The Tarot Lady Blog » tarot town

Talkin’ Tarot With Marcus Katz

Theresa — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:34:02 +0000

Talkin’ Tarot With is a monthly feature designed to introduce my readers to different tarot readers from our wonderfully diverse community! Each month, I’ll be asking various tarot readers 3 questions about their tarot philosophy and style, plus pointing you to their websites and blogs so that you can learn more about them! I like to hand pick tarot readers that I feel are talented and interesting.

If you ever want to capture my attention and respect, there is one way that is guaranteed to work every time: be a workaholic. I’m dead serious about that. For me, work is the Holy Grail and I am one who prefers work over leisure, any day of the week. The people in my life that I admire the most are the ones who are earnest and ambitious. I don’t like lazy nor a lack of passion.There are a lot of hard workers in the tarot industry but none as industrious as Marcus Katz. He is the epitome of a true tarot workaholic.

With various ventures such as Tarot Professionals Ltd. (an organization for tarot readers), Tarot Town (a social networking site for tarot peeps) and Tarosophist International magazine, you’d think this man would slow down. On the contrary, he is constantly cranking out new things to delight, educate and challenge your tarot loving soul.

His first book, Tarosophy (due out in January of 2011) is already being hailed by tarot luminaries such as Rachel Pollack, who deemed it “an important contribution”. He also has a Tarot workbook coming down the pike with co-author Tali Goodwin (who is also a founder and director of Tarot Professionals Ltd.) which will be published in 2012 by Llewellyn Books. Other offerings from Marcus include the books Tarot Flip and Tarot Twist, which you can purchase right from the Tarot Town site or from the Faraway Centre bookstore.

His passion for tarot education goes beyond writing. Marcus also organizes the Tarosophy conference in the UK and will be teaching at the prestigious Omega Tarot Conference along side other tarot greats such as Mary Greer and James Wells amongst others (Rhinebeck, NY, Dates are July 29th-31st 2011).

And if all this isn’t enough for one man to do, he has a Tarot Book Club and a Tarot Review site under way as well as a full academic tarot degree course, Hekademia. My question is this: when does he sleep? It is obvious by his prolific body of work that Marcus Katz is one creative and busy cat. And that, my friends, makes him worth talking about – and listening to. This is one tarot person that I know will be here for the long haul and will no doubt continue to produce some of the most intense, innovative and best tools for tarot students and fanatics everywhere.

Marcus is a man with many other talents and interests. When he’s not reading tarot you’ll find him engaging in and teaching: philosophy, magick, Witchcraft and Kabbalah. He also works as a hypnotherapist and trains therapists and counselors in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).

A lesser-known snippet about Marcus is that as a result of bullying (sometimes about Tarot) at school, he joined an after-school Judo club. After two years, he moved on to learn Lau Gar Kung Fu for several years, then after a brief break, Aikido. He then went onto Ju-Jitsu briefly, but soon returned to Kung Fu and Thai Kickboxing – competing in several tournaments and sparring events. After a dalliance with Iaido, he then learnt Shotokan Karate. He has knife and sword training, and can use Nunchuku without poking himself in the eye – sometimes. He no longer worries about bullying.

Learn more about Marcus at his various sites:

www.tarotprofessionals.com

www.tarot-town.com

www.tarosophy.com

Check out his answers to my questions below:

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1. What is your philosophy about tarot reading?

My philosophy in regards Tarot reading is that it serves as an important signpost in spiritual understanding – not only that, but is also the map and the compass in that same journey. It provides us with a mechanism by which the profound complexity of the Universe can be experienced as it arises in our own awareness. There are 6.2 quintillion variations of a 78-card deck in 10 positions. And You, I, and any decent Tarot reader can make sense of whichever of 6.2 quintillion patterns are created in front of us during a simple reading. I think this is a miracle of remembrance that we are called to recognise. I also see in Tarot reading a liminal experience for the Querent where they are brought safely into contact with what Kircher called the “invisible knots which bind the world”. It is important in a well-balanced society and life – I believe – that we have such a placeholder for the spiritual realms.

I also see personally in Tarot an incredibly direct and useful map of the initiatory journey in the Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS) which is the subject of my forthcoming book – following Tarosophy. Whilst one may argue about correspondences and validity, I have found a perfectly relevant and appropriate depiction of the trials, rewards, challenges and stages of the initiatory journey within the Tarot, particularly arrayed on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. I will be writing more about this during the next six months in advance of the book, “The Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS) Book I” which I plan to be the first part of a comprehensive series.

2. How do you feel a client might get the most out of a reading with you?

I believe that if the client’s life is not entirely changed by the reading, it has been a wasted opportunity. I believe that whilst it remains to the cards that fall and my own state to divine from those cards – the client should be fully present (whether in person or elsewhere) and experience the reading as a powerful moment in their life. It is a moment when something divine is touched, and should be respected as such – no matter what the presenting question.

I sometimes ask clients to prepare for a reading by taking a day off, going for a walk, bathing in a particularly appropriate fragrance, or other preparatory devices. This ensures a ritualised event in which that encounter may be better deepened. Whilst I do “readings for fun” or “off the cuff” these are only parts of the vision to normalise Tarot in society, rather than the main event.

3. What is your best piece of advice for an aspiring tarot reader?

In the three decades I have read, learnt and taught Tarot – and continue to read, learn and teach Tarot – the most astonishing thing I continue to hear from students, and which I seek to release them from – is the concern they will not get the reading “right”. They often refer to a book-meaning or as if there is a Tarot authority for each cards meaning. However, the cards are multivalent – their symbols are read and are mutable in context, even when considering a single card. That means that a blindfold on a “2 of Swords” may mean in one reading “failing to see the obvious” and in another “blinded by guilt”. Thus, it is a failure of teaching when students seek a single answer – the teaching must be informed by this flexibility.

So my advice for the aspiring Tarot reader is to find good teachers, good mentors, and those with experience and knowledge – rather than single book or website. Tarot is a lifetime journey, and it has many voices – the cards call you to find your own.

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A big fist bump to a true tarot thug, Marcus, for taking the time to answer my questions and give people a chance to learn more about him. Marcus will be a guest on my Tarot Lady Blog Talk Radio show in February 2011. Date and time coming soon! In the meantime if you’d like to explore more of what he has to offer, get to his site Tarosophy.

Blessings!

Theresa

A Town That’s Right For Me

Theresa — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:02:11 +0000

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