Photos by Isabell Macrina
Howells shines in her element, despite the rainy day, excited to open some eyes
By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The typical belief of tarot card readings is that it tells the future. People will go to get their fortune told and expect answers. Jackie Howells, at Needham Free Public Library (NFPL), set out to make the practice seem less intimidating, and to expand on what tarot can mean to anyone.
The students at Needham High School had a half day on Wednesday led to students having free time and no idea what to do, so some made their way to NFPL to learn more about tarot readings. Tarot reading can become an activity anyone can do with a deck of cards and a little time. It can be a boredom buster, and a great way to look at yourself.
Jackie Howells got into tarot card reading in graduate school. When the world seemed to go crazy, she laid out the cards to try and make sense of it all. She saw tropes in the card imagery and through doing readings with others, people opened up to her and themselves.
Howells approaches tarot as not the end all be all predictions depicted in the media, rather she says it is a “conversation with yourself. Tarot as a means of self-reflection.” Because of the images on cards, people can look at it and say “that’s what I’m feeling inside.” They can share their feelings easier with pictures than words. Images have been a source of connection with humans regardless of language and age.
There is creativity with the cards, 78 cards that can create endless stories unique to the person reading them, but there are many different styles of cards with art depictions. Some of the ones there today had mushroom imagery instead of people, one deck was all women in science, there was even one pocket sized for traveling.
The readings Howells gave started with the three-card spread, a mind-body-spirit or past-present-future. As before, Howells said it is not a read of the future, not winning lottery numbers or who you will fall in love with, but a general vibe you have going into the future. When discussing each card’s meaning, then letting the person talk about what they feel it means, Howells shuffles the deck and as cards fall out, she adds it to the spread. Together it creates a tapestry or a story that can be internalized. Maybe it helps you understand problems you have been having, or helps you decide something you were dreading.
People view tarot in different ways; some think its ridiculous while others swear by it. Howells opened the conversation to students and some adults who were around. By reading the cards and seeing what resonates with you, tarot can open the mind to what it has hidden from you.
