Tarot's Secret History (Northwest Tarot Symposium)

Did you know that the tarot’s High Priestess may have been based on a real-life heretical female pope? Or that the Hanged Man’s origins lie in medieval Italian political graffiti? How about The World dancer’s subversive genderqueer history in Christian alchemy? Today, we use tarot as a tool for radical personal transformation, but the tarot’s past is plenty radical, too. Delving into tarot’s earliest influences will not only make you better informed about these powerful cards, it can also change the way you read them! Join me for a journey into the origins of the earliest tarot cards, from the mysterious 15th century Visconti decks to the popular Tarot de Marseille that first captured the imagination of occultists. We’ll uncover the hidden past of these radical cards and consider what new interpretations they might reveal to us today.

This talk is part of the Northwest Tarot Symposium (NWTS), held Sept. 6-8 at the DoubleTree Hotel, Lloyd Center, Portland. PLEASE NOTE the location change from the Holiday Inn to the DoubleTree. See the NWTS website for full conference schedule and to purchase tickets: https://nwtarotsymposium.com/