Tools of the devil, entertainment, or birth letters?
Western cultures often perceive divination as either evil or unscientific, but associating divination with Halloween fulfills a need for self-reflection without judgement.
Viewing divination practices as entertainment allows people to have their fortunes told without having to admit they put any stock into reading tea leaves, palms, or tarot cards.
Over the weekend, The Ontarion spoke with Sèphera Girón, a tarot reader who explained that she “was always afraid of tarot cards.”
“… in the odd movie back in the day, they were always the tools of the devil…”
“I’d see them and wouldn’t want to touch them. You know, in the odd movie back in the day, they were always the tools of the devil,” said Girón.
After coming across a teacher who explained tarot in a way that wasn’t scary, Girón went on to study tarot for three years and now does readings at events like Halloween parties and bridal showers.
Girón’s dedication to her practice is evident and reasonable. While some psychics claim to be able to cure cancer or end your loneliness forever, Girón is humble about her abilities.
“I think, with a lot of the divination tools, the tool is only as good as the person interpreting the tool. The tool is never wrong, but how I may vocalize the tool to you might be wrong. That’s why I always tell people to look at the cards, don’t really go by what I’m saying. Tell me what you’re feeling and sharing because it’s your reading, not mine,” explained Girón.
“…the tool is only as good as the person interpreting the tool. The tool is never wrong, but how I may vocalize the tool to you might be…”
Although she explained that her initial negative view of tarot was because it was the ’90s, many still view divination practices as unnatural, if not altogether evil.
In contrast, back in India, my family had an astrologer who read and interpreted our janmakshar—janma meaning “birth” and akshar meaning “the letters of an alphabet.” The astrologer can make a lifetime of predictions based on the positions of the planets at the time of your birth.
In my own experience, the readings are always very accurate, and not in ways that can be easily explained right away. Due to my personal experiences, and the simple difference in this cultural norm that made it acceptable for me to believe in such things, I’ve always viewed fortune telling as more than a form of entertainment or a spooky thing you do during Halloween.
Still, I never realized how much people enjoy getting their fortunes told until I dressed up as a fortune teller a couple of Halloweens ago. Since I didn’t want to lug a crystal ball around, I ordered a tarot card starter kit online and spent the month leading up to Halloween learning how to perform tarot card readings.
“…people get to focus on something that is nagging at them and to consider it from a new perspective. In doing that, they become active creators of their own fortunes…”
I didn’t think anyone would actually want to have their fortune told by me—I barely knew what I was doing—but I thought one person might humour me, and I was genuinely interested in learning how tarot cards were read even if I couldn’t actually do it myself.
I was pleasantly surprised when I spent my whole Halloween party doing readings for people. They wanted to know about school, work, and their love lives. Some people didn’t want to know anything in particular, but still wanted to have their fortune told anyway. Despite knowing that I wasn’t sure what I was doing and seeing that I was using the interpretation book to string together a reading, people wanted to talk to me.
It was then that I realized that fortune telling provides people an opportunity for self-reflection. Even if the person isn’t the real deal (like me), if you have something on your mind and you ask them about the significance of things in your life, it gives you a chance to consider these thoughts for yourself.
During a reading, people get to focus on something that is nagging at them and to consider it from a new perspective. In doing that, they become active creators of their own fortunes—and that’s empowering, even if it is under the guise of a Halloween party trick.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman.