Better Than A Fortune Cookie....

When I lived in India as a child I had a nanny from Tibet. I distinctly remember her telling me that when she was a child, she had her whole life spelled out to her by a Chinese fortuneteller. He/She told her that she would get married when she was 30, and lo and behold, she did.

How much are people influenced by what people tell them is their pending fate versus what actually is their fate? I'm using fate loosely in this context of course, as I stubbornly believe that people have free will, but I just don't know to what degree.

I had a chance to test fate myself by going to a Chinese fortune teller yesterday next to the famous Taoist, Buddihist & Confucian Wong Tai Sin Temple. Did you know that in China you can get a degree in fortune telling? Chinese fortune telling, or Zi Wei Dou Shu, is an ancient respected art that literally means the study of a person's life based on the movement and location of the Zi Wei Star and 100+ other stars at the specific time the person was born.

The Procedure:
1. I gave my fortuneteller my "Four Pillars of Destiny": the moment of my birth: year, month, day, and time.
2. Using Chinese astrology, the fortuneteller first determined my sign on the Natal Birth Chart or Mìng Pán. From this I learned that I was born in the year of the Rat, not the Ox as I had thought, as I was born on the cusp--the cut off date is February fourth every year.
3. The Chinese believe there are five elements, or Wu Xing, including Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth (sorry for those Captain Planet fans out there, there is no "heart"!). A complete horoscope thus includes an animal and an element. The fortuneteller determined that I belong to the "water" class and that it was very strong.

The Results:
As a Water sign, he said I was not wealthy or a businesswoman. In a brief palm reading side note, he said the fact that my pinky was short confirmed this fate. Finally, he said I would be "famous" in my profession, but that I wouldn't be wealthy. So far so good :)

Since different years are associated with different elements (and animals of the zodiac) he foresaw varying fortunes for different years, although overall I am lucky. In Fire years, I would be wealthy. In Wood years, I would make a lot of progress. In Earth years, I would be powerful. In Water years, I would lose money, and in Gold years, I would regress. All of this is very vague, but it gets better.

Due to a combination of factors, the fortuneteller interpreted that my best years would be from 21-41. In those years, I would gain progress in work, power, honor, and good relationships. Then from 41-51 I would regress (menopause, children?), but from 51 onwards it would be good again.

Apparently, my best years for love are 2008 and 2009. I guess I better get crackin! He told me that although I wouldn't be wealthy, my husband would be as I have a high nose bridge. Face reading is an integral part of fortunetelling, and he said I was lucky based on my face. I guess there are worse things to hear :)

A Feng Shui analysis, the ancient Chinese art of arranging objects to create balance in one's life, was the final part of my session. Based on my Water sign, he said I could decorate my house in red, pink, blue, green or yellow, but that I must stay away from black and white. I must also place the pillow on my bed in the direction of east or south. When I told him that I was born in Brazil (the "south") he was pleased, taking this information as corroborating evidence. But I shouldn't get too cocky--I clearly also need porcelain horses to balance out my strong Water sign (porcelain represents Earth and horses represent Fire).

I am very intrigued by this prophecy, but as some of my more cynical friends said, let's hope he's not also in the porcelain horse industry...