Chewing my lower lip and staring thoughtfully at the meat counter, I mused, "Should I grill chicken breasts or steak tonight?" Impatiently I glanced at my watch. I hadn't earlier known I would need to stop by the store after work, having company tonight was an unexpected surprise. I wonder if they'll bring the wine, or should I stop by Brew-Thru.
Decisions decisions!
Every day of life we wish and wonder that we knew more than we do...will it be sunny, will there be a traffic backup, will the plumber finally show today? Simple need-to-know facts which we often never know until it's past time to plan accordingly.
In my first pregnancy, sonograms were not the norm, my doctor was old fashioned and believed that the sex of your baby was not need-to-know info. So I used the needle dangling by a thread, the mixing of my urine with a household cleaner, all the 'proven' methods. I asked my 8-ball so often that I swear it began to say, "Damnit I have told you boy!" instead of 'ask again later". I had a girl. She had a bunch of cute blue outfits to wear.
Clairvoyance often fails us.
Yet we dare to dream and hope that by virtue of some manner of fortune telling, we can discover our futures, our destinies, and our dreams. Throughout time and across all cultures, human beings have sought ways of predicting future events. We want to know if we will prosper or fail, remain healthy and robust or become ill, bear children, find love, and so on. By Western standards, divination, the process of spiritually identifying future events, is illogical, irrational, and unscientific. And yet so strong is the desire to eliminate uncertainty that we, like others before us for thousands of years, continue to seek the wisdom of diviners, shamans, clairvoyants, psychics.
The search for these answers is rooted deep in history and shall remain a part of human nature forever. We want to know be it by crystal ball, palmistry, tarot, runes or tea leaves. And if you really want to get into the bowels of the matter, you may even opt to have your toilet read. Before you say, "cut the crap" check this out!
There are those of note, such as Jean Dixon, for their never-ending supply of predictions. No matter what her ratio of correct to 'you blew it' was, people drank her visions as fast as she could spill them. For those never-say-die souls, still today she can predict from her grave.
Recently I saw a commercial that began by asking, "Are you tired of all those phony psychics out there?" Well, smack me in the face with a big old gob of redundancy! It went on to encourage viewers to call "the only certified psychic line." Now hold it right there. How can anyone possibly be certified to be a psychic? Is there an actual test you take to gain accreditation? Do they have some formula that figures your accuracy? I figure the formula is something like--wrongs divided by rights, inverted by the square root of how many times you've been on TV or in a tabloid magazine.
I'm open minded about most things, but try to be sensible at the same time. It just seems to me that if someone somewhere really KNEW all the important things, there'd be a lot less misery in the world...fewer accidents.
Then there's the superficial material side of our need for divination. What are the lottery numbers for tomorrow? What horse will win? Laying odds on the Super Bowl anyone? Suppose we all could have these answers, what then?
Astrology is based on the idea that there is some relationship between human existence and the model of the solar system. Horoscopes usually have something to do with things both tangible and intangible. For example, a horoscope might read, "You will have a great week at your job. Your finances will grow and you will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment." Now, more than likely your finances won't do jack, but you will make yourself feel a sense of accomplishment. You'll probably pat yourself on the back for making the best pot of coffee this side of Dunkin Donuts. Maybe you'll take pride in sharpening your pencil to a precise point. Who knows? Never does it say "You will get a raise of $2 an hour and meet a guy named Sven who will sweep you off your feet and give you a ride home in his Porsche." Why not? Because it can't be done! Then again, if you don't like your own horriblescope you can now by the virtue of the power of the Internet...CHANGE your sign!
For that matter, no longer do you have to pay $4.95 a minute for guidance if you're willing to open your mind to Scooby Doo!. No need to purchase your own Eight Ball. And fortune telling is but a click away.
It's simply human nature to want answers, to want to know what's around the bend. It's natural to want to understand our dreams. It's no different to seek spiritual guidance from a tarot reader than from a minister if that is what you believe. Either way we need to feel that we can seek a higher authority to help us manipulate our lives. We want control of our destiny dictated by someone else. We desire harmony and will use any means to achieve that, even dialing 1-900 at 3 AM.
Okay, you're saying..."methinks thou doth protest too mucheth". I admit it. I, and several of my friends, decided to take a 'fun' trip last year. We made an appointment with a tarot reader to have our lives dissected and our fortunes told. I cannot say that I was sure I would believe what I heard, my interest was in the spirit of fun and not necessarily spiritual. Events ocurred that precluded us from keeping our appointment.
We didn't call and cancel however...after all, shouldn't he have KNOWN we weren't coming?