By Terri C.
Dax Carlisle is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Conscious Living Coach. He is the host of NuLife Radio (www.NuLifeRadio.com) and Co-Founder of the Tarot Guild (www.TarotGuild.com). We appreciate that he took some time out of his busy day to chat with us!
Tarot Reflections: What is your personal background with the Tarot?
Dax Carlisle: I have been studying the Esoteric and Metaphysics all my life. As far as Divination, I was actually into Numerology before discovering Tarot. I of course had come across Tarot before, but it wasn't until the insistence of a friend to take a deeper look at Tarot, that I really began studying it in earnest. I was delighted to find that all the metaphysical/esoteric subjects I was studying could be found in the Tarot. The Tarot became the “hub” of the wheel for me.
TR: What is the Tarot Guild?
DC: The Tarot Guild is an international organization for Tarot Enthusiasts, Students, and Professionals. Our Mission Statement says it all:
Bringing together the Global Tarot Community in order to promote and develop the Tarot as an accepted tool for fortune creation and personal growth. To serve its members by providing resources, training/mentorship, and professional services.
TR: Where did the concept for the Tarot Guild originate? …and who came up with the idea?
DC: At our local San Diego Tarot Meetup, the concept of The Tarot Guild developed over a series of discussions/meetings. Members had seen a need for a professional Tarot organization. We also noticed a lot of good work coming out of the local Tarot Meetup community and saw a need for a centralized place for the local Meetup attendees to gather globally, to share resources and ideas, as well as form a community on a larger scale. We formed The Tarot Guild on October 31st, 2004. We just celebrated our 6th Anniversary.
TR: You have built a social networking platform for your members, what all can someone access if they decide to join, and are there different levels of membership?
DC: First of all, it's 100% FREE to join The Tarot Guild and access all the features of our Tarot Portal: www.TarotGuild.com. Everyone who joins gets their own profile MyPage and Blog free. You can post and promote yourself as well as any products or services you have. You can access videos and pictures (as well as upload your own), resources, reviews, blog and forum posts, the chat room (we even have an audio/visual chat room available), Groups & Forums for various topics, individuals, organizations (ATA, TABI), and companies (Llewellyn, U.S. Games, Schiffer, etc...). We are adding more all the time.
We do have a Premium Membership Package that includes Unlimited Live classes, unlimited class downloads, a discount on Master Classes (like the upcoming Tarot Dynamics Course with Anna Cook), the Guild's Tarot Beginner's Course (included), mentoring, access to the Premium Members Group, access to the Premium Members Chat Room, a professional presence on the web for you and your products/services with a unique URL address, a professional email address, help with technology, business advice & mentoring, business classes, membership on TarotPros.com as an Advisor, use of the TG Logo, use of the "Guild Endorsed Reader" Logo, promotion & marketing, appearances on Tarot Today Radio (for our TarotPros Advisors), and more...www.Premium.TarotGuild.com
TR: The Tarot Guild has its own personal social network on the internet. Besides the social networking aspect, what else does the Tarot Guild do?
DC: Well, as you know, we produce a radio show Tarot Today Radio www.TarotTodayRadio.com We have done some 50 episodes since the beginning of 2010. We interview the top experts in Tarot and related subjects, authors, artists, deck creators, and readers.
One of our primary goals to to promote Tarot to the general public and demystify it to some extent. We are heavily involved with social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. Our Twitter account @TarotGuild is in the top 1% of all 8,000,000+ accounts! We received a grade of 100/100 on TwitterGrader.com: www.twittergrader.com/tarotguild.
We use this influence on social media to promote Tarot in general and our members and their products and services.
TR: Is the Tarot Guild currently working on any major projects as a group?
DC: There are SO many projects we are doing and that are on the drawing board that I can hardly keep up myself! We are currently in the middle of a re-vamp of the Tarot Guild and the website. We are trying to simplify things to make it easier to navigate on the site (there is SO much there!). We also did away with our subscriptions in favor of the single Premium Membership that includes ALL our premium services and classes.
One big project we want to get going for 2011 is our Tarot Anthology book project. We “Tarot-Junkies” have always mourned the loss of Llewellyn's annual Tarot Reader. We are going to do a similar anthology with articles, art work, reviews, spreads, etc. from established as well as up and coming authors and artists.
TR: What are the long range Tarot related goals, for both yourself and the Tarot Guild?
DC: My goals are intrinsically intertwined with those of the Guild. We want to continue to develop the Guild and our Tarot Portal. We still have a LOT of work to do and content to add. We want to work to promote Tarot to the general public, partnering with the ATA, TABI, The Australian Tarot Guild and any other organizations/individuals who want to help with this goal.
We also want to develop our TarotPros.com readers network. We also would like to be able to syndicate Tarot Today Radio to reach even more listeners.
TR: Are you considering any conferences geared towards the entire membership of the Tarot Guild and if so, where would you consider holding such an event?
DC: This is another of our long term goals which we have on the back burner. We want to hold a Tarot conference for our members. We would most likely hold it here in San Diego. We are the home of the HUGE ComicCon each year and who doesn't want to visit San Diego? ;o)
The working title for the conference is The ArcanaCon.
We had Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone on Tarot Today and they mentioned how The Readers Studio in NY is beginning to “max out” now. Wald said something will have to be done. I suggested partnering with them for a “Readers Studio – West”. This would be wonderful for those of us on the other side of the country and the Pacific Rim, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, etc. Wald and Ruth Ann seemed to like the idea.
TR: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
DC: I want encourage everyone reading this who is not yet a member to come join the Guild FREE and take advantage of our features, resources, and become part of this growing community. Take advantage of the networking and the exposure.
I want to make a special offer to Tarot Meetup Organizers. We will create a free Group & Forum for your Tarot Meetup and invite you & your assistant organizers to be members of our Masters Group. For example: www.SDTarot.TarotGuild.com and www.SFTarot.TarotGuild.com.
They same offer is extended to up and coming Tarot authors and artists, as well as well-known artists, authors, and experts. Contact me and I will invite you to our Masters Group and we will also create a Group/Forum for you and your work on the Guild's website. As an example, Pearls of Wisdom Tarot creator Roxi Sim is exclusively on the Guild's site: www.RoxiSim.TarotGuild.com. Also check out James Ricklef's Group & Forum: www.JamesRicklef.TarotGuild.com.
TR: Just for fun, if you were able to get a Tarot reading from any reader, past or present, who would you choose, why and what might you expect to get out of the reading?
DC: Wow, so many great Tarot Readers to choose from! Being a Gemini, it would be really difficult to pin that one down!
Because of The Tarot Guild and our radio show Tarot Today Radio, I have been fortunate to get readings from some of the top readers across the globe! I am a big fan of Paul Quinn's Tarot for Life and would love to have a reading from Paul (We haven't had Paul on the show yet).
But let's go wild! Wouldn't it be marvelous to get a reading from Arthur Waite or Aleister Crowley! I would expect to get some great insights into the Tarot from an experience like that. I think a reading from Aleister Crowley would be a wild ride!