fortune-telling

"Before couples get married, their mothers usually go separately to see a fortune-teller. Then the fortune-teller compares the couple’s birth dates, including the hours of birth. If the fortune-teller says they are really a poor match, their parents are very reluctant to approve the marriage, especially if the fortune-teller says the marriage will be harmful to the man’s future or predicts that the couple won’t have children. In Korea, when we get married, we need our parent’s approval, because marriage in Korea is considered to be the joining of two families.

"I had three friends who were separated by what a fortune-teller said. One of my friends and her boyfriend had dated for two years, and they loved each other very much. On her father’s 60th birthday, when all the family were assembled, her mother introduced my friend’s boyfriend to everyone. Then, just before they got married, they went to a fortune-teller to ask about the man’s future. The fortune-teller said the woman would be very harmful to the man’s future. After that, her parents would not approve of the daughter’s marriage. They didn’t want her to be blamed if something negative occurred.

"The story doesn’t end there, though, because my friend started dating another man. They were introduced by another friend of ours. Even before they were introduced, our mutual friend visited a fortune-teller with the couple’s birth dates, asking if they would be a good match. After the fortune-teller said that they would make a fine couple, my friend introduced them to each other. Amazingly, things worked out very well.

"You can also have fortune-telling done by computers. Newspapers have this kind of service. Using their Web site, you can put in your birth date and your boyfriend’s (or girlfriend’s) birth date and find out if you are a good match. Recently, there was a television program in Korea that looked at whether fortune-tellers were accurate or not. They had the birth dates of 10 divorced couples. They also had seven very famous fortune-tellers. After giving out the birth dates, the reporter asked whether the couples would make a good match. Most of them guessed incorrectly. But there was one fortune-teller who predicted that each couple was a bad match. After that, he was even more famous. If you wanted fortune-telling done by him, you had to wait about a year and spend the equivalent of $60 instead of the more typical $10 or $20."

	Document Revision: by easc@indiana.edu