Tarot Coffee Clubs

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	02 Feb 2004
Hi all, Well, a few weeks ago my Tarot-infatuated housemates and I decided to host a Tarot coffee club, once every fortnight at our house. It is designed to be a get-together of people interested in Tarot, people of all levels of experience with it. We were hoping to make it informal, where people can do as little or as much as they like. We thought we could include things like: -Tarot Games -A study of two cards each meeting -A study of a theme each meeting (eg- Gender in the Tarot, Goddess in the Tarot, love in the Tarot, etc...) -Swapping/practicing reading for others -Testing out spreads people have found or created -Having 10-30 minute talks given by the people if they wish -Discussing our experiences with the Tarot and our new discoveries (and newly purchased Tarot decks and books! })) I am hoping it will be a success and that the group will be able to grow and learn with each other very easily. One thing I am very interested in though, is if others have done something similar, or been a member of such a group? What were your experiences? And does anybody have any suggestions for the Tarot Coffee Club that they'd like to add? Any ideas? The first meeting is on Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I was thinking about giving a 10 minute talk about my Court Card system... I look forward to the replies, Blessings, Kiama

Lady Eclipse	02 Feb 2004
Hi Kiama, Before moving to AZ, I was a member of a group that got together once a week to talk tarot and do reading exchanges. It was very informal and loads of fun. We even played a sort of tarot charades once a month. I think your idea is excellent...I wish you were my neighbor! :-) Joy to you, Maralee

contrascarpe	02 Feb 2004
Kiama - I think you are in for a great experience. We have a small Tarot Circle here in Massachusetts begun by a member of this forum (in fact, I believe all the members of the Circle are on here). We have only met a couple of times so far, but I have taken so much out of our gatherings (I almost used the word meeting, but that sounds too businesslike). So far, we have had some general discussions about Tarot and have been able to compare styles, show decks for comparison, and work with different spreads. We spend most of the time trading readings which has been wonderful. It is so nice to see the different styles and compare interpretations when we are done. Good luck - keep us posted with your progress. Dan

Dark_angel	02 Feb 2004
That sounds like such a cool idea, Kiama. Kinda makes me wish I was at Cardiff! :)

horoskope88	02 Feb 2004
I've been trying to organize a similiar group at my high school. (STILL waiting for the club-making process to be revised; I'm starting to get impatient.) You've given me ideas for my own group! Good luck with yours!

bonnycat	02 Feb 2004
What a good idea wished I lived near you end of the country. Let us know how you get on i for one would love to know

HudsonGray	02 Feb 2004
That sounds very similar to the science fiction art group I was with. People would bring clippings or such on art opportunities if anyone in the group would want to follow up (two got contracts to do cards for Magic: The Gathering and the Mage decks), new art books they'd purchased that others could look through, and even their sketchbooks or art in progress. One thing though--have your meeting BEFORE the food. Once food is brought out, the thing deteriorates down into little groups & gets off the subject. Ask everyone to throw in ideas for future meetings, if they have any information or new things to share with the group (have them bring decks & such), a sort of show & tell. And arrange the next meeting date before the food also, while you have all their attention.

TemperanceAngel	03 Feb 2004
Kiama sounds brilliant, look forward to hearing how it all goes :D XTAX

Majecot	03 Feb 2004
Kiama That sounds like a wonderful time! I hope that it turns out as great as it sounds. Keep us informed ;)

inanna_tarot	03 Feb 2004
Kiama you know i'm just jealous of you neways - watch out, i'll be out to steal your life.. Only joking! i could take philosophy without my head falling off :P History is much more my thing. Ohh doctors is on Sezo x

Kiama	06 Feb 2004
Hi all, Well, we had the first Tarot Coffee Club on Wednesday night and it went really well! I was mildly suprised actually! Everybody who came said they learned alot from it, and that it was alot easier to take in information and insights when you're doing it with friends and chatting in an informal way. We began the evening by discussing our experience with Tarot, how and when we got into it, why we like it, what we see in it, how we use it, what decks we use, etc. But we also discussed what we want out of Tarot, and the general consensus among the group (which I wasn't expecting since we're all from varied backgrounds) was that we want to gain from the Tarot an idea of who we are, guidance in life, and something to act as a mirror to show us, objectively, what is really going on. Then we spent some time playing 'Gifts and Secrets', a Tarot game that can be found in the book Tarot Games by Maura D. Shaw and Cait Johnson. (Excellent book -recommend it to everybody!) Everybody found this really good, esepcially those who were new to Tarot: they found it interesting and insightful not only listening to others' takes on the cards as we played, but also interpreting the cards on the spot, no books allowed, etc. :D We finished with a short talk and discussion about the Tarot journal, and drew two cards at random from the deck as the cards we would research and discuss for the next gathering: The Emperor and Magician. We also chose a theme to research and discuss next time: the Four Elements and the Tarot. I now cannot wait for the next gathering, since I learned so much from the last one. :D Thanks for all your help and suggestions folks! Blessings, Kiama

inanna_tarot	07 Feb 2004
Sounds like fun was had by all! I'm really glad it went well, and that you've all got homework! Thats a problem with most moots is that you sit around talking about something, often things you havent thought of before and theres no follow up, only if you chose to do so. Dont get me wrong thats a very good thing, but, if everyone had some prep before the meeting you wouldnt be so worried what to say or if what u're on about is right or not! You might get some strange meditations and feedback next time - so if you could dont forget to share with us single tarot folks who only have the internet for comfort lol. Well done and keep it up girlie! You should feel smug :P Sezo x

Phoenyx*	07 Feb 2004
Wow, I wish I could be in Cardiff! Heh. That sounds like you all had a wonderful time. :D

Jen	16 Feb 2004
Hi Kiama, The Denver tarot group (3 of us) have been meeting once a week at a coffee shop for around 5 months now. Initially we would give ourselves homework and would often pick a subject in the news, like a major crime - we'd all do a reading on it, on our own time then compare our results at the next meeting. This was a lot of fun. We often drew some of the same cards. After a while we stopped planning out what we were going to do at the next meeting. Now we just go with the flow and talk about whatever comes up.

ScarabFlight	17 Feb 2004
That would be awesome to have a group get togther. My sister in law and I both are in to Tarot so that's my little group. lol We play a little game, I got it from a Tarot Tips book I believe. We randomly pick a few cards (5 cuz it's just the two of us) and make up a story. The first person turns over the first card and starts with "Once upon a time" and the last person has to end with "and they lived happily ever after." We have to come up with new meanings every time (no recycling) so that makes us look really carefully at the cards. We've come up with some really funny stories, one was about a nudist colony because she drew the Judgement card. lol It was getting really tricky when we were drawing the same cards!!!

Osher	17 Feb 2004
I'd love one in London, especially NW London. I might even be tempted to set one up myself, if some others would join in? I know a few halls that are not too expensive to use. I belong to two modeling societies, and we use halls that cost around £20/night. If we can get a dozen people, even with drinks, no more than £2 or so each.

Phoenyx*	17 Feb 2004
I wish we had alot of people interested in Tarot here in Mississippi, but everytime the subject gets brought up, I get looks like I'm a freak. :(

Majecot	18 Feb 2004
It would be nice to have a place to get together here too... Kiama you are so lucky. I only know a couple of people and we all have such different schedules it would nearly impossible.... we usually end up discussing things via email. *dreaming* Ahhh a little mocha.. a little tarot....

Kiama	19 Feb 2004
We had our second Tarot Coffee Club last night, and more people turned up this time (probably because it wasn't raining!) ScarabFlight, I borrowed your Tarot Story idea, and each of us drew one card each, one at a time, beginning the story with the first person with "Once upon a time" and ending the story with either "and he/she/it lived happily ever after" or "and he/she/it didn't live so happily ever after..." We got some very interesting results, considering the group of us were quite a mixture, from outright beginners who go their first deck last week, to people who had been studying Tarot for years. One story began with a Highwayman (7 of Swords), who felt it was unfair that the rich had so much money. So he robbed them and gave their money to... himself. This carried on for a couple of years until... He got captured (The Devil). All his money and treasure that he had accumulated over the years was taken away from him by the greedy jailor, and he was kept prisoner. But his days in the prison weren't so bad after he fell in love with the woman who brought him his bread and water each day (the Lovers). She offered him companionship, comfort, and love. Eventually, he was freed, and resolved to leave behind his life as a highwayman and settle down with his love (4 Wands). They got married, built a house on the prairie, and lived very comfortably until... One day, the ex-highwayman began to get bored. The polo games (6 of Wands from Spiral Tarot) did nothing to cheer him. The stability of the 4 of Wands also did not help. He wanted his money back. And so he upped and left his wife and his home (Knight of Swords) in order to go questing for more treasure and adventure. Unfortunately though, he met with an unexpected danger on his travels and died. (10 Swords.) And he did not live happily ever after at all! The other two stories involved a humble traveller (6 of Swords) who met a maiden in the forest (Queen of Pentacles) and proceeded to tie her up (8 of Swords) before leaving her to do something else (I forget now what it was...) There was also a business man (King of Pentacles) who also had a very unhappy ending... We also went through each of the Major Arcana and discussed what element each card would be. Not everybody agreed, but the object was to discuss our ideas of it, not come to a decision on one element! And indeed, we found that some cards represented polarity too much to embody just one element. We had a talk on the Court Cards, somebody shared with us a spread they had designed for past lives are their effect on this life, and we discussed the Emperor and Magician card. So all in all it was a good night. :D Kiama

tmgrl2	19 Feb 2004
This would be so wonderful to connect at a coffee club...I'm jealous too..I live on Long Island. Anyone out there...Seems like densely populated area and it is, but we are about 80 miles out of NYC, so like living country-style...If anyone sees this posting, PM me and maybe we can get something going. gl all with coffee clubs

ol_crazy_Legs	19 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama Hi all , Well, a few weeks ago my Tarot-infatuated housemates and I decided to host a Tarot coffee club, once every fortnight at our house. It is designed to be a get-together of people interested in Tarot, people of all levels of experience with it. We were hoping to make it informal, where people can do as little or as much as they like. We thought we could include things like: -Tarot Games -A study of two cards each meeting -A study of a theme each meeting (eg- Gender in the Tarot, Goddess in the Tarot, love in the Tarot, etc...) -Swapping/practicing reading for others -Testing out spreads people have found or created -Having 10-30 minute talks given by the people if they wish -Discussing our experiences with the Tarot and our new discoveries (and newly purchased Tarot decks and books! })) I am hoping it will be a success and that the group will be able to grow and learn with each other very easily. One thing I am very interested in though, is if others have done something similar, or been a member of such a group? What were your experiences? And does anybody have any suggestions for the Tarot Coffee Club that they'd like to add? Any ideas? The first meeting is on Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I was thinking about giving a 10 minute talk about my Court Card system... I look forward to the replies, Blessings, Kiama If there was something like that where I lived I would love it!!! I think you should go through with it. Good Ideah!

STARGAZING	19 Feb 2004
Oh, I am so jealous, really, I am on my own. People think I am pretty weird with all my Tarot, crystals, and things. But I right away think, their loss. I would love to be involved in something like that. I think that is why I love coming here on my lunch time. I just read and read. Thank you all for such great threads.

Orion	19 Feb 2004
I have not heard of anything like this where I live! I would love to be a part of that!

starsongs	19 Feb 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Kiama We had our second Tarot Coffee Club last night, and more people turned up this time (probably because it wasn't raining!) ScarabFlight, I borrowed your Tarot Story idea, and each of us drew one card each, one at a time, beginning the story with the first person with "Once upon a time" and ending the story with either "and he/she/it lived happily ever after" or "and he/she/it didn't live so happily ever after..." We got some very interesting results, considering the group of us were quite a mixture, from outright beginners who go their first deck last week, to people who had been studying Tarot for years. Kiama Kiama, This all sounds like such fun...and quite a learning experince too! May your Tarot Coffee Club continue to grow and prosper..:-) starsongs

The Tarot Coffee Clubs thread was originally posted on 02 Feb 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.