Member Spotlight with Garth Tardy
You will, by now, have heard of our Endorsed Reader Program where WDA Members work towards endorsement in their chosen system. Today, we chat with Garth Tardy. WDA Pro Member and BKRM ™ Pro Reader (Bavarian Kipper Reading Method).
I don't often meet Kipper readers where the system automatically fits their reading style, but with Garth it clicked immediately, almost like his brain had been waiting for Kipper all his life. The highest compliment I can give a reader is that they can read as well as a native Bavarian Kipper reader - and Garth can! There are very few people I would trust with my own Kipper reads on the planet, Garth is one of them.
So sit back and read on .... yours sincerely The Card Geek
INTERVIEW WITH Garth Tardy, BKRM ™ Pro
How did you find the World Divination Association? I started by taking classes from Toni in Kipper Cards and Gypsy Cards and being in her various facebook groups before the official founding of the WDA. I’ve just always been hanging around as the WDA formed and grew.
How long have you been reading Kipper?
Not very long, just since 2016 when I first started studying them under Toni. I’ve completed all her classes since then.
How would you explain Kipper to a Tarot reader?
That it’s a system of dynamically inter-related cards that give a reading based on every day “this world” events and in which cards representing actual people play a large role in the read. It’s not a system to find out your soul’s spiritual destiny with, but is a system to find out what’s going on at work, with your family, with your money, with your luck.
How would you explain Kipper to a non-reader?
Pretty much the way I’d explain it to the Tarot reader. I suppose it all depends on how much the person knew about card reading or fortune telling in general but I’d stress that the cards can show the dynamics going on in one’s day to day life, dynamics the person might or might not be aware of, and how they could play out in the future.
What makes you cringe the most in non-experienced Kipper reads?
Assigning more psychological or spiritual meanings to cards than are necessarily there. Also seeing people try to read them with what are clearly Lenormand techniques.
What can new learners do to avoid that?
Look to the experts. Recognize that there has been a distinct traditional way to read the cards and honor that history and knowledge by learning from those who know the right way. A way of reading grows up around the cards and the best way to read them has been figured out a long time ago, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Yes, intuition plays a role in any reading system but you’ll be surprised how much better your intuition becomes when it’s working within a defined framework.
Why is Kipper your favorite system?
I like the concrete practicality of it. Most people I think are looking to find out about everyday events and situations and this system just answers them so well. I also like the firm rules and methods for reading because it helps guide and build an answer for people easily without being scattered and missing things.
What’s your favorite Kipper card? Why?
Oh easily High Honors (25). I’m always looking for it in a read, especially in a read for myself. Unlike “luck” cards High Honors shows you something you did and worked for and built up yourself and the rewards that come with it. Luck is easy, but High Honors is really something to be proud of.
What is your favourite spread?
I love stop card spreads where the cards tell you when to stop or when to add on more cards. It’s like a dialog with them.
Can you give us an example of a read that has been particularly interesting?
Well, there’s the GT I just did for myself that yield quite a bit more personal information that I’d have thought! Problems at home, travel upsets, work issues. It’s always interesting to see the cards reflecting your own issues.
Tell us all the interesting stuff About you, that Kipper would reveal about your life!
I’ve always been interested in divination systems but for a long time here Tarot cards were about all there was, popularly, to read. Lenormand, Kipper, Gypsy cards weren’t as well known. Truth is I suck at Tarot so I’ve never done much until I saw Lenormand cards and then I was hooked again. I learned a little Lenormand from books and online groups and then stumbled into Kipper and fell in love with them. I’ve also taken the Gypsy Card class and I’m currently working on reading with Loteria cards (cards from the Mexican version of Bingo that uses cards with images much like Lenormand or other cards).
I also read with the bones, an African derived system of reading that involves tossing real bones, shells, plant parts (roots, seed pods etc.) mixed with various charms and trinkets on to the ground and finding meaning from placement, shapes, relations etc. Each reader builds their own, highly personal, set and gives each piece its own meaning. While I’m all for a rule driven system of reading, the bones gives me a chance to exercise my own intuition and the nudging from the spirits.
In real life I’m a librarian at the University of Missouri Kansas City where I’m a “Special Formats Cataloger”. Well, THE Special Formats Cataloger, in fact. I catalog recorded sound formats (Lps, 78 rpms, CDs, Dvd’s you name it), music scores, maps, physical models, Sheet Music etc… anything not a book and sometimes even books.
I have a husband, Ray, I’ve been with 24 years. We’re both from New England but ended up here in the Midwest while pursuing graduate degrees. We currently have two budgies (Sunny and Kiwi) and Sun Conure named Orlando.
Oh, and I knit.
Thank you Garth!
If you would like to learn more about the Endorsed Reader Program click below:
And dont forget to join Garth and I in the World Divination Association Group on Facebook:
And finally .... more on Kipper Here: