Vulcan Village CA Bayley Cooper hosted a Tarot Tuesday this past week. It took place in the Vulcan Village office, where residents could line up to receive a tarot reading. Cooper had a binder in which residents could choose a spread pertaining to a certain topic, ranging from anything between love to horoscopes. Cooper had a relatively full turnout, with roughly eight people showing up for about a five to ten minute reading.

“When I do these little activities I have the different spreads and sheets that I let people pick from, just because that seems the most time efficient in an event way,” Cooper stated.

At home, however, Cooper reads a bit less more structurally. She likes to work with jumping cards, where she will shuffle the deck and see which card jumps out. This reflects how Cooper reads tarot.

“I love to do tarot because, for me, it is definitely a sense of guidance,” Cooper said.

There are many different ways to read tarot, as Cooper highlights. Each card in a 78 card deck has two meanings, one for an upright card and one for an upside down card, known as a reversed card. Cooper often utilizes a quizlet to help her memorize the loose meanings of each card. It is not all memorization, however.

“I try to look at the card and also then consider the person and what it might mean personally to them and not just a generic definition,” Cooper said.

Sophomore Lindsey Barber and transfer student Krista McParland were excited to receive tarot readings from Cooper.

“I think tarot is a way for spirits to communicate with you and tell you what you need to hear,” Barber said.

McParland had a different but similar view on tarot.

“I think tarot helps you realize there’s nothing that really happens on accident,” McParland said. “Everything has some sort of meaning at the end of the day, whether it be positive, or negative, or a learning experience on something.”

Either way, according to Cooper tarot is good for introspection. While some people do believe in a more spiritual practice with tarot, it is mainly there for guidance. This spiritual aspect however, could be how a lot of people think it is scary or is involved with scarier practices such as satanism.

“Tarot is just to gain new perspectives and ideas, maybe where you wouldn’t before,” Cooper said. “So it’s definitely not scary or a satanic thing, nor does it have to be spiritual if you don’t want it to be. And I think it intimidates a lot of people, because that is a common misconception.”

McParland had a similar standpoint on tarot, though not yet a reader herself.

“It’s a good way to see what you can achieve and a good way to help motivate yourself to get something,” McParland said.