Other deceits

I was fourteen when I first consulted someone about the future. She was one of my mother's patients and she offered to read my palm. She found an omen of misfortune and proceeded to remove it by performing the "kadlit" ritual. She told me not to get my palm wet for a week. For a few hours, I complied. After a while, the thought of germs breeding on my skin prevailed over my fear of bad luck. I washed my hands.

In my freshman year in college, I visited the Quiapo Church with a cousin. A middle-aged woman outside the church's door told me that she could tell my future for twenty pesos. The session lasted less than thirty seconds.

"You will go abroad and meet your future husband there," she said.

"Is he cute?" I asked.

"I can tell you but that would be another twenty pesos."

Two years later, I found myself consulting the I Ching. I had met someone I liked but I was not sure if going out with him was a good idea. After washing my hands, meditating on the question and tossing three new coins, I was referred to a passage that said that the army should cross the pass in the mountain. I took that as a yes.

After a year in law school, I wanted to quit and do something else. I decided to consult a fortune teller recommended by my friend to help me decide. This fortune teller used ordinary playing cards and tarot cards. He told me that that I would be moving to a new house, that I would pass the bar and that if I married my boyfriend, we would have three kids and a happy life.

Not convinced, I went to another fortune teller that same afternoon. She lived in one of the slums. Her house was in a very seedy area near the Mabolo Church. After she examined my palm, she told me to dump my boyfriend.

The past few days, it has been impossible to watch tv without seeing fortune tellers and Feng Shui experts being interviewed on what the year of the Fire Boar holds for us. I caught some warning us of fire, floods, earthquakes and other calamities this year. The experts who owned or managed Feng Shui shops recommended charms sold at their stores to ward off bad luck. The almanac that a client had given me years ago told me that this year would be a good one. I've heard two experts say that my sign is not among the lucky ones but that I could make my life better by buying lucky coins.

Article 318 of the Revised Penal Code criminalizes fortune-telling as "Other deceits" and puts it in the same league as estafa or swindling. The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine not exceeding two hundred pesos may be imposed on "any person who, for profit or gain, shall interpret dreams, make forecasts, tell fortunes, or take advantage of the credulity of the public in any other similar manner."

This notwithstanding, people continue to consult fortune tellers and Feng Shui experts (and spend serious money in the process). It must be the fear of the unknown that makes us do so. Then again, it could also be our refusal to take full responsibility for our decisions. It is much kinder on our egos to have something else to blame when things don't work out the way we want them to.

I'm getting a compass to find the southwest area of my house.

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