Three Kinds of Fortunes
Shirley Shin
FEBRUARY 16, 2008
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I've always gone to fortune tellers. It started off at an early age. I followed my aunts, who would visit fortune tellers before any big events or big decisions. My cousin wants to get married? Let's go see a fortune teller. My uncle wants to start a new business? Let's go see a fortune teller. Time to take the college boards? Let's go see a fortune teller.
One year ago, I visited a Korean shaman in Los Angeles. She took down my birthday, consulted some charts and pronounced my fate for 2007. She told me to marry my boyfriend. She warned me that my mom's health was in jeopardy. And she said piles of money were coming my way.
Now it's 2008. I'm still broke, my mom is healthy and I'm still not married. So I've decided on a new tactic. I'm going to see three different clairvoyants, all of whom are sure to give me the same fortune. Right?
***
I didn't have to go far to get my first reading. Just a few blocks from my apartment stands a tiny pink building: Mrs. Lin's psychic reading shop. It's about 10 by 12 feet and shares the parking lot with a 7-11.
Tammy Lin, daughter of the original Mrs. Lin, prepares a tea leaf reading. She takes a pot of boiling water and pours it into a cup. She drops in a tea bag and lets it seep in the hot water for a few minutes.
After waiting for the leaves to settle to the bottom, I pick up the cup, swish it around three times counterclockwise, and take three sips. I then turn the cup over and let the tea spill out into a bowl.
"Now, we should be able to get some pictures," says Lin. "Let me know if you see anything. It can be a picture of a house, a boot or whatever."
A tea leaf reading is a little like an inkblot test. You look for images in the patterns of the tea leaves that remain in the cup. I try to tap into my childhood imagination. I try to let the leaves speak to me. I stare hard, but I can't see a thing.
"I feel like you have a couple of whales in here," says Lin. "The whale is a symbol for something very large. So if you're not in a relationship or you are in a relationship, this could be the one for you."
The next half hour was filled with statements like: you are about to make a major change in your life; your finances are about to get better; and you might be dating the one.
***
Next stop: Venice Beach. It's a sidewalk circus and tourist attraction, with no shortage of psychics and fortune tellers.
"My name is Luanne. Luanne Hughes. People call me Luna."
Hughes hands me a stack of tarot cards. I shuffle the cards three times, say my name out loud three times and wait for my divination.
"This is good, this is very good," Hughes says as she flips over the cards. She fans the cards out in front of her and proceeds to rattle off a series of cliches: I am a beacon of light who inspires others; I will do very well in my career with a promotion on the horizon; there will be a party for me in the future. Well, she's right about that. My birthday is in May.
***
"Now, first you have to put $50 on the table and give me your full birth name as you were born," instructs Charles Guelperin, also known as Baba Funke. Guelperin is a Santeria priest who channels a 500-year-old Congolese spirit named Manuel.
He uses cowrie shells to give me a reading. "You are a volcano, a subdued volcano at times, but who can erupt without knowledge and without preparation," Guelperin says. "Or if you don't explode, you implode and create pain and sorrow to yourself."
This was less fortune telling than it was therapy. At the end of our session, Guelperin advises me to get a gong. "And in the morning, hit the gong and feel the vibration. Let your soul rise with the gong vibration."
I left his place feeling defensive and confused. I'd always seen fortune telling as a harmless way to get glimpse into my future. But maybe, when someone seeks insight from a psychic, it's more about insecurity than a need to actually know. Maybe my infatuation with fortune tellers is really just my need to be reassured that everything's going to be OK.
I think I know how 2008 will be for me. It'll be a lot like 2007. Except maybe this year, I'll stop planning and wondering about my future, and just be.
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- Music Bridge:
- 10 Section VIII
- Artist: Steve Reich
- CD: Music for 18 Musicians (Nonesuch)
Comments
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From Northridge, CA, 09/26/2010
Hi, I am wondering where I can find Tammy Linn's place for a tea reading!
From Venice, CA, 02/21/2008
Many seek the advice of readers for a number of reasons. In time of old, a person was usually in a very difficult place when they sought the services of a reader, due to the cultural taboo against readings at the time. Today, times are more liberal and people enjoy readings at all stages of life, sometimes purely for entertainment, and sometimes for the wisdom that can be unlocked by a good reader.
Many readers, some who are very famous, have created a lot of unrealistic expectations as to what a reader can and can not do. Having been involved with readings for over 10 years, I can say that there are truly some remarkable experiences that sometimes occur which seem to defy logic. I am left with little doubt about the interconnectedness of life.
Having said that - predicting the future is entirely another matter.
When we discuss the future, as readers, we are really working with the ideas of probabilities, not things that are set in stone. Particular patterns of energy in a person's life tend to create certain types of events. The future, however, is dynamic and ever changing, while the reading is static - a snapshot of things as they stand currently.
It should also be pointed out that prediction is not a psychic skill, but rather a well developed analytical ability - which most "Psychics" never bother to develop.
In the end - the most powerful shaping force for your future rests in your own hands. It is the free-will which you bring to everything you do. I have seen people work hard with nothing to create something good, and others take all of the advantages you could ask for and throw everything away. The future truly rests in your own hands.
As far as predicting specific things, virtually impossible. Suppose, for example we were to ask the reader what type of career we should pursue. For just a moment, contemplate the number of jobs there are in the world - it's overwhelming. Not to mention that there are people doing things that we don't even know people do.
Want to find Mr. Right through a Psychic - no problem. We will just have to individually consider the approximately 6 billion people there are in the world. Of course, we could just limit it to the population of Los Angeles - which is only in the millions.
The value of a good reader may be to help you to understand yourself better, and thus find a career in which you will be happier and more productive. A good reading may help you to better understand yourself in terms of relationships, or to better understand the issues you may have in yours, which can lead to greater happiness.
There are definite benefits that can be derived from the services of a good and ethical reader. At times, they may seem to be perceptive to the subtleties of situations, they may allow you to see things from a different perspective that can be helpful in making good choices going forward. Choose a reader who is intelligent, ethical, kind and who has a sincere interest in working with you to find happiness. Beware of readers who tell you that they can fix your problems, in particular for a fee. Keep an open mind, but don't be naive. And don't abdicate responsibility for building your future to anyone else. Consider the "opinion" of the reader, just as you carefully consider all of the other opinions and information available to you. In the end, make the decision you believe in and do your best.
From CA, 02/19/2008
If any of you are interested in palmistry, you can check out a good website that I refer to once in a while.
www.palmistryfree.com
From Baltimore, MD, 02/16/2008
Shirley says that the first psychic is "a few blocks away from my apartment." Where is that? BB
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