Tarot Down Under! - Southern Symposium Trans Tasman

Tarot Down Under

Taking Stock will be the theme for the upcoming Southern Symposium scheduled to take place 17-19 June 2011, at the Bella Rakha Retreat Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Co-hosts Fern Mercier and Lyn Howarth-Olds once again collaborating to offer a weekend of tarot indulgence. Five years will have passed since their first joint project, the hugely successful tarot event arcana held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2006. This ambitious project saw over 1000 people through the doors, immersing themselves in tarot art, imagery, presentations and performance. While the Southern Symposium is quite a different approach, elements of arcana will remain with the inclusion of visual presentations, a tarot art exhibition and the launch of a newly published book.

The weekend will take shape as a ‘live’ three card reading. Where we have been, where we are now and where we are heading (past, present, future). 

Jean-Michel David (Association for Tarot Studies) will take us back to the PAST, Annie Dunlop, former president of the Australian Tarot Guild will bring us into the PRESENT, and Fern Mercier, Tarot Guild of Aotearoa (NZ) will guide us into the FUTURE.

The theme of the Symposium is Taking Stock.

Fern and Lyn say: ‘Our everyday lives in the 21st century are a fast-paced treadmill of constant change, with new tarot information constantly being thrown at us. We have to decide what to take on and what to let go – and how to assimilate fresh ideas with our existing knowledge. We have access to an extraordinary range of tarot books and decks – from reproductions of ancient decks, to those created by a new generation of tarot authors and artists – and everything in between. The explosion of tarot images opens us up, but threatens to overload us too. Can we keep up, can we go back – do we want to?

Among this flood of tarot, a select few have enjoyed popular and widespread support. Why are some prescribed meanings preferred over others? Should we pledge allegiance to one of the popular traditions, or can we pick and choose? What about the old, often forgotten, cartomantic and esoteric meanings – should some be revived? Among the chorus of voices clamouring for attention, how can we evolve – or even trust in – our own personal methods for reading?’

Questions like this will be contemplated over the course of the weekend in seminars and mini master classes presented by tarot luminaries from the Antipodes.

For full details, registration, accommodation options etc, please visit

www.tarot-ART.com

While the event has a strong Trans Tasman focus, Lyn and Fern are keen to invite the wider global community to participate.