2025 Meeting Schedule Changes!

CTS has been around for many years, and as times have changed our meeting schedule has had to adapt. During the pandemic, we switched to 100% online meetings. After things got back to normal, we decided we could accommodate more members by retaining a hybrid schedule, so we now meet in person every other month and online every other month.

While CTS has historically met the first Saturday of every month (or the second Saturday to avoid holiday weekends), we have also been receiving increasing feedback from members that the first Saturday often conflicts with other activities. While we will continue to host in-person meetings on Saturdays to account for members' work schedules, online meetings are much more flexible and give us the flexibility to try weeknight meetings.

Going forward, in-person meetings will continue to take place on the first Saturday of the month at 12:30 PM.

Online meetings will switch to the first Wednesday of the month at 7 PM EST starting in March 2025.

Our hope is that by offering different times and formats, we will increase the accessibility of CTS meetings and more members will be able to join meetings on a regular basis!

Check out our Meetings and Presentations page to see our full meeting schedule and the activities and topics planned for each meeting.

CTS 2022 Year in Review

 CTS's members are looking forward to our annual holiday potluck party and gift swap coming up December 3!

In the meantime, it's fun to look back on everything we accomplished over the past year, especially as this was a time of serious transition and we rose to meet the challenge.  Earlier this year, as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided as a group to experiment with a hybrid meeting schedule (alternating virtual and in-person every other month) and learned to manage the logistics pretty seamlessly.  Members continued to step up and design great online presentations for our virtual meetings, including some topics that leveraged the virtual format and could not have been done in-person.  Meanwhile, it was great to start seeing each other in-person again.

This year we met in person to read for each other, show-and-tell our favorite tarot books, and give away a number of free decks kindly sent to us by a past CTS member who had moved away.  Online presentations spanned all kinds of interesting topics like tips for giving romantic readings, Jungian principles in the tarot, active listening as an important tarot skill, and using our astrological sun and moon signs to identify teacher and coach cards in the tarot deck.

We also used one of our online meetings to get together to collectively design a tarot card together using a photo editing phone app and screen sharing.  We also used the breakout rooms feature in Zoom to engage in comparative reading exercises (which allowed for structure, quiet and privacy in a way that meeting in-person to read for each other never could).

We are currently working on our presentation schedule for 2023, which will continue to follow an alternating virtual and in-person meeting format.  It will be exciting to see what types of presentations and activities our members will cook up!

Creating a Community Tarot Card

 Earlier this year, CTS opted to shift to a hybrid meeting schedule, with every other meeting taking place in person and every other meeting taking place online.  Little did we know to what degree continuing with online meetings would enable us to take advantage of topics and technologies that would be much harder to implement in person.

September's meeting topic was a perfect example.  We worked together as a group using a combination of Zoom screen sharing, a phone app called PicsArt, and a stock photo site called Unsplash to create a Queen of Coins tarot card image.  The image is below, next to the original image for comparison.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy the presentation and we were very happy with the card we created.

Hybrid Schedule Update

 On April 2 CTS had its first in-person meeting in two years!  It was very exciting to see everyone again.  The meeting featured a tarot book show and tell - a fitting activity for an in-person meeting.

As we detailed in our previous post, CTS is switching to a hybrid format.  Every other meeting will be online, and every other meeting will be in-person.  This means that May's meeting will take place via Zoom, and we will be back in-person again in June.  You can check out the entire schedule, including which meetings are in-person and which are online, on our meetings and presentations page.

One thing we have all missed during the pandemic has been opportunities to sit down and just read for each other.  In years past, an informal gathering would take place after our formal meeting activity or presentation, sometimes at another location nearby, and many of our members would sit down and chat and perform readings.  This unstructured reading time was some members' favorite part of being in CTS!

For this reason, we are modifying our hybrid schedule going forward.  Online meetings via Zoom will involve a structured presentation, because that's the format that works best for a video chat with several people.

In-person meetings will be less structured, without a formal presentation or planned activity.  People will be able to make announcements and share ideas as needed, but then we will move directly into periods of free reading where everyone can just hang out, enjoy each other's company, and read to their heart's content!

We are very excited to introduce this new structure that balances all the different things CTS members need and love.

Hybrid Meeting Format for 2022!

 What a wild ride it has been.  Throughout the pandemic CTS continued to meet the first Saturday of every month at the same time as always, but in a virtual environment.  After experimenting with conference calls, we settled on Zoom, and now we have it down to a science.

As things start to normalize (in theory) we now need to think about what the future holds.  Meeting online offered a lot of benefits, including making it easier for past members who had left the DC area to reconnect with the group and for ongoing members who had long commutes to get to us to attend more frequently.  It also enabled us to use technology like PowerPoint and Kahoot! Trivia in ways that wouldn't have been possible in person.

But we also missed getting to see each other face-to-face, enjoying organic side conversations and practicing reading for one another after the end of our formal presentations and meeting activities.

It became clear that CTS will need to have a hybrid format going forward, so we could have the best of both worlds.  The question, though, was what that format would look like.

We surveyed our members to get their opinions on multiple options, which fell into two main umbrella categories: 1) an alternating schedule, where we stick to a single meeting each month in its traditional format, but alternate in-person and online every other month, or 2) online meetings every month with supplemental in-person activities.  These supplemental activities could include a second monthly gathering without a structured presentation, or a quarterly special event, like a party or field trip.

The survey results were clear: An obvious majority of our membership wanted to stick to our traditional meeting format once a month, and to alternate between in-person and online meetings - so that's what we'll do!

Starting in 2022, meetings that take place in odd months will be online, and meetings that take place in-person will be in-person.  This ensures our beloved December holiday party falls in an in-person month.

Obviously, the world is changing rapidly, and this is new territory for us, so we may need to make adjustments going forward.  But, for now, we're happy to have settled on a solution that works well for our members.

2020 is a Wrap

Yesterday, 12/5/20, was the last CTS meeting of 2020.  This has been such a strange year, but we managed to continue meeting successfully every month through Zoom.  The group has a lot to be proud of.

Of particular concern was how we would pull off our annual solstice/holiday party.  Under normal circumstances, we meet at a member's home to enjoy a potluck and exchange mystery presents (used tarot decks, books, and related items wrapped up so you can't tell what they are or who they're from).  This year, we pivoted by doing Secret Santas by mail and opening our gifts via video chat, plus some webhosted tarot trivia.

Hopefully, by this time next year, we will be able to return to our old holiday traditions, but we can pat ourselves on the back for how well we adapted in 2020.  We plan to continue meeting virtually well into 2021, until we know it's safe to meet in person again.

The 2021 meeting dates have been posted to the meetings and presentations page.  We are now in the process of setting up meeting activities and presenters for 2021 and will begin posting them as they become final.

Taking Tarot Onilne

Everyone is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic right now, including tarot readers.  CTS has done its part to encourage social distancing by cancelling scheduled in-person meetings.

But that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy tarot together!  CTS has a new Facebook community (just for registered members - see our how to join page if you're interested in connecting online).  We have also decided to hold our monthly meetings via conference call for the foreseeable future.

We had originally planned an entirely different topic for today's meeting when we thought meetings would continue to be in-person, and when we realized we needed to be socially distancing we thought we would have to cancel today's meeting entirely.  But then one of our newest members jumped to the rescue and came up with an innovative tarot trivia game that could be played over the phone. 

We weren't sure how a conference call would work with so many members, but were willing to try, and it actually went really well!  In fact, we had unusually high turnout because members who live further out, or who have moved out of the area, and have a hard time making it to in-person meetings were able to join. This has inspired us to continue to try to hold meetings by phone until things get back to normal.

You can view our meeting schedule for the rest of the year on our meetings and presentations page.  You will note that the listed schedule is still super tentative as we try to coordinate with scheduled presenters about either converting their presentations to a remote format or, where it would make more sense to hold a particular presentation in person, to postpone their presentations for later in the year and come up with a new, virtual-friendly topic for that month.

In any case, we are thrilled to still get to connect with our tarot buddies during the pandemic.  For many of us CTS has become like family and monthly meetings are a constant in our lives even while other things are up in the air.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Coloring the Tarot!

Those familiar with the traditional Rider Waite Smith tarot deck understand the importance and nuance of color in tarot.  The RWS has been recolored over and over again - from the original cards that came out around the turn of the 20th century, to the Universal Rider Waite, to the Radiant Rider Waite, many have sought to "update" the coloring of the original cards - changing not the hue but the saturation and tone of the hues.  Intellectual property rights to the card images can even hinge on which of these nuanced colors are used.

Color also provides important cues in tarot.  Each of the four minor arcana suits is associated with a different element, and, in turn, we all tend to associate certain colors with each of those elements: bright reds, oranges and yellows with fire (wands); ethereal grays, whites and ice blues with air (swords); deep blues, greens and purples with water (cups); and rich greens and browns with Earth (coins or pentacles).  So tarot deck artists can use color to send important signals to tarot readers about what a card is meant to mean by helping us understand what element to associate it with.  But uses of color certainly don't stop there.

In February, the Capital Tarot Society is thrilled to be hosting special guest speaker Robin Ha at our monthly meeting.  Robin is the author/illustrator of New York Times best selling cookbook Cook Korean, and is also a tarot enthusiast.  She has illustrated a tarot-themed coloring book as well as a number of art prints that appeal to witchier tastes.

At February's meeting, Robin will be leading us through a color-your-own-tarot-card exercise and talking about her inspiration to draw and publish tarot-themed items.  We're all super excited!

Lenormand at CTS

When people think of "reading the cards" they tend to automatically think about the Tarot.  But many people outside of new agey / esoteric circles don't know that there are actually many different kinds of divination deck, and that Tarot is only one branch of reading decks within a much larger family tree of card decks designed for seeking out the wisdom of the universe.

Another type of divination deck that isn't as well known as Tarot among the general population, but that is certainly popular within the esoteric and card-reading (known more formally as cartomancy) community, is the Lenormand.  Named for 17th/18th century French fortune teller Marie Anne Lenormand, this system of divination is based on a 36 card system.  It's very different from Tarot, which uses 78 cards.  And while Tarot readings usually involve selecting a handful of cards out of the deck and rarely use the whole deck, Lenormand readings can frequently involve all 36 cards - though they don't have to.  A 36 card Lenormand reading is called a "Grand Tableau."

Curious to learn more about the Lenormand system of cartomancy and how it differs from Tarot?  Join us at April's CTS meeting this Saturday.  Not a member yet?  Check out our how to join page - Membership is free!

Learn to Read for Romance at Februrary's CTS Meeting

In the past few years it has become a Capital Tarot Society tradition to make February's meeting topic all about romance, in honor of Valentine's Day.

In February 2019, CTS Co-Facilitator Emily - who reads professionally, teaches tarot workshops and offers self-care workshops through her business Woven Psyche (IG: wovenpsyche) - will be sharing a number of tarot spreads she personally designed for getting at the root of romantic questions.

Emily notes that, prior to launching Woven Psyche, she had a different tarot business providing readings online to clients around the world.  She estimates that about 90% of clients had questions about romance.  But with her new business providing in-person readings to clients here in Washington D.C., she finds that the vast majority of questions she receives are about career and personal growth, and clients will sometimes add on a little reading at the end about romance only if there's time.  Sometimes clients who ask for romantic readings seem embarrassed for asking.

Emily finds that this is a fascinating and unusual aspect of being a tarot reader in the Washington Metro area, and is concerned that Washingtonians are under tremendous pressure to put their careers before interpersonal relationships and romantic needs.  She notes that tarot readings can provide a safe space for busy urban professionals and area politicos to let their guard down and get introspective about their feelings and desires for human connection. As tarot readers, we have a unique opportunity to help our clients explore this softer side of their lives that often goes unattended.  Emily looks forward to flexing her romantic reading skills again at February's meeting.

At the meeting members will learn spreads that include a compare-and-contrast style spread for assessing compatibility and choosing between different romantic prospects, a spread for helping us attract and identify the right kind of partner, and a spread for learning about romantic partners we've had in past lives!

Meeting attendees will be given plenty of opportunity to practice what they have learned on willing guinea pigs.

If you are interested in attending February's meeting but are not already a Capital Tarot Society member, check out our how to join page - membership is free!

Free Tarot Reading Program to Expand to Second Location!

We are thrilled to announce that our free reading program at Cheesetique in Ballston has become so popular that the restaurant has asked us to begin providing readings at their Shirlington location as well!  So from now on, one night each month, you can visit two different Cheesetique locations for a short, free tarot reading from one of CTS's gifted volunteer readers.

Ballston
800 N. Glebe Rd.
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 566-9189
ballston@cheesetique.com


Shirlington
4056 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 933-8787
shirlington@cheesetique.com



Our next free tarot reading event will be the same night at both locations: Thursday, August 2, 2018 from 6:30 to 8:30.  Readings are available to patrons only and guests will enjoy readings on a first-come-first-served basis.

Free Reading Program to Continue in 2018!

The Capital Tarot Society is pleased to announce that it will continue to provide free readings once a month at Cheesetique in Ballston for all of 2018!

CTS readers will be available at Cheesetique (800 N. Glebe Rd, Arlington VA, not far from the Metro) from 6:30 to 8:30 PM the first Thursday of each month.  If you would like to receive a free, short tarot reading stop by around 6ish, let the host or hostess know you'd like a reading, sit down to grab some wine and delicious cheese, and wait for a member of restaurant staff to come get you for your reading.  It's that easy.

Here are the exact dates:

January 4
February 1
March 1
April 5
May 3
June 7
July 5
August 2
September 6
October 4
November 1
December 6

We look forward to seeing you there!

Interested in getting a longer, paid reading from a CTS tarot reader?  Contact us at capitaltarot@gmail.com and let us know what you're looking for, and we can get you in touch with a reader who is a good fit for you.

Bye Bye 2017

This past Saturday CTS had its annual holiday fete.  We did things a little differently this year!  In the past we've typically held our holiday gathering in a bar or restaurant where we normally gather for meetings, but this year one of our members graciously opened up her beautiful home!  It was so nice and cozy that we're considering having more meetings in member homes going forward.

And since it was in a house and not a restaurant, the event necessitated a potluck - and we outdid ourselves.

This was after we all got to it - you should have seen it before!

However we didn't do away with all our holiday traditions!  The annual gift swap went on as always and, as always, was incredible fun.  Members bring used tarot decks and other items like books, crystals, and mystical accessories, and pack them up in a gift bag or box so nobody can see what they're getting until they choose their gift off the communal gift table.  And this year members came with so many extra gifts that we actually all got to choose two gifts from the table, plus handmade pottery that one of our members kindly brings for us every year.  There were also Christmas crackers (the kind that you pull and that make a popping noise and have a gift inside, not the kind you eat) with paper crowns for everyone, folks in holiday dress and even visits from some feline friends.

Light up Channukah sweater, you know that's right.

Round two of presents

The largest tabby any of us has ever seen.

Several CTS members gathered for tarot discussion over treats.

So, from the whole gang, happy holidays and a joyous new year to anyone who is interested in getting their tarot on with us in 2018.  To join in on our fun holiday parties, upcoming awesome events next year like our new years readings in January, and upcoming presentations on topics like the MBTI personality types and court cards or pattern recognition in the RWS deck, check out our "how to join" page at the top.


Sayonara 2017!

A Fun Filled Rest of 2017

Here's hoping everybody had a fun and TAROT filled Halloween!!!

CTS has a lot of fun stuff planned through the end of 2017.

Tomorrow night (Thursday November 2) we will have tarot readers on hand at Cheesetique in Ballston to provide FREE tarot readings to members of the public!  So stop by, grab some wine, grab some cheese, relax, and learn the wisdom and insights of the universe :)

November's meeting is then coming up this Saturday, and will feature our annual tarot craft and rummage sale.  Members are encouraged to bring items, both tarot related and not, to sell or  swap to other members.  This can include used tarot decks, books, and other tarot or esoteric items like wooden boxes, reading mats, pendulums, crystals, runes, guided meditation tapes, etc.  It can also include your own handmade goodies.  If you would like to sell, please e-mail capitaltarot@gmail.com.

So far these are the items that will be available for purchase at November's meeting:

• Meditation and hypnosis CDs
• New age books
• Jewelry
• Pottery
• Framed prints
• Shibori died silks
• Arcana stones and oracle decks
• Hand decorated journals

Note that we have instituted an RSVP policy for future meetings!  So if you plan on attending make sure to e-mail capitaltarot@gmail.com to let us know.

On the docket for December is our most anticipated meeting of the year, the annual CTS holiday celebration and gift swap.  At this meeting CTS members bring gently used tarot items like decks, books and other goodies all wrapped up and then we take turns selecting presents and enjoying our tarot surprises.  Perhaps the most fun, though, is the swapping and trading that occurs after the presents have been opened!

CTS is also busily scheduling our meeting presentations and topics for 2018!

Interested in joining us for our member's only meetings, but not yet a member?  Check out the "How to Join" link at the top and follow the instructions to become a CTS member.

Recent CTS goings on

CTS is happy to note that we had not one but two very successful events in September.  First, on the 7th, some of our members had the super fun (and yummy) opportunity to provide free tarot readings at our monthly event at Cheesetique Ballston.  These events are part of our outreach program, which is designed to help those interested in tarot find our group and also to educate the greater public about tarot and overcome some of the spookier misconceptions about what tarot is.  These are also great opportunities for CTS members to practice reading for new people, which can be a great confidence booster and very rewarding when we see how happy folks are with their readings.

If you're interested in attending one of our free tarot events, the next one will be on October 12th beginning at 6:30.



The second event of the month was our regular meeting for CTS members.  This month's activity was more hands-on than usual, as we got crafty and made our own tarot journals.  But it was more than just a crafting session.  Members were encouraged to think carefully about their tarot goals and what uses a designated journal might have in helping them achieve those goals and delve deeper into their tarot practice.  Members considered the use of tabs and organization, what decorative elements actually promoted mindfulness and visually reaffirmed their tarot principles, and the potential uses for inserts and pockets to hold on to notes and ephemera collected along the way.

Our next CTS meeting will take place on Saturday, October 7th.  We'll be learning how to perform our own wisdom readings using free writing (possibly in our new tarot journals!).  This is also our last presentation of the year, as November's meeting is our annual member craft fair and jumble sale, and December's meeting is our always-much-anticipated holiday gift swap.


If you're interested in attending future CTS meetings or other CTS events, click the link in the menu bar above to visit our "how to join" page.

Free Monthly Tarot Reading Events Through End of 2017

The Capital Tarot Society is thrilled to announce that, since our past free reading events at Cheesetique have been so well-received, Cheesetique has offered to host free reading events every month!  We're thrilled to have this great opportunity to bring the joy of tarot to the greater community in a way that is fun, casual, and pressure-free.

If you're interested in coming to an event, stop by Cheesetique's Ballston location, which is located at 800 N. Glebe Rd. right by the Ballston Metro station, on one of the following Thursdays between 6:30 and 8:30 PM:

September 7
October 12
November 2
December 7

Since our past "Wine, Cheese and Tarot" events have been popular, we expect that there may be a wait to receive readings.  So we suggest that you plan to come in, sit down, order some wine or have a nibble, and make a leisurely evening of it.  And definitely bring friends!

Free Readings at Cheesetique this Thursday 6/8!

This Thursday, June 8, we will be holding another of our much-anticipated "Wine, Cheese and Tarot" events at Cheesetique, Ballston!

Readers from Capital Tarot Society will be at Cheesetique on Thursday from 6 to 8 PM giving free readings to restaurant patrons.  Sit down, have some wine, peruse the menu of cheesy options, pick up some groceries to go, and enjoy interacting with Cheesetique's incredibly pleasant staff before enjoying a free tarot reading from one of our friendly and gifted members.

Cheesetique, Ballston is located at 800 N. Glebe Rd. in Arlington, VA.

See you there!

Upcoming Events: Past Life Readings, Feng Shui

At our next CTS meeting, on May 6, Emily will be discussing how to perform past life readings.

Since Emily's approach to tarot has always been highly practical rather than theoretical or spiritual, she plans to focus on practice tips gained from experience, the pros and cons of performing past life readings as compared to present life readings, and learning by doing through in-meeting reading practice.  In particular, Emily plans to demonstrate the important role that court cards have come to play in her own past life readings, and to discuss the function of tarot cards as a storytelling device and how they take on this function when reading about past lives.

Additionally, CTS has received a very kind offer from a local tarot reader who is also an avid practitioner of feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of harmonizing humans with their surroundings, to take a tour of her home.  The home tour will give CTS members an opportunity to see how she has arranged her home according to the principles of feng shui and how this has created an ideal energetic space in which to practice tarot.  We will then have an opportunity to practice readings and chat informally.  

While the feng shui home tour event is still in its early planning stages and remains tentative, we hope to finalize these plans and have more information about date and time soon.

Next Meeting Feb 4 with a Valentines Theme!

In February CTS will be returning to its exciting new location that we debuted in January!  Want to know where exactly we're talking about?  Apply to join (it's free!) using the link in the menu bar above!

Since Valentines Day is coming up, the group's facilitators will be providing a joint presentation this month on "the sexy side of tarot."  So be prepared for a more risque discussion than you may be used to and definitely leave any impressionable kiddos at home!

See you soon.

Special Guest Presenter Geraldine Amaral This Month!

Because of the holiday last weekend this month's meeting is taking place tomorrow instead of the usual first Saturday of the month.

But that's not the only reason this month's meeting is special!  We will be welcoming guest presenter Geraldine Amaral, local tarot reading and teaching guru, to provide helpful information and pointers about tarot for entertainment purposes - i.e., how to read at parties and other festivities!

Geraldine's talk promises to be informative and hands-on.  She will be covering how to prepare for an event, best spreads to use, what to bring, how to charge for an event, various dos and don'ts, and ways to ensure that your presence at an event is a success.  Plus, attendees will have a chance to practice fast-paced mini readings.

This presentation is an updated repeat of a talk Geraldine gave to the group several years ago.  The discussion topic was so well-received and so helpful that we have no doubt it will be a helpful even to those members who were at the first presentation of this topic.

See you there!