I will be attending the Bay Area Tarot Symposium in San Francisco on October 3rd and 4th. The theme is a celebration of the Waite-Smith Tarot, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. This will be my 3rd BATS, a wonderful weekend of Tarot produced by the amazing Thalassa and the Daughters of Divination. Presenters this year include Mary Greer, Rachel Pollack, Pamela Eakins, Arnell Ando, Joseph Martin, Art Rosengarten, Holly Voley, Cynthia Giles, and the Fifth Tarot’s Teressena Bakens! What a lineup!
In anticipation of BATS, I decided to use the “Three Caskets” spread (based on Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice) from the Shakespeare Oracle. Here are the results:
Gold casket: What you desire (from BATS) – The Elementor of Shells tells me that I desire to dive into the symposium, to experience its magic to the fullest, and to rise up with a pearl of knowledge to bring home with me. I also desire to make full use of my own knowledge and intuition during the weekend. The Fifth Tarot says that the Elementor is “grace, love and light, peace and joy, all at once…the full embodiment of all that the suit represents” (p. 272). There will be much joy, pleasure, wisdom-gaining and magic to be experienced, exactly what I would wish for at BATS.
Silver casket: What you deserve (from BATS) – The Two of Feathers (Truth) depicts two crossed pipes, representing our “deep connection to spirit and truth” (p. 161). There will be a variety of speakers and presentations, each reflecting the truth as seen and experienced by the presenters. We as attendees deserve nothing less than a connection to spirit and a search for our own truth. A quote from Mahatma Gandhi in the Fifth Tarot reminds us “Where there is no Truth, there can be no true knowledge…” (p. 162). And we must also speak our own truth in our discussions and interactions with each other as we seek wisdom and guidance. This card is an indication that I must “share my knowledge of truth with others, because it is time. This card is one of an active mind that is guided by spirit… (p. 163). As much as I love San Francisco and could easily become distracted by its beauty, I deserve to focus my attention fully in each session at BATS, in order to share and learn as much as possible.
Lead casket: What you get (from BATS) – The Initiate of Lotus depicts the feet of a Master, where we must “sit humbly…surrendering to the wisdom and trusting in the universe, ready to receive the blessings of the ethers on our path to self-realization” (p. 302). The suit of Lotus offers us gifts that we are use selflessly. In this regard, we may all be considered “masters”, sharing our gifts and knowledge with each other. The Fifth Tarot says “you will be initiated into the realm of illuminated truth and experience the bliss and joy of…unconditional love” (p. 304).
From this spread, it seems that I will be in the right place at the right time! The advice of the cards is to keep focused, eyes wide open, seek the truth that others want to impart, and to speak my own truth…in this way will I be gifted with blessings and knowledge as I walk my path. I am so looking forward to BATS this year, I wasn’t sure if scheduling and finances would allow me to attend, but I put it out to the universe, and everything simply fell into place. It is going to be an amazing weekend!
Images from the Fifth Tarot © 2008 by Blue Dolphin — Used by permission
