Chinese Year of the Rat

On the 25th January 2020 we enter the Chinese Year of the Rat. 

Rat  quick-witted, clever, charming, sharp and funny. They have excellent taste, and are generous and loyal friend friend. Motivated, curious, seeks knowledge and welcomes challenges. Compatible with Dragon or Monkey.

Ox steadfast, solid, a natural leader, hard-working, stubborn, serious but can feel insecure. Takes comfort in friends and family and is reliable, protective and strong companion. Compatible with Snake or Rooster.

Tiger authoritative, self-possessed, have strong leadership qualities, are charming, ambitious, courageous, warm-hearted, seductive and intense, ready to pounce at any time. Compatible with Horse or Dog.

Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, they avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig.

Dragon are energetic and warm-hearted, charismatic, lucky at love and egotistic. They’re natural born leaders, good at giving orders and doing what’s necessary to remain on top. Compatible with Monkey and Rat.

Snake seductive, gregarious, introverted, generous, charming, good with money, insecure, jealous, smart, they rely on gut feelings, are hard-working and intelligent. Compatible with Rooster or Ox.

Horse  love to roam free. They’re energetic, self-reliant, money-wise, and they enjoy travelling, love and intimacy. They’re great at seducing, sharp-witted, impatient and sometimes seen as a drifter. Compatible with Dog or Tiger.

Goat enjoy being alone in their thoughts. They’re creative, thinkers, wanderers, unorganised and can be insecure, and anxiety-ridden. They need lots of love, support and reassurance. Appearance is important too. Compatible with Pig or Rabbit.

Monkey thrive on fun. They’re energetic, upbeat, and can lack self-control. They like being active and stimulated and enjoy pleasing self before pleasing others. They’re not good at long-term relationships. Compatible with Rat or Dragon.

Rooster practical, resourceful, observant, analytical, straightforward, trusting, honest, perfectionists, neat and conservative. Compatible with Ox or Snake.

Dog loyal, faithful, honest, temperamental, prone to mood swings, dogmatic, and sensitive. Dogs excel in business but have trouble finding lasting relationships. Compatible with Tiger or Horse.

Pig  good-mannered and tasteful. They’re perfectionists who enjoy finer thing in life. They enjoy helping others and are good companions (until someone close crosses them), then look out! They’re intelligent, always seeking more knowledge. Compatible with Rabbit or Goat.

UK Tarot Conference 9th 10th October 2020

As always, every conference, we strive for ways to create a better Tarot experience for you all and keep the energy fresh.   This year, we plan to remove the partition between the main event room and the space where the refreshments and stalls were previously, thus creating a larger space for round tables.  For 2020, the large main screen and stage will be moved back to occupy this space. The new screen is much bigger than the old one, plus of course, the TV monitors dotted around the room, will make the event more accessible for everyone.  I have discussed this with the conference team at the venue and I am confident that we will create a wonderful environment.

We will have a new area for merchandise and refreshments giving our third conference at this venue a new feel.  The Saturday lunchtime workshop which includes lunch, will again be in a separate private room, and of course, we have booked a dedicated room for our Thursday evening pre conference workshop, dinner and hot of the press, issue 3 of The Esotoracle.

The cost for the two-day ticket has stayed the same (Friday/Saturday), the only increase is for Friday ONLY attendees.  This year we are looking to do something special for Friday evening and have a buffet rather than the canapes.    We are also looking to make Friday evening more involved, with private readings on offer as well as our Auction, raffle and a great time to get together socially.

In addition to the tickets usually on sale, we have added a FULL Pentacle ticket which includes Pre-Conference Thursday, the Conference and lunch on Saturday.    We are offering an ‘early bird’ price on this until 3^rd February.

As we celebrate our 17^th Year honouring the Star card, we plan for this Conference to shine more brightly than ever before.        The UK Tarot Conference is always a SOLD-OUT event, so if you are not yet ready to buy your ticket in full, a deposit option is available and in February we will set up the monthly payment option.  Will keep you posted.  Book HERE

Kim x

A Decade of Kim Arnold’s UK Tarot Conference Evolving 2010 - 2020

What a decade it has been for Tarot; the joy of seeing Tarot become more mainstream, with card images featuring in high profile adverts is getting people talking.  Certainly, when I began reading 30 odd years ago, you were regarded as some kind of woo woo weirdo if you read the cards, or if you had any association with the ‘new age’ movement. People were definitely more narrow minded then. I won’t get in to the church nonsense, and prefer to block from my mind the cost of new tyres on my car as nails became a regular occurrence. This was only one of the numerous ways in which the Evangelist Church protested against my use of Tarot cards and the fact that I owned an esotorical shop. (Apparently, if you are a Church member, you are entitled to act as Judge and Jury)! I have always been passionate about Tarot and this has been the instigator of many upsets over the years. One example that comes to mind involved a major article in “The Independent” newspaper 16 years ago about my Conference, entitled “Tarot comes out of the Suburbs and in to the 20^th Century”. This resulted in concerted condemnation from the Tarot community around the world. Total misinterpretation of what I had written, etc. etc.  It was hurtful and unacceptable to be vilified by those you assume are on your side in promoting Tarot as a positive tool.  However, I moved on in the way I believed I was meant to, by creating and organising what became the annual UK Tarot Conference.

There must have been thousands of new decks produced over the last decade, and many have passed through my hands for reviews. From quirky, traditional, modern, saucy, and some just plain weird, we accept that each of us have our own ideas of what works for us and what doesn’t. This is what makes Tarot so wonderful, it’s wonderful ability to be both diverse and inspirational.

This is a brief summary of the UK Tarot Conference during the past decade.   I have missed a few of the years, not because they were not inspiring, but because I am homing in on key and memorable moments.

In 2010, after a few years of varied venues, we finally found a ‘home’ at the Thistle City Barbican Hotel, Mary Greer was our key speaker and Hermann Haindl shared stories of how he created the Haindl deck and also his teenage years as part of the Hitler Youth. Hermann had us belly laughing with his stories. Such a kind, gentle man.   It was an honour to have met him. Sadly, Hermann passed away in 2013.

2013, our 10^th anniversary celebration saw our first Thursday evening event.  With the help of Geraldine Beskin, I booked a private pod on the London Eye to represent the Wheel of Fortune, Geraldine wrote a historical tour especially for us and we ended the day at Atlantis Bookshop for more talk and food. It dawned on me then that the Thursday evening prior to the Conference should be a regular event, and so the pre-conference evening was born.   2013 was significant in many ways. My book “Tarot Masters” was written and produced in honour of our 10^th anniversary, featuring the stories of 22 wonderful Tarot teachers who had spoken at the Conference in previous years and my 22 Major Card Tarot Master deck based on my 22 contributors was self-published.

Jumping to 2015, when the lovely Jonathan Dee joined us as a Speaker. He was the funniest, sweetest man, and his sense of humour really appealed to me. To this day, something he said during his workshop still makes me laugh. Martin (husband) said to me, “you were the only one who laughed. I knew you would find that funny!!”    Jonathan was one of those people that once you met him, you wanted to be his friend for life. I was devastated to learn that a few days after attending the Conference he passed away due to a brain tumour.  His publisher later told me, that when I approached Jonathan and asked him to speak at my Conference, he was very excited and happy as he said it gave him a sense of being part of the Tarot community after a few disappointments. After the event he was full of stories about the warm and wonderful reception he received at the Conference. It makes me very happy to know that his final days were happy.

2016 turned out to be the busiest year. The UK Tarot Conference is entirely my own work, inspiration and creation; therefore, I had never worked with a partner before. However, I wanted to spread my wings but, for some unknown reason, even allowing for the increasing numbers and greater success of the Conference, I had lost my confidence. I spoke with Geraldine and Bali of The Atlantis Bookshop and suggested that we create the London Tarot Festival.  Within a few months the venue was booked, and we were on our way to a new Tarot event in London.  The Festival was always intended to be a taste of Tarot and not as in-depth as the Conference.      Always one to go overboard, I also approached my dear friend Wicca Meier-Spring about a Tarot Festival in Switzerland, and this was born in 2017.

2017 saw our last event at the Thistle city Barbican which was headlined by Sasha Graham who I had met at the New York Readers Studio the previous year.  Now, we were literally turning bookings away as we were hitting capacity months before the Conference. Kim Arnold’s UK Tarot Conference was exceeding expectations.       Swiss TarotFest was launched this year and many new friends made worldwide.  Although, there is of course, a serious aspect to these events, I have never laughed so much as with the very naughty David Wells and my girls from the UK.

In 2018 we took our seats in our new Tarot home, the Holiday Inn Kensington. Rachel Pollack and Benebell Wen were our very special Key Speakers. The venue was excellent, attentive and efficient staff, prestigious location and a room fully equipped with monitors enabling every attendee full access to the presentations.

The 2019 Conference saw the launch of “The Esotoracle Magazine” a joint venture with Steven Bright. Our Key Speakers were Mary K Greer, Davide de Angelis, Avril Price, Richard Abbot, and Katrina Wynne.  Again, we came away from the event full of wonderful stories and having renewed existing friendships and enjoyed making new ones. We truly are a Tarot family!

Over the years my Conference has been privileged to launch new decks, grant access to Speakers who have been exclusive to our Tarot community in the UK and, most importantly watch our Tarot family grow. Lifelong friendships have been formed. I promise you I take nothing for granted and consider it an honour to serve the Tarot Community.  I confess It has not always been an easy ride, some years have been more challenging than others, but I promise you I put my heart and soul into each and every Conference.

With that in mind, I look forward to seeing you next year as we are joined by ………………. Sorry you will have to wait until January for that announcement.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year my darling Tarot family, may you all be blessed with health, wealth and much joy in the coming year.   Kim xx

What's in a Name? Quite a Lot Apparently!

You must know by now that the lovely Steven Bright and I are working on a new magazine, its main focus being Tarot but we wanted the freedom to incorporate other divination tools as the magazine grows.  Oracle World was the perfect name, it flowed off the tongue and summed up beautifully what we were trying to achieve.       We did Google searches to make sure this had not been used, and it all looked good to go.  Then we found out that a major computer company called Oracle Open World had trademarked the name then there were all sorts of complicated Trademark and Copyright issues.  Although Oracle World was not taken, it was still ‘dodgy’.

After much discussion, Steven and I reluctantly decided not to go ahead with the name, after copious amounts of coffee (caffeine free for Steven, he is good) and a lot of giggling when ridiculous names came up with many innuendos, we decided the only way to be completely sure of no repercussions, was to create a unique name of our own. The merger of Esoteric and Oracle came together, so there we have it The Esotoracle (Magazine).

The content makes me smile with pride, this is going to be FABULOUS.  So, what is in a name?  Not a lot really, it takes nothing away from the content, hard work, contributions and dedication to a wonderful publication coming your way in October.

Review of the Chakra Wisdom Tarot by Tori Hartman

Review of the Chakra Wisdom Tarot by Tori Hartman (Watkins Publishing) £16.99
By Kim Arnold

Having seen and been very impressed by Tori Hartman when I attended a workshop by her at Atlantis bookshop many years ago, I was excited to be asked to review this deck.

Before I delve into the merits of the Chakra Wisdom Tarot, let me tell you my observations on Tori. Having sat through many workshops/talk/lectures on chakras, I will be very honest and say NO ONE has ever impressed me, usually they drag out the same old chakra woo woo and I leave thinking that was time I will never get back! Anyway, fast forward to Tori Hartman, I genuinely loved her workshop, it was fast paced, packed with knowledge, interactive and she is a delight to listen too. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am she will be joining us at the London Tarot Festival in June.

Watkins have done a great job sparing no expense in putting this set together. The 112 page booklet goes beyond what you would usually expect from an accompanying book. It is full colour, packed with diagrams, lots of spreads to try and ideas for manifesting as well as information about the chakra system. The cards are colourful and although not completely traditional, each card is clearly recognisable and the illustrations perfectly in synch with the element and meaning. These cards make you tap in to YOU. Not just what is happening on the external part of your life (work, love, finances, family etc) but it encourages you to see what is blocked within you and ideas on how you can work on yourself. Also, you do not need to know anything about the Chakra system to work with these cards, but you will learn plenty along the way.

I chose the ‘Your Path to Manifesting’ spread, for a trial reading, I have shared the image of my reading but will just choose a few cards so you get the drift.

Card 1. How your roots are deepening – Strength – I fully understand this card in this position, as I get older I feel more secure, not only in myself, but in my determination to continue to grow.

Card 2. The feelings that are driving you – The Devil – errmmm …. pushing boundaries?

Card 6. What do you do to support yourself intuitively – Judgement – Reminding myself that I can always improve. I like the idea of Angel Gabriel being around.

Card 7. How will your dreams support the universe? Ace of Cups – Being committed to a goal and trust that support comes when needed.

The reading was a real eye opener for me, and has given much clarity in areas I did not know needed focus. I also used these cards with my monthly meditation group, I had everyone pull a card and everyone had a message which related to their life.

These cards will be a fabulous edition to your Tarot collection, they offer something different and encourage you to look deep within. Go buy a deck, you will not be disappointed! Tori will be speaking at the London Tarot Festival on 1st June.