Fortune-Telling

Fortune-tellers, psychics, prophets, and mediums all claim to possess methods, both spiritual and scientific, of allowing us a glimpse into our own futures and pasts. Many claim to possess a sixth sense. This term began as an explanation of many transcendental phenomena among fortune-tellers. The sixth sense is considered the source and sum of all our partial senses. Later, the term came to be used more comprehensively, to encompass abilities such as telepathy, clairvoyance, prediction, and premonition. These phenomena were seen as manifestations of an unknown sense that perceives the “vibrations of reality.” Many fortune-tellers use tarot cards as the main tool of their trade. Tarot is defined as a divination tool consisting of a deck of cards with powerful images illustrating various processes, energies, or spiritual conditions. Decks usually consist of 78 cards divided into four suits.

Many paranormals differentiate between the work of a medium and that of a psychic. To act as [Page 284]a medium, one must learn to tune into the faster vibrations of the spirit world. Some fortune-tellers believe that after death we leave our earthly bodies and reside within our spirit bodies, which are at a much higher level of vibration than we would encounter here on earth. They believe that all feelings, sights, and thoughts can be transmitted through a medium's spirit mind. Individuals are constantly picking up spirit impressions in this way, but it is only the medium that is able to interpret them. All mediums are psychic, but not all psychics are mediums. The psychic faculty is the ability to use telepathy—that is, mind-to-mind communication.

Some researchers suggest possible patterns of thinking that might lead certain individuals to be more apt to accept otherworldly phenomena such as mind reading and ghosts. One theory focuses on what is called the 25 misconceptions that lead us to believe in “otherworldly” things. They deal with concepts such as coincidence, overreliance on authority and representativeness, and our tendency to remember when psychics are right and forget when they are wrong. Our need for certainty and control over our futures is another trait. Others contend that most of our interest in the future is fundamentally rooted in insecurity. We wonder if we will live to see another day, and if we will, if it will bring joy or sorrow. Even the certainty of death only serves to bring about more uncertainty, because we are left to wonder when and how it may happen and where we will go from there.

However, most people reject the notion of paranormal power or psychic ability. People are sometimes afraid to accept the idea of prophecy because it upsets our orderly notions of time. We are accustomed to conceiving of the passage of time as orderly. It is difficult to accept the possibility of a future that already exists, fearing perhaps that free will may turn out to be an illusion if events in our lives have already been mapped out.

Most fortune-tellers perform in one of three venues: (1) in public, where they sit at tables in a public space and clients come to the table; (2) private readings, in which the client enters a private space where the fortune-teller is present; and (3) fairs, in which an auditorium-sized space is filled with fortunetellers at tables and clients can go to one or many. Regardless of their label, each is paid for telling the client about the past or the future.

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