One of the hardest things about working in the tarot field is the isolation that some of us feel. Often times we find ourselves without peers – especially those who may live in a rural area. It’s not easy to connect but thanks to the advent of the internet and social media in particular, the game has begun to change. Many of my fellow tarot readers have been delighted to find each other through this medium – and it has made our world a little more inclusive and a lot less lonely.
Recently, a new site launched that has stepped it up a notch and created a true community for us tarot lovers. It’s called “Tarot Town” and is the brainchild of Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin of Tarot Professionals . Tarot Town is fun but don’t be fooled by the light tone – there is some SERIOUS tarot stuff going on here – classes, forums, discussions, groups and more! Not only can you connect and make friends here – you can improve your skills, ask questions, learn about events and more. If there was ever a Tarot Nirvana for us tarot freaks, I think I have found it here!
Of course, I had to ask Marcus and Tali about the creation and inspiration behind Tarot Town and this is what they had to say to me:
We were inspired to create Tarot Town by listening to the members of Tarot Professionals. We had been asked to provide a service to allow our members to network and socialise outside of the focused studies of Tarot such as Gated Spreads, the Diploma Course, Tarot Houses and other projects. When we looked at our existing forum we realised that it did not fulfil this purpose, although it is where we will continue to hold our Tarot course discussions.
We then considered our vision to promote high levels of Tarot education, and realised if we could find a way of providing such a social network, we would serve our own vision by opening it to the wider community. We also recognised that as our members had such a great deal of Tarot knowledge and experience we could connect them to those looking for help in their studies in an open and friendly fashion.
This resulted in us looking at many ways of accomplishing this aim – we reviewed existing sites, new technologies, voice/video systems, on-line teaching systems, and much more. We decided on a package of the “best of the best” even though this required a significant technical and financial investment. The site TAROT-TOWN was born from this research and our desire not to re-create the wheel.
With regard to what can we offer, there’s a line in Keat’s Hyperion which asks of the Titans, “What benefit canst thou, or all thy tribe, to the great world?” We asked ourselves the same question – as Living Oracles, what is it we bring to the world? In Tarot we remind ourselves that the Story is bigger than the individual images that arise in front of us – whether it be life or cardboard. In every divination, we are divined. We hope that Tarot Town will lead to more people coming to that experience of Tarot sooner, and deeper, through an accessible introduction. We are also shaking off the cobwebs – the Tarosophy book is all about mythbusting, and promoting brand new ideas, and Tarot Town is a reflection of that ethos, research and experience.
We’ve primarily aimed to make the Town vibrant, fun and free. There’s an optional Citizen rate of $1/month which ensures we can start to make the Town viable in the long-term and at the same time not exclude anyone on the basis of cost. Participants get access to great teaching experiences, video lessons, a one-stop window on selected Blogs and news, and most importantly peer guidance in a supportive environment. Citizens get special courses and privileges.
We are delighted that Rachel Pollack (age 13!) and many of our other Hon. Members of Tarot Professionals have joined to assist in connecting and sharing their wisdom. Our Deck Study groups are likely to have the deck designers and artists themselves in residence – such as Emily Carding in the Transparent Tarot Study Group.
There’s a readers exchange which has the unique feature of double-blind requests (you offer a reading to someone, but they don’t get informed of the request unless they offer a reading to you also) and peer-review feedback system – the Tarosophy STARS rating. We are also privileged to feature Beyond Worlds Radio Show as the Town’s official Radio Station!
Most important to our hearts is that we have provided a space for Tarot Townsfolk and Citizens to make their own home. The future of Tarot Town is in the hands of its inhabitants – it is an agile environment which will respond to the requirements of its citizens in an organic manner:
There once was an architect who did not build roads, or paths, or paving. He did not even include them in his plans and drawings. He laid grass down between the buildings which were open for all to walk. Then as time went on, he watched where the grass was thinnest, and for where the beautiful curves and shortcuts, straight lines, dells and grooves that the passage of many people created. This was where he then created his paths – where feet naturally walked.
We have exciting plans already in pre-production for Tarot Town. We will be integrating our existing WIZIQ Learning Environment from Tarot Professionals into the Town Hekademia very soon for online courses in the Town. We are already well advanced in a 3d-Avatar environment for Tarot Conferences, Rituals, Discussions and Socialising! If you watch our promo video, you’ll see a sneak preview of the 3D world which will be ready by 2011.
Marcus Katz is the author of Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It (pub. Salamander & Sons, August 2010) and the founder of Tarot Professionals. He is an MBA graduate, M.A. holder (Western Esotericism, University of Exeter) and currently 3-years into a 6-year PhD Thesis on the Teachings of Occult groups in the Western Esoteric Tradition. He is a therapist and trainer.
Tali Goodwin is the Marketing Director of Tarot Professionals and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Her career has also involved healthcare and occupational therapy. She has also practised Reiki healing.
No matter if you are a tarot professional, a newbie, or just curious, I’d invite you to stop by and take a look around. You can find me as what else? The Tarot Lady. Hope to meet you there!
Blessings!
Theresa
Image property of Tarot Town
