2026 Western Australian Tarot Conference Review

Mary K Greer and Pauline Bourke at the WA Tarot Conference

I had been looking forward to attending this years’ Western Australian Tarot Conference all year! This years’ keynote speaker, was, after all, the Grandmaster of Tarot – none other than Mary K. Greer! Conference creator and director, Jo Watkins, did not disappoint.

Along with the motto of “as above, so below” which refers to the wide range of mediums provided by the earth and the Universe for readers to work with during a reading, this years theme was “The Empress” card.

I learned so much! Over the two days of the conference Mary K. Greer (USA) spoke about Tarot Magic, where she gave us all some excellent Qabalistic rituals working with natural magic variation techniques to deepen our connection with The Divine when we read the Tarot.  I will definitely be incorporating some of these into my reading practice.  Mary also workshopped some excellent activities with us based around the many different ways to read the cards which absolutely stretched our ways of thinking when it comes to interpreting the cards.  I was able to purchase (signed copies!) of her books ‘21 Ways to read a Tarot Card’ and ‘The Essence of Tarot’, and get a fan girl pic (which of course, will be going straight to the Pool Room!) It was certainly a case of exceed expectations when it came to meeting this idol – Mary was just so gracious and kind.

Jean-Michel David and Russell Sturgess dove into the historical origin and significance of The Empress, giving us an extremely interesting and thought provoking workshops on The Empress – Who is she? What is she? and The Zig Zag of Efflugence. Both of these had me addressing images in The Empress card in ways that I had previously never imagined before.

Sue Yarwood spoke about Tarot Symbolism – Looking Outside the Box that had me thinking about reading from a totally different perspective and definitely had me thinking about reading using a more lenormandic style approach.

Shirley Barroy took us through her psychic development and the creation of her oracle deck Plume and gave an amazing demonstration of her mediumship abilities to the audience (and she let me practice my poor French language abilities on her too!)

Julia Chapple introduced us to her ‘Power of the Color Oracle’ deck (which I purchased). And spoke on The Decanic Mysterious.

Kat Black Immersed us all In a Tarotverse, launching Tarot of the Troubadour (drafts seeking feedback) songs for each tarot card on youtube live at the conference. There were loud calls from the audience for her to seriously consider publishing a deck based on her RWS inspired digital images created for the series.  So many of us said we would want to purchase them.  Fingers crossed that something will drop into my email box soon letting me know how to pre-order!

Marina Lovasz had us all thinking about how to Ground into the Body to Awaken the Oracle and asked us to look down and within to connect to The Divine instead of up and away from our physical selves when seeking inspiration during readings.

David Mitchell walked us through his Swan River Tarot deck and Carolyn Johnson inspired us to think about creating our own tarot spread using The Empress as our significator.

Of course, Jo put on her usual magnificent spread, providing lunch, morning and afternoon tea for all attendees. There was an array of stall holders to browse and $20 ten minute Tarot readings were again on offer.  This years’ conference was a sell-out, so keep an eye out for when tickets go on sale later this year (usually around September) for next years’ conference which will take place over the weekend of 21st and 22nd March 2027.  In fact, the Western Australian Tarot Conference has grown so much that Jo mentioned that she is scoping out larger venues for the 2028 conference. Keynote speakers for next years’ conference will be Letao Wang (Hong Kong), Andrea Aste (UK), Janine Worthington (UK) and Kate May (UK). Local W.A. and wider Australian speakers will also be presenting. 

Such a fantastic weekend! I’m so glad that I was able to attend.  So worth the trip from East to West coast. Really easy to get from the airport to the venue via train ($3.50 each way! Cheaper than a cup of coffee!) I recommend booking flights and accommodation well in advance for the best deals if you can.  Can’t wait for next year!

by Pauline Bourke

A Professional Reader of the Tarot Guild of Australia.

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