By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
For those who were interested in trying their hand at learning to read tarot cards, the Dover Town Library held an excellent class by tarot teacher Laura Campagna from Laura Campagna Astrology. Within this workshop, attendees were able to learn about the 78 cards within a standard tarot deck and practice making readings for themselves.
Campagna, who has been teaching tarot classes for the past five years, detailed to participants that she had bought her first deck on Newbury Street in Boston. While there is some superstition around how your first deck of tarot cards should be gifted to you, she explained that that definitely does not have to be the case.
Campagna had everyone bring their own set of cards to this class and provided each participant with an “Introduction to Tarot” handout. Both the handout and Campagna explained, “Tarot is a form of divination that people have used for hundreds of years to gain insight into their innermost nature and guidance on walking their path through life. Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge through reading signs or engaging with ritual. For thousands of years, humans have read omens and relied on the natural world to signify important events…. Some people define divination as the ability to make an uncannily good guess. However you relate to it, there is something of chance involved, and you can’t approach it with the conscious mind using logic.”
As the class went on, Campagna went over the two broad categories that make up the 78 tarot cards: the Major and Minor Arcana. She stated that, “Arcana means secret knowledge and each card contains rich symbolism. You can spend a lifetime studying the cards and there are endless interpretations.” 22 tarot cards make up the Major Arcana, including The Fool, The Magician and The High Priestess. 56 tarot cards make up the Minor Arcana which include the four suits of Wands, Cups, Swords and Disks.
At different points throughout the workshop, Campagna had participants try their hand at different spreads. Before picking their cards, she had everyone relax their body and minds in order for them to better be in touch with their intuition. Towards the end of this meditation, she had everyone think about what their hearts wanted to ask the cards.
After picking the cards, Campagna had participants look at their books that came with the tarot cards to better understand the meaning of what they chose. She additionally recommended picking a card each morning and writing down its meaning. Upon doing this for 78 days, as she had once done, they will soon be off book and better remember each tarot card’s meaning.
Once the class had ended, it was easy to see just how much participants thoroughly enjoyed Campagna’s teaching. All in attendance were definitely eager to continue practicing at home.
