Tarot Symbolism, Divination, and Tarot Card reading

Tarot Symbolism, Divination, and Tarot Card reading

Academic Year:
2016 - 2017 (June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017)
Funding Requested:
$500.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
Graduate Student/Postdoc:
mswilson
jtroysamu
Overview of the Project:
Our class, Ancient Magic and Witchcraft, covers the history of Magic in the West but focuses on the Greco-Roman legacy of magic. There are 150 students in the class. One component of the course focuses on Renaissance magic and the use of symbolism taken from Greco-Roman antiquity. We are studying the history of Tarot and the students are making their own tarot deck, based on themes relevant to 21st century students but rooted in Renaissance magic. For example, we thought of creating the "Black Lives Matter" Tarot or the "Climate Change" Tarot. After drawing, designing and printing the decks, students will learn how to do Tarot divination. We will spend a class session on the Diag (Dec. 1) offering readings to anyone and also teaching them about Tarot and about the relevance of the Tarot themes. For this purpose, we need funds to print the decks at printyourowncards.com. The cost is about $12 for each deck and we are trying to bring the costs down for the students. The money will go to printing the decks that we design and create.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:
I am applying for a grant of $500 so that my students in Classical Civilizations 381 (Ancient Magic) can design, create, and print their own Tarot decks, based on themes relevant to 21st concerns. The student will study the history of Tarot symbolism, select and design a card, study the history of the emblems employed, and do a handmade rendition of the symbols. Students in the this class are interested in the ancient world in terms of how religious ideologies have shaped Western consciousness. We are interested in exploring how these same ideologies are present in the campus community and devised this art based exercise as a chance to bring art, social awareness, history, and civic mindedness together.
Project Achievements:
My students made Tarot cards and created two decks. We learned how to read the cards and performed a public Tarot reading. Students learned about the history of the Tarot, how to read symbols, how to interpret symbols, about Renaissance magic, the history of the occult, and used photoshop. They also participated in a kind of magic ritual and learned how to interact with their clients.
Dissemination:
Students performed Tarot readings for the UM community.