FORTUNE TELLING

Fortune telling refers to the prediction of the future of an individual by supernatural or

mystical means.

Fortune tellers or soothsayers use specific methods to foretell the future (distant or
nearer) of a person by using the information provided by the person and
extrapolating it with specified results to conclude the possible happenings of the
future; however this method is subjective and most often events are totally
opposite to what was predicted.

The History of fortune telling goes back to 5000 years when special clairvoyants
were hired for the Kings and clergymen to predict the most suitable strategies for
them. Nevertheless, fortune tellers soon lost respect and popularity during the rise
of Reason in the 17th and 18th century.

In Europe, fortune telling was considered a sin, therefore it was legally forbidden,
and civil laws were passed that forbade its practice completely. However, its
popularity increased with years as people began to practice it unlawfully, and
even now, despite the legal limitations, celebrities and politicians are observed to
consult a fortune-teller for making their future.

Common methods used for fortune telling are Astromancy, Tarot reading (card reading),
crystallomancy (reading crystal sphere), pendulum reading, contumacy, horary
astrology, and spirit board reading, which come from the old Roman and gypsy
methods.

Another form of fortune-telling is the spiritual consultation, in which no specific

methods are used; rather, the practitioner gives the subject advises, which come
from the spirits or in visions.

In addition to predicting the future, modern future tellers also give psychic
readings, which use methods such as numerology, graphology, palmistry and
astrology to help people solve their problems.

In the contemporary society, Women are seen more often than men are, to consult the
fortune tellers to help them in romantic, financial or studious matters, which are
 shown by the excessive advertisements in magazines aimed at women.
Business persons consult fortune tellers for predicting their future investments,
and profits. Most people approach psychic readers to help them understand their
inner-self, or most often predict the future of their married life or their
compatibility with their spouse.
Moreover, modern soothsayers have opened their websites or they are registered with the
websites and TV channels such as MSN astrology and astrology.com where
spiritual-strength-seekers are given attractive offers of free psychic reading,
compatibility test, or even death tests and therefore, fortune telling has become a
big source for commercial gain.

Apart from this, still in many countries, face reading, palm reading,
physiotherapy, and 'Bazi' are used by the street fortune tellers as the basic source
of their income, where internet psychology is still unpopular, because of its
expensiveness.

On the other hand, religious scholars consider it unlawful and against the religious
doctrine.Christian and Islamic followers believe that fortune telling is an open
challenge to God and that it is clearly forbidden in Bible. Islamic scholars object
to its practice by stating that the knowledge of the future and the power to make
future is in the hands of God, and it is against the Islamic laws to try to predict
future although it is stated as a true knowledge in Quran
In addition, people against it justify its unlawfulness by saying that it may be merely a
way of reducing anxiety among people or a source of entertainment and because
predictions usually use vague terms, they never lend themselves to falsification.
A fortuneteller may also be used by some biased political forces to appeal to the
decision to be made.

Despite its unreliability, Fortunetellers have so far been successful in convincing

people to use future prediction to control the inevitable events in their life.