It was a literal dark and stormy night at the Syosset Library’s Summerween Soiree on Thursday, July 31. Despite flash flood warnings, the library got spooky at the celebration, inviting visitors to come dressed in costume and tap into their intuition with tarot cards.
The Summerween festivities pays homage to an unofficial holiday popularized by the Disney show “Gravity Falls,” where residents celebrate Halloween twice a year.
Throughout the day, children dressed in costumes trick-or-treated throughout the library. Community Engagement Specialist Jessikah Chautin said the turnout “rivaled” actual Halloween activity.
In the evening, professional tarot readers and authors Sasha Graham and Holly Buczek held a special intuition workshop. They led attendees through a guided meditation and interpreted tarot cards for visitors.
The interpreters, who met in the ’90s when Buczek attended one of Graham’s tarot reading classes, led their first class together in the library’s theater.
Graham said Halloween is a “threshold space” that allows people to look through the “veil” and into the past, present and future. She joked that every month should have a Halloween, and that Summerween’s popularity showcases an interest in the holiday’s spirituality.
Clearly, the summer spirit was in full swing at the event, because two attendees drew the Four of Wands, which Graham and Buczek said is often associated with the summertime.
While some attendees were experienced in tarot reading, others said it was their first time practicing. Graham and Buczek told newcomers to trust their intuition.
“Tarot, really, just reflects who we are,” Graham said. She said intuition helps guide people to “find out what we don’t know and should pay attention to.”
Buczek encouraged attendees to create their own tarot practice as a way to gain insight into themselves.
“Not only are you giving back to others, but do it for yourself,” she said.
Chautin said the library was happy with the participation at the soiree and throughout the day, especially considering the stormy weather.
“While this is the first Summerween event, I think it is very possible to say that it isn’t the last,” she said.
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