The Tarot Channel

Upcoming Releases in Tarot (Summer-Winter 2008)

Here's a preview of upcoming Tarot books, decks and bags for the latter part of 2008. Rachel Pollack will be coming out with two new releases (Tarot Wisdom and a re-issue of the Vertigo Tarot), and David Skibbins will be out with the fourth installment of his Tarot Card Mysteries series called The Hanged Man.

The much-anticipated second book in the Song of Montsegur series The Last Quest by Derek Armstrong comes out in October 2008, as does my Back in Time Tarot Book. Several Tarot decks will be coming out, too, including the Tarot for Hip Witches Kit, Frank Fradella's Undersea Tarot, Mystic Dreamer Tarot (with text by The Tarot Channel's own Barbara Moore) and the Initiatic Tarot of the Golden Dawn.

Below is the complete list for upcoming releases for Summer-Winter 2008. If you know of any other upcoming Tarot releases, please let us know!

2009 TPAB Call for Articles and Art

Hi all,

I'm the new Editor of the 2009 Tarot Professional's Appointment Book, published by the same folks who publish Tarot World Magazine.

The 2009 edition of the TPAB will be exploring the theme of the Cups suit and water element. Articles should be between 800-1,000 words and the deadline is July 15, 2008. Please include your bio, as well
(not included in total word count).

We also need artists, so if you're interested, please contact our Art Editor Tina Maravelis at gallery@twmpublishing.com

Below are the cards and holidays that need writers; if you choose one or more of the holidays, you'll need to let me know which card/s you're associating with it. Please write me at tpabeditor@twmpublishing.com if you're interested. Thanks!

Two
Five
Six
Eight
Nine
Ten
Page of Cups
Page of Swords
Page of Wands
Knight of Cups
New Year's Day (January 1st)
Imbolc
Ostara
Earth Day
Mother's Day
Father's Day
Midsummer Solstice
Lammas
Mabon
Yule

-- Janet Boyer

Look for my book Back in Time Tarot to arrive Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing!

The Silence of Trees - ABNA Finalist

Tarot figures heavily in The Silence of Trees, a story by Valya Dudycz Lupescu. Valya's novel has made it to Amazon's Breakthrough Novelist Award Semi-finals. You can download a free copy from Amazon.com here. If you like what you see, be sure to write a glowing review of the excerpt at Amazon.com!

To read a synopsis of the book, click here. To read Valya's story behind the book, click here. To view Nadya's Tarot spread and go deeper into the story, click here.

Good luck, Valya!

-- Janet Boyer

Back in Time Tarot - Upcoming Book by Janet Boyer

Hi all,

I'm thrilled to announce that I've signed a contract with Hampton Roads Publishing and that they are releasing my book in Fall 2008.

The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Card, Understand the Present uses an innovative technique I've created called the Back in Time (BIT) Method. Engaging, entertaining and insightful, the BIT Method Snapshots re-create scenes from pop culture, literature, history and personal experience using Tarot cards.

In addition to my own BIT Snapshots, over a dozen Tarot authors and deck creators have contributed their own take on my BIT Method in The Back in Time Tarot Book, including Mary K. Greer, Joan Bunning, Teresa Michelsen, Lisa Hunt, Mark McElroy, Riccardo Minetti, Zach Wong and other published luminaries.

You can read my specially created BIT Snapshots that aren't in The Back in Time Tarot Book in my regular column in Tarot World Magazine.

Feel free to stop by my AmazonConnect Blog to post your comments and questions or just to say "hi"!

-- Janet

Emergency Call for Articles

Heidi Snelgrove, the Editor of Tarot World Magazine and the Tarot Professional's Appointment Book, has told me that one of the contributors to the 2008 TPAB has been in a serious car accident. Sadly, she has suffered brain damage and her family doesn't know how she will recover.

Because of this, the 2008 Tarot Professional's Appointment Book now needs articles on the following topics:

*The High Priestess

*All Fool's Day

*Earth Day

*Beltane

If you're interested in contributing or have any questions, please email Heidi at editor@tarotworldmag.com.

-- Janet Boyer

ATA Quarterly Journal Needs Writers

Liz Hazel is the new Editor of the ATA Quarterly Journal and has made this announcement:

Greetings!

I'm the new editor of the ATA Quarterly Journal, and working with our new fearless leader (Arwen) and the other members of the ATA team, we're seeking creative and talented writers to help us
continue to deliver a great hard copy publication for the ATA membership. The new Submission Guidelines and issue deadlines are given below. Please feel free to cross-post this to other tarot lists or to other tarotists who might be interested.

An exciting new feature we're going to try is tarot cover art. If you're an artist working on a new tarot deck, please consider submitting a card - details below.

2008 Tarot Professional's Appointment Book

Have you ever wished for a Tarot-themed day planner? Have I got good news for you!

The publishers of Tarot World Magazine (set to debut in January 2008) are also producing a 2008 Tarot Professional's Appointment Book which you can pre-order here. They describe it like this:

A thick 232 pages, this 8 1/2 by 11 Appointment Book has all the room a professional reader needs.

It is staple bound to lay flat when opened, and includes 40 articles on all Major Arcana articles and holidays, as well 10 original spreads. Packed with useful information, the 2008 TPAB also features Monthly Tax Record information and Holidays from five religions and four countries.

They and the artwork in this annual piece make it a collector's item worth treasuring.

On a personal note, my husband Ron hand-painted the cover art (pictured above), which is imbedded with Tarot symbolism. The 8 x 10 acrylic painting is now for sale (serious inquiries can be made via email).

Also, I wrote two articles for the 2008 TPAB on The Chariot and The Hanged Man.

To insure that you get your 2008 Tarot Professional's Appointment before January, you can pre-order directly from the TWM site.

-- Janet Boyer

2007 UK Tarot Conference - October 20

I'm delighted to be headed back to London for the 2007 UK Tarot Conference! This full-day event will be held Saturday, October 20th, from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ... and gracious host Kim Arnold has assembled a schedule of speakers you won't want to miss!

Yours truly will kick off the day with "Test the Tarot," an action-packed, hands-on workshop exploring 20 different applications for the cards. Geraldine Beskin's session on the detailed symbolism of the Thoth deck is designed to help everyone get more out of Crowley's "wicked pack of cards." Riccardo Minetti of Lo Scarabeo will also be on hand to talk about the company's decks and publishing style -- and he'll stick around later for informal chats with attendees!

During lunch, Susanne Corbie will offer an optional, more intimate workshop (just twelve seats are available!) on "Cosmic Ordering through Tarot" -- ways to use the cards as tools for exercising the power of intention. Miranda Gray will be on hand to offer "Healing the Shadow," a workshop for releasing and healing old emotions and thought patterns. And David Goddard will close out the day with a series of guided meditations based on the Major cards.

One special note: on Friday, October 19th -- the night before the conference -- I'll be leading two useful, exciting sessions: "Making Friends with the Spooky Cards" (6:30-7:30) and "Unlocking the Meaning of Dreams" (7:45-9:00).

Kim Arnold (and hubby Martin!) do an incredible job of hosting and coordinating the event, making the UK Tarot Conference one of the warmest, friendliest, and most powerful Tarot events on the planet. Check out the web site, get the details, and plan to join us!

Tarot School Readers Studio 2008

One of the brightest and best Tarot events in the U.S. is back, featuring everything from a dazzling new location to a jaw-dropping poster by Ciro Marchetti (of the Gilded Tarot).

There's a wealth of information on the Tarot School's Readers Studio page, including a great story about how the Amberstones used the cards to identify and quality their new host hotel. Seats (and rooms) are limited, so, to avoid disappointment, sign up today!

TheTarotChannel.com: Now with More RSS Goodness!

As of today, the full text of every post at TheTarotChannel.com is available in our RSS feed!

RSS (officially, "Really Simple Syndication") allows website readers (just like you!) to pull articles from all their favorite web sites into one place. Without RSS, you don't know when your favorite site gets updated, and you have to go to the web site to see if it has been.

But with RSS, you get an alert every time your favorite web sites are updated ... and the alert automatically appears in your personal RSS reader! (Don't have one? Try Google Reader. It's free!)

We've always offered an RSS feed (to subscribe, just click the "Subscribe to this blog's feed" link in the right-hand column ... or click the distinctive orange RSS icon just above it!), but our feed previously included just the first paragraph of each article. Now, if you subscribe, you'll get the entire text of every article we publish.

Enjoy the new improved RSS feeds ... and, as always, thanks for reading TheTarotChannel.com. And now ... back to our regular programming!

Upcoming Releases February 2008

There's about a dozen new decks/kits from Lo Scarabeo debuting in February 2008--including a round Tarot deck. And, The Tarot Channel's Editor-in-Chief, Mark McElroy, will be out with the Mona Lisa Tarot--illustrated by the same fantastic artist that created the images for the Universal Fantasy deck!

-- Janet Boyer

RachaelCat Wins!

As promised, I printed out all comments made on our "Upgrading the Courts" post, tossed 'em into a hat, and drew one ... and the winner of a brand-new copy of the Necronomicon Tarot is RachelCat!

RachelCat, please drop me a line at mark@hismailbox.com to claim your prize. Congratulations to you -- and to everyone else ... thanks for tuning in TheTarotChannel.com!

Dancing Tarot: Myth Magick & Ritual

An announcement from Middle Eastern dancer Jehan:

"We have just returned from Egypt where I performed and taught at Raqia Hassan’s Ahlan Wa Sahlan Dance Festival. It was an amazing trip and we would love to share some impressions and insights in the coming weeks.  We also brought back lots of beautiful costumes.

Now that we are back we are continuing to film an on-going project entitled Dancing Tarot: Myth, Magick & Ritual..."

Thanks for Spreading the News!

Here at TheTarotChannel.com, fully 52% of our visitors come to us from links on other Tarot-related sites. We're very grateful for everything you're doing to help spread the word about TheTarotChannel.com!

Special thanks go out to our Top Ten Tarot Community Referrers for the month of June:

1) Aeclectic.net
2) 78notes.blogspot.com
3) janetboyer.com / synergyoracles.com
4) tarotmoon.com
5) mysticfaerietarot.blogspot.com / mysticfaerie.com
6) gaiantarot.com
7) shadowmeteresa.wordpress.com
8) tarotpedia.com
9) roswila-tarot.blogspot.com
10) baba-studio.livejournal.com

Thanks, guys!

As The Spirit Moves Me

Just dropping in for a moment to invite you to visit my new blog--As the Spirit Moves Me--on my main Web site.  For now, I have posted some of the pieces I contributed here at The Tarot Channel.  So they will be familiar to TTC's regular readers.  In the future, I'll be posting original content on Tarot and pretty much whatever the Spirit moves me to write!

Eva Yaa Asantewaa
http://mysite.verizon.net/magickaleva
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com

Upcoming Releases in Tarot

There are quite a few Tarot books and decks to be released in the second half of 2007, so I thought I'd compile them here for you. By all means, let us know of any upcoming releases for this year in case I missed any! (What are you anticipating? I'm excited about the Bohemian Gothic Tarot, myself.)

Tarot Boxes and Plaques by Ron Boyer

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know about the Tarot boxes and Tarot-themed plaques created by my very talented (and sweet!) husband. His highly-detailed woodburns are truly exquisite, as are his acrylic paintings.

Both the boxes and plaques are basswood, and custom motifs can either be woodburned onto the surface or painted with acrylics. For artwork based on the Tarot, you can choose a Rider-Waite-Smith inspired image of your liking or commission Ron to create a special illustration based on your experience and interpretation of a specific card or other Tarot-related idea.

Or, if you'd prefer, Ron can customize your Tarot box (they come in two sizes) with other themes such as:

• Power Animals/Animal Totems
• Archetypes and Symbols (Warrior, Magician, Writer, Artist, Teacher, Shaman, etc.)
• Glyphs (For example, planetary, elemental or alchemical glyphs)
• Elemental themes (Water, Fire, Air, Earth)
• Outdoor scenes (Ocean, lighthouses, trees, rocks, forests, etc.)
• Water creatures (Dolphins, starfish, seahorses, turtles, etc.)
• Space motifs (Sun, Moon, constellations, and other planets)
• Mythological/Fantastical creatures (Green Man, Mermaids, Faeries, etc.)

In the near future, he'll also be adding finished boxes to our site for individuals to purchase outright. (Any nominations for his next Tarot box? The Fool? The Moon? Strength? The Star? Something else?)

For more information and to see some of Ron's art, including a plaque he made for me based on The Hermit, click here.

-- Janet Boyer

Along the Tarot Path - The Tarot School's New Blog

Many of you are no doubt familiar with Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone--directors of The Tarot School, hosts of the annual Readers Studio and authors of the book Tarot Tips.

The Amberstone's are taking their knowledge and warmth to the blog world with their new blog Along the Tarot Path. Ruth Ann and Wald had this to say in their announcement:

Welcome to The Tarot School blog –– join us on our excellent adventure!

As you walk along with the two of us, you’ll notice our voices are very different. In no time at all, you’ll know if Ruth Ann or Wald is the one speaking. But occasionally, we’ll surprise you by talking in unison. 

As our paths converge, we invite you to add your comments and join the conversation!

– Ruth Ann & Wald Amberstone

-- Janet Boyer

Tarot World Magazine Available at Amazon.com

Remember my post about a new Tarot magazine set to launch in January 2008? I just realized that you can order a subscription directly through Amazon.com!

Rumor has it that a mock-up of the magazine will be available at the first-ever WATTS in July 2007.

-- Janet Boyer

Tarot World Magazine Coming in 2008

For those of you who have longed for a print magazine dedicated to Tarot, your dreams have apparently come true!

Tarot World Magazine, owned and operated by Heidi Snelgrove (aka MysticTree), will be accepting subscriptions beginning August 2007 with January 2008 being the official launch date. Tarot World Magazine will be published four times a year.

There will be several regular columns in this magazine, including Magic & Mystery by Paul Hughes-Barlow and Behind the Scenes with Stephen Winick. There are also opportunities for freelance writers to submit spreads, tarot tales and general articles.

-- Janet Boyer

Geraldine Amaral's "WHO are YOU in the TAROT?"

Geraldine Amaral of TarotCelebrations announces WHO are YOU in the TAROT?

Explore your SELF in this unique class!

Sunday, June 17 (2-5pm)
Arlington Metaphysical Chapel, Arlington, VA

Check Out Our Archives!

Hi all,

If you can believe this, I've recently re-posted four articles that Mark has covered in the past (I've deleted all but one). Here's the kicker: I even combed our Archives here at The Tarot Channel with the express purpose of looking for a particular topic to see if it had already been covered! Ack!

So if you see a repeat post, please forgive us. In our first two weeks of opening, the Editors had posted--get this--over 80 reviews, news bits, and articles! In fact, I haven't even had time to read half of what's up because of the sheer amount of information we've already amassed here at The Tarot Channel.

I'd like to invite you to tour our Archives because, like me, you may have very well overlooked some great articles and reviews--especially posts from January and February. If you look to the right, you'll see a list of topics under the heading Categories. Each of those categories have posts from all the way back to the very beginning of this site (January 2007).

You may have quite a bit of scrolling to do with some of the more heavily-posted-to topics, but you'll find a wealth of goodies in those Archives! And, the floor is always open to share your thoughts and questions about any story, article, or review--so feel free to post Comments on any of the Archived posts!

-- Janet Boyer

Back on the Air - DMCA Complaint

TheTarotChannel.com has been off the air for about twenty-four hours. (But if you're reading this, we're back up!) We apologize for the service outage.

As it turns out, an article I posted last week contained an excerpt from a copyrighted illustration ("Phobia" by artist Liza Phoenix). Though we gave the artist credit for her work, provided a link back to her site, and encouraged our readers to get to know more about her work, we did not specifically ask Ms. Phoenix for permission to use the image, as her site directs people to do.

Liza felt our use of the image infringed her copyright, and she filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (or DMCA) complaint against us. As a result, our domain registrar, GoDaddy.com, took our entire web site off the air -- without even giving us the opportunity to make things right first!

As the Editor-in-Chief of TheTarotChannel.com, I have apologized -- several times, in public and in private -- to Ms. Phoenix for the unauthorized use of a portion of one of her illustrations. We've removed the image and all links and references to her website from the article in question. We're sincerely sorry.

That said: I wish Ms. Phoenix had contacted me directly; had she done so, we could have handled the entire matter in a matter of seconds. Instead, though, she chose to file a DMCA complaint, which took more than twenty-four hours and quite a bit of persnickety paperwork to resolve. That strikes us as a bit like suing the neighbors instead of merely asking them to keep their kids out of your backyard plum trees ... but what's done is done.

Even in this age of digital communication and DMCA protection, we're all humans here at TheTarotChannel.com. We make mistakes. (And we apologize for them.) As artists who have copyrights of our own to protect, we never want to use material in any way that would surpass fair use.

Still -- please -- if you're someone who:

- believes we've infringed on your copyright, or

- doesn't want your artwork, photos, books, music, or work promoted on TheTarotChannel.com

... please don't file a DMCA complaint. You'll get a response much more quickly if you'll just let me know.

Submit a Story to TheTarotChannel.com

Spotted a great new Tarot-related website? Snagged a copy of a brilliant self-published Tarot? Catch a glimpse of Tarot on television, in a movie, or in your favorite band's latest music video? Found a Tarot resource the Tarot community just can't live without?

Share the news! Use the form below to submit tips to TheTarotChannel.com staff! While we don't guarantee that we'll cover every story submitted, we're delighted to hear the latest Tarot news and gossip from people who share our passion for the cards.

Tarot Association of the British Isles 2007 Conference

Rachel Pollack, Lon Milo DuQuette, Mick Frankel, Anya and Brian Stevenson will be the Speakers at the Annual Conference of The Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI) on the weekend of 6th to 8th July 2007.

The venue is Ammerdown Conference Centre, Radstock, near Bath, Somerset, England. Set in beautiful countryside, with good amenities including a swimming pool this unique venue is already proving popular and tickets are selling fast.

Spring Tarot Classes

Just wanted to let everyone know about two online courses I will be teaching this Spring, coming up in March and April. I'm really looking forward to the Ethics one, as this is a topic we haven't had much chance to explore in a course setting. And of course, Court Cards are always a challenge! You can find out more and sign up at TarotMoon.

* Court Cards - Beginning/Intermediate - 8 weeks (Mar 16 - May 11, 2007). Get to know the court cards like never before - this course is designed to introduce the reader to this difficult group of cards from a wide variety of unique and in-depth perspectives. We will explore their personalities (good, bad, and ...), elemental, psychological, and astrological qualities, address gender issues, experiment with significators, play with body language, and learn how to tell if a given court card represents the querant, someone else, or not a person at all. Meet the court cards disguised as approaches, professions, occupations, institutions, activities, animals, and more.

* Ethical Issues in Tarot Reading - All levels - 4 weeks (April 2007). This is a short course focusing on ethical issues in tarot reading that may arise when reading for the public. The course does not teach or promote a particular approach to ethics, but rather provides a forum for exploring the issues and assisting each reader to discover his or her boundaries and develop a personal code of ethics.

Classes are taught through YahooGroups and provide an interactive setting in which course participants can work with the instructor and other students using a discussion group and on-line format. YahooGroups provides a discussion list, web page, an area to upload and download files, a chat room, and other facilities. The courses follow a weekly syllabus, but within that schedule, students can participate, work on their lessons, and post messages whenever it is convenient for them.

www.TarotMoon.com
http://shadowmeteresa.wordpress.com/

Mystic Arcana - Tarot-Themed Series By Marvel Universe

David Sexton, creator of The Tarot of Oz, is spear-heading a four-issue extravaganza debuting in June of 2007. The four books, and their heroes, are correlated to the four suits/elements of the Minor Arcana: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

You can read more about it here, here, and here.

-- Janet Boyer

The Meaning of Synchronicity in Your Life: an Introduction to Occult Tools

A workshop announcement from the Washington, DC Tarot Society

The Meaning of Synchronicity in Your Life: an Introduction to Occult Tools

Is the Universe whispering to us?  Is there an “oracular consciousness?” And if so, how can we attune ourselves to hear its voice?  Synchronicity, described by Carl Jung as meaningful relationships that are acausally connected, suggests a wholeness of existence--the interconnectedness of all things.  Identifying and honoring such “coincidences” is a means of exploring alternative consciousness and spirituality.

Thank You to Readers, Bloggers, and Friends

This week, TheTarotChannel.com reached an important milestone: we now average over 200 visitors per day! Not bad, for the new kid on the block.

We love what we're doing ... but we also love knowing that you love it! So: thanks for making TheTarotChannel.com one of your favorite online destinations.

Thanks, too, for helping spread the word. The following websites are our top referrers -- sites that link to TheTarotChannel.com and send us lots and lots of new visitors:

1. Aeclectic Tarot
2. The Tarot School's Tarot Tips Newsletter
3. 78 Notes to Self
4. MadeByMark
5. Rush Is A Band
6. JanetBoyer.com
7. Gaian Tarot
8. ShadowMeTeresa
9. corrinekenner.com
10. manandcards.co.uk

These are the top ten ... but many, many other people have been kind enough to link to us, add our banner to their webpage, mention us in their newsletters, leave comments on our site, chat us up to their online forum of choice, tell their Sunday School class about us (heh), or otherwise help get the word out.

We appreciate you ... each and every one!

Happy Birthday Tarot School!

Wald and Ruth Ann Amberstone's Tarot School in New York City celebrates its twelfth birthday today!

If you're unfamiliar with their work, Wald and Ruth Ann's Tarot School provides some the best hands-on, practical Tarot training available anywhere on the planet. Their yearly Reader's Studio is one of the few large-scale, nationwide Tarot events still available to Americans, drawing attendees from around the globe. And -- for me, the icing on the cake -- Wald and Ruth Ann are genuinely good people who really do deserve the success they've achieved with the Tarot School program.

By the way: it's their birthday, but they're giving you presents -- including this great free podcast of a teleclass on the Ace of Cups. ("This ain't your momma's Ace of Cups," the promo material notes!). Follow the link and download the podcast for a free sample class that you can listen to on your computer or any .MP3 player, including that snazzy new iPod Shuffle that clips to your sweats.

Subscribe to The Tarot Channel

Hi all,

If you'd like, you can subscribe to The Tarot Channel's latest articles. Click here for more information. I just realized that I can add the latest articles to My Yahoo, which happens to be my homepage. With My Yahoo, you can control how many articles to display in the The Tarot Channel Module--up to 30 "headlines" at one time.

Of course, there are other podcatchers, too, such as Net Vibes, Google, and Podnova.

-- Janet Boyer

Changes at Llewellyn

As of January 19, Llewellyn's Tarot Acquisitions Editor Lisa Finander is no longer with Llewellyn. Her parting message didn't say why she was leaving, but did identify Bill Krause as the temporary contact for tarot submissions. Just thought all you authors and deck artists might want to know!

Love the Tarot Channel? Here's a Banner for Ya!

If you like what you see at TheTarotChannel.com, you can share your love with the world by placing this banner on your site. Simply save the .jpg below to your hard drive, upload it in your web editing program, and link it to http://www.TheTarotChannel.com Make sure you include THE at the beginning, as TarotChannel.com takes you to a different site.

 

 

What is the Tarot Channel?

The Tarot Channel was designed with Tarot students, readers, and collectors in mind. We've got Tarot news, book and deck reviews, and interviews with your favorite Tarot authors and deck designers. And, unlike almost any other Tarot blog on the web, we've got opinions and posts from several different Tarot authors and enthusiasts ... all in one place!

Tuning into The Tarot Channel should be like having a great chat with several great friends who love Tarot just as much as you do ... or discovering an entire cable TV channel devoted entirely to Tarot!

 

Have questions? Post 'em. Disagree with one of our book or deck reviews? Write and share your own. We love to talk about Tarot, and you're invited to join the discussion!