Amid the buzz of friendly chatter at the tables, music playing on the speaker and fans humming, a sharp “Ding!” sounded repeatedly at the Women and Gender Studies program’s Tarot Reading event. With each ringing bell, the person with the next ticket stepped up to Delaney Brackin’s table for their reading, in search of a creative outlet for self-reflection and guidance.
The mystical experience took place upstairs in the Cowles Library Reading Room on Nov. 13. WGS encouraged students to attend the event and explore tarot cards as a creative practice via a flyer on their Instagram.
In addition to the tarot reading, the event had pink tarot cards to color on, art supplies, tarot-themed books, beverages and assorted snacks.
This was the WGS program’s fourth event of the year, following a painting event, a movie screening and a panty drive. Brackin, who organized the event, said she was intentional about cultivating a lens that focused on gender, race, class and sexuality.
“I thought it would really be fun to bring [tarot readings] to Drake, because tarot has such an interesting and rich history, rooted in gender and historic oppression,” Brackin said. “I wanted to be able to bring that to the students on campus, give them the opportunity for getting their own reading, but learn about it too.”
As the student worker of the WGS program and the English department, Brackin did the readings herself. She first started practicing tarot consistently six years ago. During that period, Brackin was going through a lot emotionally, dealing with “very adult problems” at a young age, she said.
“It was right before COVID that I got into it,” Brackin said. “Honestly, admittedly, it was a bit of an internet fad. I think when you go through great periods of feeling very lost internally… You turn to look for answers in things that you don’t have control over.”
Madison Fick, a physics student with an English minor, was interested in getting a reading done. She wanted to see how the experience would compare to the many previous tarot readings she’s had in the past. Fick found herself impressed with the results.
“It was weirdly accurate to my situation that I chose to have as the topic,” Fick said. “It was also very enlightening. It helped me give some perspective on a few things for sure.”
Junior Valerie Vera, a law, politics and society major with a concentration in women and gender studies, has her own experience doing tarot readings. She got into tarot as a way to help her friends find clarity about their personal situations.
“’I’m usually on the other side during the tarot reading,” Vera said, “but I’ve never actually gotten a full reading.”
Vera found herself inspired by the way Brackin channeled her individuality and passion for art within her reading technique.
“[Brackin] did an amazing job at explaining and walking you through the process. I do think she’s very skilled in that sense,” Vera said. “Her intuition was right on point with my breathing, which was really fun. I think it’s a really good reflection for me.”
For Vera, the reading was reminiscent of “the beauty of the power of women,” reminding her that everyone has their unique process and intuition with tarot readings.
“[Brackin’s] connection with the cards and her interpretations are very unique to her,” Vera said. “Even with those disparities and those gaps of ‘what it means to you’ [and] ‘what it means to me,’ the message was able to resonate with me really, like, purely.”
Roughly 40 people attended and received readings, with each lasting about three minutes. By the end, two and a half hours in, Brackin said she had a sore throat, but was ultimately thrilled by the event’s success.
“I’m so grateful,” Brackin said. “The Women and Gender Studies program deserves all of this recognition and more.”
Especially given that Women and Gender Studies programs are being cut at other schools, Brackin emphasized the importance of this program at Drake.
“This is such an important thing to learn, where we should be such a grateful university to be able to still have this kind of program,” Brackin said.“The University of Iowa does not anymore. It’s kind of crazy, and that was defunded, so it’s important.”
The biggest misconception about tarot, Brackin said, is the belief that they will tell your fortune, predict when you will die or read your ex’s mind. She describes tarot being “so much more therapeutic than that.” For Brackin, tarot is an opportunity to “look through the lines of a mirror” and find personal insight.
“And then, more importantly,” Brackin said, “[to] look at what’s behind you and how to move forward [from] that.”
Merging mystical topics with the Women and Gender Studies program was an effort to raise awareness about the program itself and bring like-minded people together, Brackin said.
“We’re all about cultivating a vibrant community that’s enriched in making friends with like-minded people on campus that still care about programs like this — that includes: men, women, non-binary [people], all people,” Brackin said. “This event at the end of the day, it brings people together that may not have known each other … It’s important that we just create more and more people in this community.”
