Evakyna Aiken has been in school for 12 years, but she just recently learned to read.
Evalyna, a senior at Bellwood-Antis HS, earned the certification to become a professional tarot card reader.
Outside of tarot and school, Evalyna participates in Aevidum, Tyrone’s swim team, and cross country for Bellwood. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, reading, thrifting, and collecting vinyl records.
Evalyna has been reading tarot since she was 13 years old. Her grandmother who was formerly employed at a crystal shop introduced her to tarot, and the rest of her family encouraged her to pursue it. “My family gets their cards read once every couple months,” Evalyna said. “Eventually they signed me up for a class to get certified.”
“There are a lot of misconceptions about tarot reading. It’s not devil worship,” stated Evalyna. Tarot tells you what direction your life is currently heading, and is not a means of fortune telling or predicting your future.
“The cards tell you where you’re heading in the present moment,” she also explained, “so you can either keep doing what you’re doing if you’re heading in a good direction or make some change.”
A reading is done by shuffling the cards, and depending on the meaning of the cards that are pulled out, they tell you where your life is heading.
One of Evalyna’s main motivations for reading tarot is collecting all the cards, and she also enjoys getting to read them for her family.
“I’ve been offered to read tarot for money, but I always decline,” stated Evalyna. She enjoys just keeping it as a hobby and having fun with it.
Evalyna’s advice for starting tarot is to find a deck that you really like.
“There are also many ways to learn how to do a reading. If you know someone, that’s great, but there’s also videos, books, and websites to teach yourself,” said Evalyna. She recommends to start reading on your own and then go from there.
After high school, Evalyna plans to attend Saint Francis University to study marine biology and ecology. She still plans on pursuing tarot reading as a hobby. Good luck Evalyna!
