When the going gets tough, the tough get going ... to the many people that claim they can tell the fortune of those who approach them.
Their clientele ranges from politicians to a poor labourer to housewives and young adults. The problems they are told about are also similar: politics and discrimination at work, a marriage that refuses to work, a cheating spouse or aggressive in-laws ... the list is seemingly endless. In many cases, they cannot avoid bad news. But none of them talk about death to their clients. Even if they’re able to calculate it, they won’t divulge the information, which they say is disallowed in their profession.
What differentiates them is how they reach a reading about people’s fortunes — some rely on your palms, others on the planetary system, and some on numerology. But every time, these people try to satisfy their customers’ queries as best as they can, although their predictions are not always spot on.
Fiction, fact or fantasy … what does the future hold for you? If you believe that fate is already written in the heavens, then this is the definitive guide to fortune-telling for you
Meet the professionals who spend their lives helping others to prepare for the future. After all, being forewarned is being forearmed.
Temptation of the tarot cards
While a layperson may not understand what a deck of numbered cards with unusual pictures means, a tarot card reader will decipher the number assigned to each card, make some calculations and tell you what the chances are of something happening, or not, in your life.
“This is one of the oldest ways of reading the future,” says Marium Aftab, a renowned tarot card reader in Lahore. “It’s basically numerology: every card has a number and reading it needs concentration and a sharp memory. It can help guide a person when they are lost.”
Aftab has helped clients identify where their true talents lie, why they were not successful in one profession and which one to choose to maximise their potential. In a way, she helps people redirect their lives but she believes she is helping them heal.
“Sometimes people don’t want to listen to you; they just want a favourable answer to their question,” says Aftab. “But I can’t tell everything that’s coming up; that’s shirk. There’s a lot of sixth sense involved and the more you pad it with knowledge, the better you’ll be able to give advice.”
Ask Marium Aftab as many questions as you want in around 20 minutes and dish out around 2,500 rupees. Once a client realises that what they were informed about has actually happened in real life, they return for more. Many sceptics have turned into repeat clients, says Aftab, because tarot card reading does indeed work. She has guided several kinds of people at many stages in their lives. “In solving people’s problems, you get to live so many lives.”
Timeless astrology
The lives of politicians are a strange thing: saviours one moment, criminals the next, and prime ministers later on in their lives.
“Politicians want to know when they’ll get power,” narrates astrologer Shariq Ali. “Many years ago, the second richest man in the country reached out to me and wanted to know when he’ll have more money. So astrology is a great tool to know people and their real faces. They open up to us and can’t hide.”
An astrologer reads planetary conditions and draws their analysis from the movement of celestial bodies. What they require from clients is their date, time and place of birth. This allows astrologers to make an initial reading about the client, inform them a bit about their past and present, and proceed with answering questions thrown at them.