[EDITORIAL] Rising fortunetelling

Guess which businesses in Korea see no slump in times of economic recession. Fortunetelling is one of them. Fortunetellers of all sorts have come out of their dimly-lit cottages to downtown offices, busy street corners, subway stations and cafes in university areas, and they thrive with increasing clientele.

Some "cultural centers" in residential districts have tarot lectures for housewives and anybody who would want to give guidance to friends on the basis of the Western-originating picture cards. Art-of-divination institutes have opened to train people who are considering making a career with fortunetelling. A department of divination was established three years ago in a provincial university where "Oriental philosophy" related to fortunetelling is taught in a two-year program. Korea and Dankook Universities operate Oriental divination classes in their non-degree courses for adults.



An estimated 400,000 people live on fortunetelling-counseling nationwide, mostly using the "saju" meaning the "four pillars" of the year, month, day and hour of one`s birth. The change of times has introduced the internet for communication between the gurus and their customers while physiognomists and palm-readers continue with their traditional means of trade.

As entrepreneurs and politicians seek to improve their chances of success in their undertakings by hearing advice from noted fortunetellers, sometimes moving the tombs of their ancestors ahead of elections or opening a new line of business, people go to "jeom" experts and tarot masters for consultations on their problems in job seeking and love affairs. It is not a new phenomenon in this shamanism-influenced society. What strikes us is the fact that youthful minds become weaker in these difficult times and they tend to seek answers from totally irrelevant sources.

Fortunetelling can be a joke to enjoy at an affordable cost or a diversion from the hectic world dominated by the increasingly complex rules of science, technology and economics. Yet, it is not desirable to have it interfere with the important decisions of life. Fortunetellers can do something good to society by giving more encouraging verdicts to our innocent youths with boundless futures.