By Ghost Nana Translated by Yvonne Chen Photos by Richard Matheson and Ghost Nana

Fortune-telling programs are on television almost all hours of the day, every day. According to some, people's uncertainty concerning the future is the reason why fortune telling is so popular in Taiwan.
This month, F.Y.I. SOUTH presents some of the most popular fortune-telling methods. Once you have some rudimentary understanding of the "art," you'll no longer be mystified by soothsayers, and may gain respect for this ancient--and sometimes profound--aspect of culture.

FORTUNE TELLING METHODS OF EASTERN ORIGIN

Chinese fortune-tellers divide a person's life into decades, and list major life events on the life chart's twelve branches. From a person's month, day and year of birth, 115 lucky and unlucky stars are then positioned in the twelve branches. Thus, for each branch, each decade, and any given year, luck or misfortune will be present. The Life Branch, one of the twelve branches, is extrapolated from the twelve earth stems of the birth month and the twelve earth stems of the birth hour.
The twelve branches are: Life Branch (ordained future including lifetime experiences, from persona to development of skills and future career accomplishments), Body Branch (present fortune), Sibling Branch, Spouse Branch, Offspring Branch, Wealth Branch, Illness Branch, Migration Branch, Servitude Branch (relates to interpersonal relationships with friends and coworkers), Executive Branch (career and promotions), Estate Branch, Happiness And Virtue Branch, and Parents Branch. The study of one's life chart focuses on the Life Branch supplemented by the Body Branch in conjunction with other branches.

Rise And Fall Chart of Life
The Rise And Fall Chart of Life refers to a person's lifespan, eminence, failures, luck and misfortune, and present fate based on the Terrestrial Branches taken from his/her year, month, day, and time of birth on the Chinese calendar. It is also a tool in determining interpersonal relations and persona. As a person's time of birth uses a "Celestial Stem" and an "Earth Branch" to construct the four pairs of life chart (year, month, day, and hour), the chart is also known as "Four Columns." The connection between the Four Columns are listed as follows:
Year Column--represents family and ancestral roots.
Month Column--represents the vicissitude of parents and family.
Day Column--represents the person and their spouse; it is also the starting point of the extrapolation.
Hour Column--represents offspring.
Auspicious And Inauspicious Names
The study of names is an art in word application. The Five Elements--Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water--underpin the basic theory of Five Complementary Elements and Five Curse Elements. Based on each person's life chart in conjunction with the required yin-yang elements, the luck and misfortune of the numerical strokes of the name are deduced along with the Five Elements characteristics for each character. From it, an explanation of the "Heaven Grid," "Earth Grid" and "Man Grid" combination can be achieved along with different theories based on the shape, sound, meaning, and combination of the word characters of the name.
Divination By The Eight Diagrams
Divination by the Eight Diagrams has been in use in China for centuries. It uses the I-Ching's capricious patterns of Yin-Yang Eight Diagrams to envision the future and the progress of any given event. Divination starts at the location of "Four Seasons and All Sides" in I-Ching to determine the direction of a given event. Then, based on the combination from the 64 patterns, an answer is obtained. There are many divination methods such as using rice, tortoise shell, coins, and birds; the results are mostly based on the deduction method of the 64 patterns of Chou-I.

FORTUNE TELLING METHODS OF WESTERN ORIGIN
Zodiac Signs
Astrology has a long history. The Mesopotamians begin observing the stars as early as 4000 BC. As the Earth completes one orbit around the Sun, the Sun will appear in a particular part of the twelve signs about every 30 days. The term "zodiac sign" refers to the "Sun Sign," the sign where the Sun was located at the moment a person was born.
In astrology, the Sun Sign has the greatest influence. It is also a general guide used to analyze a person's personality and destiny. For a more personalized analysis, individual astrological charts are used. Such a chart is based on one's year, month, day, and time of birth, and the location of the Sun, Moon, and other stars at that time. Using the angles between them, the person's character, behavior, subconscious, and fate can be analyzed. Many websites offer ways to calculate these locations and angles.
What do these stars represent? Sun Sign: A person's basic persona and view on life. Rising Sign: External behavior and attitude, and how others perceive that person, and his/her external appearance and style.
Moon Sign: Inner emotions, subconscious, and personal feelings.
Mercury Sign: Thought processes and the ability to communicate and express thoughts.
Venus Sign: Interpersonal relationships and attitude to love, money, and material goods, as well as estheticism. For males, the Venus sign shows the type of female he is attracted to.
Mars Sign: Motivation and lust. For females, the Mars sign shows the type of male she is attracted to.
Jupiter Sign: Principles, values, philosophy on life, goals, and dreams.
Saturn Sign: Sense of obligation, and challenges in life.

Tarot cards
Tarot cards may have originated in Egypt, China, India, or Morocco, but the most common story is that they first appeared in Italy during the fifteenth century, and the pictures on the cards are symbols taken from the Renaissance and society at the time. The traditional tarot deck contains 78 cards, in which 22 are major arcana and 56 are minor arcana. Each major arcana has a name (such as "The Magician" or "The Fool") representing life's journeys. Minor arcana are divided into four sets--Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles; each set contains 13 cards, each representing a certain event in life. These cards contain a picture that includes certain symbols, signs, and meaning. Tarot card reading uses these pictures to tell a story.
Tarot card reading is, in fact, only a reflection of one's mental state. It offers a way to view the circumstances of the time and one's given questions from an objective point of view.
Regardless of which type of fortune-telling is used, these methods offer counsel for our lives, or aim to enhance our merits. The use of these predictions is a personal choice. Ultimately, only by living life to the fullest and having sound judgment will we create a life that is rewarding.

Where in South Taiwan can one find fortune tellers? In Tainan, there is a "fortune-tellers' lane" beside the War God Temple (229, YungFu Road Sec. 2). Often, astrologers can be found near major temples, such as the Sanfeng Temple in Kaohsiung (134, HeBei 2nd Rd., SanMin). Also, netizens can find a Kaohsiung-based Internet fortune-teller (Chinese, English and Japanese services) at www.3000world.com.tw