Want to know the future? This spring, the Tarot Students of American University aim to deliver what any ordinary student can't foresee about their future.
The Tarot Students of AU started out as a Facebook group and became an official club last semester. In its second semester as an official club, the Tarot Students of AU wants to promote the learning and sharing of knowledge regarding all forms of divination, according to Kristin Gilbert, the club's founder and a senior in the School of International Service.
Divination is the practice of fortunetelling. The members of the divination club are mainly tarot and palm readers. Tarot uses a deck of 78 cards containing symbolic images to provide insight into a person's future, while palm reading consists of analyzing the shape, the fingers and the lines of a person's hand to find how it relates to their personality and life.
"We plan to hold workshops at the beginning of the semester on tarot and palm reading to teach anyone interested and get them started," Gilbert said. "To serve our goal of information sharing, we're building a library of learning resources open to all members."
The club also hopes to branch out with more types of divination as it gathers more members, including tea leaf reading, astrology, scrying (otherwise known as crystal ball gazing) and numerology, according to Gilbert.
Gilbert has been a tarot reader since her junior year of high school. She continued her readings when she came to AU and discovered that her friends shared her own interests in divination.
"Tarot and palm readers don't exactly advertise themselves in daily life," Gilbert said. "Some of us have had bad experiences [telling others] and hence hide the fact that we read. ... [But] once I realized just how many people I knew read, I wanted some sort of group so we could share our knowledge."
In the fall of 2005, Gilbert and her fellow divination enthusiasts formed an unofficial group. They thrived at that year's "GARC in the Dark" Halloween event when they decided to do readings for students outside on the Letts-Anderson quad.
"We were a huge success and proud of it. With five readers, we kept lines going strong even while the event was ending. We figure that among the five of us, we read 40 to 50 people that night," Gilbert said.
So far the club has received nothing but interest, according to Gilbert. She said that the club holds fundraising events to grab student attention.
Last fall, the club organized an evening study break fundraiser in the Anderson Game Lounge and did readings for four hours. Members charged $2 for a tarot or palm reading. All proceeds went toward Bender Library for purchasing resources.
The commitment to divination can be personal, as it has been for the club's members.
"I think every person who is interested in it finds their own answer ... whether it is for religious reasons, sheer curiosity, a belief in magic or a wish to find something different in the mundane," Gilbert said.
Although there is no specified set of religious beliefs for anyone interested in Tarot Students of AU, Greg Nudge, vice president of the club and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, sees divination as part of his religion.
"Tarot, scrying, meditation and magic have always helped me clear my mind and bring my spirit to a state of rest. ... divination has always helped me relax and relieve stress," Nudge said.
Nudge's specialty is numerology and tarot.
"I found numerology by coincidence. I picked up a book at Borders and it went from there. Tarot was shown to me by a friend - I only learned later that it is related to my faith," Nudge said.
Those interested in more information about the club can contact the Tarot Students of AU at au_divination@yahoo.com.
