Live Blogging From SF BATS

When I first arrived at SF BATS, the energy was a little bit chaotic. Tarot people packing in, presenters finding their info and vendors setting up. It was crazy but the energy was electric and FUN. I knew right away that this conference was going to have a groovy vibe once we got settled in.

It all started with a hearty welcome from the Bat Queen herself, Thalassa Therese.

Thalassa Therese

At SF BATS you get a choice of a few classes per session. Each class lasts about 50 minutes. It is NOT easy to choose which class to take – the lineup was THAT good. I decided to start out with a class from Thalassa.

Thalassa taught us about the shadow side of the tarot cards and how to work with them. The class was entertaining (would you expect any less from Thalassa?) but also very informative. I learned a great technique that I am dying to share with my tarot peeps! (The technique is this: if you have a card you don’t like, pull another card to see how to deal with it. Simple but effective!)

Mary Greer

My next class was with Mary Greer. (I never want to miss a Mary class after the awesome one I took last year at RS10.) Mary taught us about Birth cards and about how to find the year cards for important events in our lives. After looking over the numbers, I was surprised to see how many life altering events happened to me during “Temperance” years. And not surprised to see that the hardest year of my life happened during a “Devil” year. Interesting. This is something to play around with. (By the way, Mary has a new book on Birth Cards, Who Are You In Tarot, that will cover all of this in depth.)

For lunch break, I was able to sit down and chat with Georgianna Boehnke of The Tarot Room. I loved working with Georgianna when I was a co-host at Beyond Worlds. What a delight to meet her in person and be able to put a face to that silky voice! Georgianna rocks!

After lunch, I decided to stay in the Main room for the rest of the classes in there. James Wanless did not disappoint. This tarot legend taught us a fantastic new spread using his Sustain Yourself cards. He gave us all a free card (I got the Cave).

James Wanless

This was followed by a fun class with Corrine Kenner – tarot for writers. (My daughter, who is a writer would have LOVED this class!) This class was interactive and all attendees got to function as parts of a Celtic Cross spread method for creating a story. It was so much fun!

Corrine Kenner

The last class was with Joanna Powell Colbert, designer of the Gaian Tarot. Joanna taught us a magical class on the elements – and she gave us a new spread to work with. The one thing I can say about SF BATS is the content is MEATY. My head was swimming with information!

Joanna Powell Colbert

Good thing we got to follow up with a cocktail party! Everyone popped downstairs for hors d’oeuvres and drinks. The energy was lively and we all had so much fun unwinding. Some people came out in costume – and we were treated to a live poetry performance.