Is Fortune-Telling Really Just Superstition? My Experience
I used to be skeptical about fortune-telling and even found the term a bit amusing. Now and then I’d visit a street fortune-teller with friends just for fun, but most of what they said felt irrelevant. Last year, a friend ran into problems in her marriage. Like many women, she felt lost at first. Her instinct was to save the relationship, but she didn’t know if that was even possible. We watched her grow thinner and more distressed by the day.
One day she invited me for tea and said she was about to send money for a reading. I was genuinely surprised. Given her situation, wanting to consult a fortune-teller seemed normal, but paying upfront made me worry it was a scam. She didn’t have much money, yet she insisted on giving it a try. After sending the fee, she also emailed her birth details. Three days later, she told me the fortune-teller had replied with the results. I didn’t ask to see them—it was her private matter. She said the reader, using only her birth information, stated that her marriage was in trouble and even mentioned her parents’ health issues and appearance. Curious, I asked what was said about her marriage. She answered slowly: the fortune-teller predicted she would definitely get divorced by the end of the year. By mid-December 2005, they finalized a divorce agreement.
At the beginning of 2006, I was wavering about investing in a beauty salon and remembered what had happened. I asked my friend for the fortune-teller’s email and, figuring it couldn’t hurt, sent a message and paid the fee. Four days later, I received a reply assuring me I could invest with confidence and that returns would be good. The salon is doing very well now, and I’ve already recouped my investment—something I hadn’t expected, since ventures like this usually take at least a year to break even.
A friend of mine who does business in Beijing is fascinated by this and consults a fortune-teller for almost everything. Recently, he came back asking if I knew any experts who could predict his future. I know a woman in her thirties with the surname Hao who’s reputed to be quite accurate. Last summer she suddenly fell seriously ill—with a high fever and periods of unconsciousness—and was bedridden for over a month. After a hospital stay with no effective treatment, she unexpectedly recovered and began offering readings, reportedly with a high rate of accuracy. I was curious and consulted her twice, and she was about 80% on target. I introduced her to my friend, but to my surprise he said he’d never heard of her and dismissed her as too obscure. We really do live in a brand-driven era where everything needs a reputation check.
I once had an experience that could be called fortune-telling. In the winter of 2003, I often worked night shifts alone and inevitably got bored. I spent time in online chat rooms—before QQ was popular—and frequently visited TOM’s chat rooms. I especially liked an English chat room. One day I noticed a user named Rain and said hello. We started chatting, and after about ten messages I suddenly felt compelled to guess what kind of person she was. She replied, “Sure, give it a try.” It felt like a flash of insight, and I told her: “You’re about 165 to 167 cm tall; you weigh around 100 pounds, not more than 105; your complexion is fair; your hair is long to your shoulders; your face is round with dimples.” She responded immediately: “Are you my colleague or a friend? You must know me well! Tell me who you are!” I assured her, “I really don’t know you. I swear on my life—if I knew you, I wouldn’t be human!”
I continued, “Your idol is Tony Leung; you love the starry sky; when you sleep, you like to leave the window slightly open because you crave fresh air; your personality is somewhat introverted; you don’t care much about relationships with classmates or coworkers, and you don’t place a high value on friendship. Most of the time you prefer to be alone, and social interactions feel overwhelming, which makes you a bit anxious.” She typed “My God!” over and over, saying, “You must know me—and you know me really well. But I just can’t figure out who you are. Stop joking and tell me the truth!” I replied, “Oh my— I really don’t know you! I swear, if I’m lying, I’m not human!”
She still wouldn’t believe me. “If you don’t tell me, I’m leaving and won’t chat with you anymore!” I realized nothing I said would convince her. Finally, I said, “Believe it or not, I truly don’t know you. I’m tired now—bye!”
Later, I thought about it and found the whole thing hard to believe. I truly didn’t know her; all I had was her username, Rain, and our brief exchange. She mentioned she was an English teacher at a university in Foshan, and that was it. How did those guesses about her appearance and personality come to me? In that moment, it felt like a vivid image formed in my mind and the words just came out. I still can’t explain it.