Predicting death
‘Drawing down the moon’ is a common expression in magical discourses. I went swimming today and drew down the sky. In the evening, while witnessing the sunset, a beautiful young man asked me if I could predict things. ‘Like what?’ I wanted to know. ‘Like my death’, he said. I said, ‘I can predict your death. Next time you’re in town, come to the house and I will read your cards.’
The thing about predicting death is that it’s no different than predicting for any other event, whether we’re talking about forecasting the weather or the predictability of the stock market. You get the cards you get, and you read them right then and there. The event of reading the cards is not the same as the event predicted for, which may or may not come to pass. This is a distinction that most diviners don’t make. But they should.
What I often say is this: I don’t read the future. Or not necessarily. I just read the damn cards. I’m not interested in the future. But it does happen that sometimes, when I read the damn cards, shit happens exactly to the letter, the visual letter in the cards, that is. Which is always exciting, but no different than predicting the stock market. Many clever heads do that on a daily basis, without thinking that they have to defend their delusions. Somehow when money is involved, everyone seems to be more accepting of the whole business of predicting. But the fun is not in that. The fun is in reading the damn cards.
I look at my old Carolus Zoya cards and ponder on what I might say connected to event of being asked about whether I can predict death. But since I have no person in front of me, asking me to predict their death right here and right now, while I’m back at the house and not at the beach, the only thing that crosses my mind is actually manifest as a desire, namely the desire get out my red seal and fill the empty space in the belly of the King of Batons. As this deck escaped stamping, it features so many opportunities…
But would that not mean ruining these old cards, a world treasure, since this deck is unique and no one else has such a thing on the planet, coming straight out of Zoya’s hand? I call this deck my tulip deck, as it features the most beautiful tulips in the world, my favorite flower.
Prediction can wait. I’ll go and fill my vases with beauty instead, and then immerse myself into the sea once more, leaving what comes come, according to its fate.
The young man, an old soul in a most beautiful body, can also wait. The deal was that I was going to read his cards next time he visited here. He promised he would come. If he’ll live until then…
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Predictions
The Read Like the Devil trilogy of books features many insights on what we make of prediction. But the best is to start with the first volume, if interest in this area in fortunetelling is present.
