The Pagan, Polytheist, & Animist Collective is hosting a Divination workshop for students, faculty, and beyond to share a bit of our history and to help others who want to learn about tarot gain experience.

Divination is a global tradition that differs based on the culture, and we will share one tradition with everyone. The 'divine' refers to the otherworldly and the powerful, but 'to divine' something means to pull meaning from what is in front of you. Divination is the practice of using tools to reach into the beyond and consult their power to help us with our questions and troubles. This workshop will both provide a historical context and a modern practical example of Tarot, a European Divination tool that is used throughout the world in Earth-Based Spirituality.

Tarot involves a deck of cards with a major and minor arcana (set of cards). The most commonly used decks have 78 cards (22 major arcana, 56 minor arcana). Every card is beautifully decorated based on what the card represents. Every tarot deck is different and has a ""personality"" and ""style"". Part of the spiritual aspect of Tarot is communicating with your deck and making sure you have good rapport with your deck. Tarot can be used in ancestor worship, healing, and rituals, as well as being used for divination.

Tarot and other divination tools have become popular in the modern age. The PPAC is hosting this workshop to educate on not only how to use tarot and divination, but also to educate on the history behind why these practices are taboo and misunderstood. Divination is not a game detached from the real world. Capitalism has taken tarot out of its context and marketed it without its spiritual history. The unique practices and traditions of divination represent folk traditions and religions from indigenous groups of the Mediterranean. Egyptians and the Romani are attributed with the creation of Tarot--called ""Tarocchi""--in Italy. How the practice came to Italy is unknown but it is theoretically attributed to trade with the Middle East/Asia. It was a private practice until it was popularized in royal courts in the middle ages. In the modern age, the practices surrounding tarot and divination decks are as diverse as the people who use them!

Presenters: Lynne Sionkiewicz (she/they), Pach Pacheco(they/them), Coda Letourneau (they/them), Eliza Brown-Lumen (she/they)