en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune-telling#Asian_fortune_telling
There have been religious proscriptions against it, as well as civil laws passed that forbid the practice. For these reasons, many mainstream urban Europeans and Americans are unaware of how popular fortune-telling remains with the public and are surprised when they learn of a celebrity or politician who consults a fortune-teller for the purpose of making decisions.
Another form of fortune-telling, sometimes called "reading" or "spiritual consultation" does not rely on the use of specific devices or methods, but consists of the practitioner transmitting to the client advice and predictions which are said to have come from spirits or in visions.
Typical topics that Western fortune-tellers make predictions on include future romantic, financial, and childbearing prospects. They may also be called upon to aid in decision-making regarding job opportunities, the outcome of illnesses, and plans for marriage or divorce. In addition to divining the future, many fortune-tellers will also give "character readings." These are short analyses of the character of a person and do not necessarily involve specific preditions about future events.
The subject of a character reading may be the client, who seeks self-knowledge, but it is quite common for the fortune-teller to perform a character reading on the client's prospective mate. In the latter case, when a third party is being assessed for marital compatibility with the client, an element of fore-telling does occur, as the practitioner explores the future of the relationship based on the characters of the two parties.
Western culture, it appears that women consult fortune-tellers more than men: some indication of this comes from the profusion of advertisements for commercial fortune-telling services in magazines aimed at women, while such advertisements appear virtually unknown in magazines aimed specifically at men. It is quite common for young women to seek out fortune tellers as they embark on adulthood, and many women maintain decades-long relationships with their personal readers or fortune-tellers.
edit Popular methods 1 Face reading () - This is the interpretation of facial features of the nose, eyes, mouth and other criteria within one's face and the conversion of those criteria into predictions for the future. This usually covers one phase of the client's life, and reveals the type of luck associated with a certain age range. Face reading has been used in China since 2700BC - 2150BC. In the old generation when people asked for a job, they did not prepare the appraisal for interview, so the bosses or the shop owner will instead look at their face, Every section of the face will represent some information of the person's character. For example, from the forehead and chin, I would know how fast or slow that the person thinks and acts. We can see when the person gets old, will she/he be lonely or have lots of company from friends and family members. From the nose, I would know how wealthy the person is - can the person save money or the person can't save money, or does the person have long-term health problems, does the person communicate confidently or is shy. For the ladies, the nose represents what kind of husband they will have. As an another example, if you saw a pimple on the nose, it means that within 14 days, you will have a health problem or you might need to spend some money, like on a car break down, buying a present for somebody, or some home equipment breaking down, so you need to spend some money to buy new things. From the eye, I can find out how happy the person is, if she or he having a happy time or facing a bad time, or if the person is straightforward or narrow minded, or the person can make fast decision or can't decide anything. For example, when you see someone having both of the eyes close together, it means that he/she is a straightforward person. The location between the eye and the eyebrow can show that the person likes to stay in a big spacious house or the person prefers to stay in the apartment or condominium. For men, this sector can be evaluated as the relationship between his and his wife. For the mouth, we prefer to see that the mouth is slightly bigger than the nose. For example, if a person's mouth is not closed when they are not talking, it means this person will like to dream and might always make mistakes. In Face Reading, there is also have another subject called the 100 positions map, this refer to 100 positions on the face and this represents the person's luck at different ages. The upper region of the face represents youth, the middle region of the face represents middle age, and the lower region of the face represents old age. For example, if you have a mole in position 46 or 47, it means that on the age of 46 or 47 you will be facing some problems.
The end result is a translation of one's destiny path, an interpretation of a pre-determined fate. The result of the details vary depending on the accuracy of the original four pillars information the client provides to the fortune-teller. This method can also verify unique events that have already happened in one's life.
Other interpretations may suggest the order in which the components are important. For example education is not useful if fate does not put you in the proper place first.
management consultants, they advise business people on business and investment decisions. Many major business decisions involve the input of fortune tellers. Their social role allows decision risks to be placed outside of the organization and provides a mechanism of quickly randomly deciding between several equally useful options.
In general, most casting or throwing methods are performed on the ground (often within a circle) and they fall into one of two categories: * Casting marked bones, flat pieces of wood, shells, or leather strips and numerically counting up how they fall -- either according to their markings or whether they do or do not touch one another -- with mathematically-based readings delivered as memorized results based on the chosen criteria.
edit Sociology In African society, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. Those who tell fortunes for a living are also sought out for their wisdom as counselors and for their knowledge of herbal medicine.
edit Opposing theories Those who believe that it is possible for a practitioner to tell fortunes or predict the future for clients may have religious objections to the practice.
Confirmation bias predisposes people to look for cases where predictions can be interpreted as accurate more than they look to find inaccurate ones. Clients of fortune-telling services may fail to realise that statements made about them might reflect reality, but would equally apply to most other people (for instance, the statement "you fought with your parents sometimes as a teenager" applies to a large majority of people).
edit Legality In the United States, a variety of local and state laws restrict fortune-telling, require the licensing or bonding of fortune-tellers, or make necessary the use of terminology that avoids the term "fortune-teller" in favour of terms such as "spiritual advisor" or "psychic consultant." There are also laws that forbid the practice ouright in certain districts.
By mentioning that "one should use his intelligence and wisdom while visiting fortune tellers," the law-makers who wrote this statute acknowledged that fortune-tellers do not restrict themselves to "a show or exhibition solely for the purpose of entertainment or amusement" and that people will continue to seek out fortune-tellers even though fortune-tellers operate in violation of the law.
rabbi and author, states "Since time immemorial humans have longed to learn that which the future holds for them. Thus, in ancient civilization, and even today with fortune telling as a true profession, humankind continues to be curious about its future, both out of sheer curiosity as well as out of desire to better prepare for it."
Ken Feingold, writer of "Interactive Art as Divination as a Vending Machine" states, "as the fundamental economic medium of exchange required by and used by all, money brought...
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