this morning available to all? What everyone shared was so insightful and more valuable to the topic than just what I had to say in this video, so I want that chat transcript to be available to you. However, the function doesn’t seem to be working for me. Any help you’re able to give is welcomed. Thanks!
I believe Kelly Bear started “Top 5 Decks I Can’t Live Without” over on YouTube and you have to type in those keywords into the search bar to check out all the video responses from our community! I’ve been binge-watching them while I cook, clean, or exercise. And I’m loving it!
Instead of a VR (video response), I’m blogging it. =)
The way I’m responding to this prompt is five physical individual decks that I feel like I can’t live without, updated to present day, meaning it’s not just about that particular deck and any and all copies of that deck everywhere; it’s about this very, very specific physical copy of the deck I’ve got in hand as a result of the collective history of energies I’ve infused into it over the course of the deck’s life with me.
Today’s installment of Sightsee the Tarot will walk you through the choreography of a five-minute party reading and some incredible tips on choreographing party readings, straight from one of the most renowned tarot professionals in the country, Jenna Matlin. But even if you’re not interested in being a pro reader, mastering the five-minute party reading is a great skill to have.
Since footage for this video was filmed after 10 pm, I didn’t have any human bodies to be my extras. =) Hence, our little stuffed friend Q-Ball is the stand-in.
Post-edit, I realized I didn’t cover everything I wanted to cover (and certainly nowhere close to covering all the juicy bits in Matlin’s book!), so this companion blog post is my personal add-on to the video.
Have Tarot Will Party by Jenna Matlin is an easy-to-read, accessible orientation to the business of tarot reading. Reading this book is like having your own personal tarot business mentor, giving you solid guidance every step of your way.
Matlin shares how she got started as a professional tarot reader, working festivals, doing the brick and mortar, and her incredible journey all the way to the top of the field.
Today, most tarot businesses have gone online (and stay online), and even most tarot business coaching programs focus on e-commerce. There’s an entire segment of business and professional opportunities open to you in your locale, which you might be ignoring! Jenna Matlin teaches you how to tap in to those local markets, and how to truly make a name for yourself in your region.
If you’ve been meaning to add party readings to your professional work as a reader, but aren’t sure how to get started on that, then Have Tarot, Will Party is the book for you. How do you keep from making rookie mistakes? Matlin gives you all the insider tips and industry secrets that no one else will. How do you get booked for readings? How do you develop your local or regional platform so that you get booked consistently for party readings?
benebell wen 