Hopeful as ever for news
about myself, I went with Jaewon to the renowned fortuneteller of
인사동.
Koreans take mysticism seriously, maybe because Korean life is so plainly
overdetermined; through I-Ching,
face reading, palm reading or Tarot, a bleak future is
probable and so
probe-able.
We arrived too early and
spied on his spot from across the street. Finally a young man arrived,
wearing aerodynamic
glasses and wheeling the transparent Plexiglas street stall from
which he would operate.
He assembled it handily, and as we introduced ourselves was arranging
the final accoutrements
on the table before him: a wooden box of Tarot cards, a pack of gum, a
bedside reading lamp, a
small flask.
I braced myself for bad
or obviously false fortune (the latter being much worse) and Jaewon
put a hand on one of my
shoulders to steady me.
ÒGirlfriend?Ó The
fortuneteller asked. I will give a high five to the first Korean who doesnÕt ask
this; no one here seems
willing to imagine a mixed-sex friendship. Jaewon corrected him.
The fortuneteller set to
work extrapolating my future from my birth date and time, in a process
that looked uncannily
like M.A.S.H. Finally the grid of Chinese radicals was complete; without
ceremony, he delivered
the news.
ÒYouÕll be famous
beginning in your late twenties, so you should go into government service
or become a professor,Ó
Jaewon translated, adding that the professional recommendation was
bunk that would only
apply to Koreans. ÒYouÕll have a big academic transition this coming year
that will go very well,
and youÕll start to make lots of money in your thirties. YouÕll live to be at
least
91. At some point
between 27 and 30 youÕll marry a good man, and have up to three kids.Ó
The fortuneteller looked
apologetic. ÒYou will have many daughters.Ó My face sank as well.
He asked if I had any
questions and I requested a more general divination of my nature.
ÒYou are very
controlled, and are very strong at pursuing things. You have a controversial
aspect
that could alienate
people.Ó Then he said something that Jaewon took a little longer to translate.
Together they talked it
over as I looked sheepishly through the transparent stall walls at tourists
strolling by.
They agreed on a definition.
ÒHe says that you have a psychotic quality.Ó
So now I know to believe
the rest of the prediction.
