My fortune Teller experience.

Many Cambodians consult fortune tellers when they are faced with important decisions, and those topics can be anything from daily questions to life changing issues.  Sometimes Cambodians consult fortune tellers without questions, but rather insight into the future, especially potential problems.  Many heads of state and important leaders have fortune tellers that they rely on when they have important tasks at hand.  These fortune tellers can be found just about anywhere and are typically older women. Many people that I know well (Cambodians, of course) consult a fortune teller a few times a year.  One woman I know who is opening a hotel in town consulted a fortune teller to determine the best day to open the hotel, the colors that will bring the best fortune to the hotel, what to call it, etc. My brother, Huck, told me that his girlfriend’s mother consulted one at Banan Mountain, which is a mountain with a temple at the top that many people in Battambang visit. I asked one member of the Peace Corps staff, and he said that he goes to a fortune teller about 4 times a year for a wide range of things- what to name their baby, what day of the week to move, professional insight, etc.  My host mother is going to a fortune teller next week to make sure that my host sister gets married in the right month and on the right day in March.  I have seen fortunes told in the meat section of the market.  The means to read the future vary from a deck of cards, reading palms or feet, according to horoscope or date and time of birth or by simply looking at the person and reading their aura. I read a book a few months ago about an Italian journalist who lived in south east Asia for most of his adult life, and he spent one year traveling around the region and getting his fortune read by various seers (The book is called A Fortune Teller Once Told Me by Tiziano Terzani).  He only spent a few days in Cambodia and was actually kind of arrogant, but the combination of the book and knowing many people that have done it, Darlene and I decided that we wanted to take part as well.  Darlene told her coteacher, Phanet, that we wanted to do this and Phanet made all of the arrangements.  Tuesday, November 9^th was Cambodian Independence Day from France, so classes were canceled.  We were expecting to go to the market or somewhere in Battambang but Phanet arranged a time with a woman in Pursat Province, about 2 hours from Battambang.  She is the best, or so we are told.  So, on Tuesday morning, we assembled, Darlene, Phanet, Phanet’s friend, Phanet’s neighbor and I.  We rode to Pursat province and turned down a little road that seemed vaguely familiar.  I asked Darlene if she recognized this place and she felt as if she had been there before, to which she responded yes.  After asking a few questions, we discovered that we were in Krakor District, which is where our friend Tyler lived during his time as a Peace Corps volunteer.  We were both at his floating village, which is exactly what it sounds like- a village on the water.  So strange that of all places to see a fortune teller in Cambodia, we ended up in Tyler’s floating village. 

Darlene

Killed some time until my turn

The only street

Boats

Everyone comes to this coffee shop to watch the soap operas

Because they don't have electricity, this generator powers the TV

Ice cream man

The bathroom in question. 

After asking around, we found the fortune teller’s house, which was extremely modest, even for Cambodian standards.  Darlene went first with Phanet as a translator, so I walked around and took some pictures of the village.  I had to go to the bathroom so I asked this woman who had a coffee stand to use her bathroom and she pointed me out back.  Now, my bathroom standards aren’t too high, but this was a first.  The bathroom was over a small stream, with two planks out and a make shift “toilet”.  I was scared that I was going to insult the woman, but I was really scared that I was going to fall in or break their wooden planks (this woman was barely 5 feet tall and 80 pounds soaking wet).  She reassured me that I would be fine, and right as I was finished, Darlene walked out of the bathroom and caught my standing on these planks in the middle of a stream.  After some pictures and a lot of laughing and almost falling in, it was my turn. 

The fortune teller's house

I want to describe to you what happened during my consultation.  The parts in italics are my thoughts, things that I didn’t actually say out loud.  Now, my Khmer isn’t good enough to understand a fortune teller’s description of my fortune and luck, but there were some parts that I understood, but Phanet was my translator, so she was the medium for all of this, and she did an incredible job.  All of the dialogue was done through Phanet.

Fortune Teller (FT):  Please sit down.  How old are you? 

Kealan (K): 23.

FT: You aren’t happy.  You haven’t been happy for two years. Is this true?

K: I don’t know. I understood the fortune teller when she said to Phanet that I had a “bpee-bpot jett” which means a difficult heart.  Translating this to English is unhappy, but having a difficult heart means something different to me, at least.  “at sabye jett” means to not have a happy heart, which is what I think unhappiness is.  She said that I have a difficult heart, which I think is not necessarily not being happy.  I think that difficult heart in this case doesn’t mean that I’m not happy.  I am very happy, but it’s a different kind of happiness.  It’s difficult, absolutely.  Happiness in America means being with my family, living comfortably, etc. In Cambodia, I love my life, but I really miss my family, my job is tough, I’m hot most of the time, I get sick a lot easier here and I spend a lot of time alone.  It’s not unhappiness, but it’s not sheer happiness by my American standards.  My happiness comes from very simple things here- playing with my host nephew, a student asking me a question after being too scared to approach me, my host mother confiding in me, etc.  In America those things not only aren’t of a big deal, but here they make me happy.

FT: Do you have a boyfriend?  Husband?  Please shuffle these cards 7 times

K: No and no. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that… (I then cut the cards and chose one card, I believe the 9 of clubs)

FT: A man is in love with you.

K: Who?!? Oh my word, who?

FT: The man that you will marry.

K: Who is he?

FT: He is a relative.

K: A…..rel-a-tive? Like someone in my family?

FT: Yes, a relative.

K: As in a cousin?  That’s illegal.  I think that she means how Cambodians refer to relatives, which can mean that anyone is a relative.  If I go to a province I have never been to, in a restaurant I have never been and order from a man I have never seen before, I call him older brother, uncle or grandfather, even though he clearly isn’t related to me.  Let’s hope that’s what she means.

FT: You were a very good student.

K: Not really.  I wasn’t a bad student, but I was kind of a slacker, which I really regret everyday as a teacher when I look at my students. 

FT: Well, you are very clever.

K: Thank you. I’ll take that.

FT:  You have a brother, don’t you?

K: Yes, an older brother.

FT: You love him a lot, and you miss him the most. You think about him a lot.

K: I do love him a lot and yes, I miss him. Not true, I miss all of my siblings equally, and I miss all three of them a lot.  Pat’s birthday was last week and I wasn’t able to talk to him, so I was thinking about him a lot last week.  I talk to my sisters more than my brother, so maybe that is why?  But, Katie and Maura, rest assured, I miss all of you equally. 

FT: Please shuffle these cards again.  Cut the deck then take one card.

K: Ok.

FT: (I hand her the queen of hearts) You miss your mother a lot, and she misses you a lot.  This card has come up a lot.  You think about each other a lot. 

K: Yes and yes. True that.

FT: (after turning over some cards in 4 piles) Right now you don’t have a lot of money.  But you are not too smart about spending money.  You need to learn how to save your money and think more about when and how you spend your money.

K: Yes. One of my on-going battles, but I am improving.  One of my Peace Corps lessons.

FT: When you go back to your country, you will have a good job, a big job.  When you are 25 years old, you will have your best year and your good fortune will begin.

K: Oh ok. Take that, economic recession!

FT:  When you are 25, three important things will happen to you- you will get a good job, you will get married and you will start to get more money. 

K: Married?!?!? 25 and married?!?! The good job is a huge relief, but the money isn’t important. The marriage thing is pretty surprising, I will be 24 in January, so that leaves a year until I turn 25.  Maybe I should start going to more family reunions to find this mystery relative.

FT: Yes, married.  Your life will begin to look like a staircase.  Every year your fortune will improve and it will stay very good, then it will improve more and stay the same.  Once your life starts to really improve, you will have your own house, a car and your life will be comfortable. 

K: Ok.

FT: You are very independent and that will help you find your fortune.  You are emotional and that is why you are unhappy [difficult heart] now, but that will be resolved when you go back to America.  This job will be a great job because you will make important decisions and it will be good for you because you are independent.

FT: Do you have any questions for me?

K: Yes, I want to know about my children. If we are already talking about my wedding that will take place in 2.5 years, why not talk about kids too?

FT: Shuffle these cards 7 times, cut the deck then pick a card…. Your first child will be a son. 

K: A son. Ok.

FT: The first ten months after you get married will be difficult for you because you will have money jobs to do.  But after 10 months, everything will be ok. 

K: Ok. What about this staircase? Can I ask one more question?

FT: Yes, please.

K: I want to know more about this husband you speak of.  Do I know him?  Is he from the same place as me?

FT: (looks at me like I’m a lunatic) He’s your relative, of course you know him! 

K: Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot. Crap, that’s weird.

FT: (after I shuffle the cards 7 times, cut the deck then hand her two cards) Your husband will be from a good family and he will match your good fortune, because he has a good job and is a good person. 

K: Oh, that’s a relief.  Of course he is from a good family, it’s my family! I like that she said he is a match for me and not vice versa, which is sometimes how marriages are perceived in Cambodia.

K: Thank you for your time, aunt.  Good luck.

FT: Thanks and same to you. 

I went to a fortune teller before I came to Cambodia and although the settings were much different, one was at a floating village with chickens under the house and one was in an air conditioned office, I felt the same feeling of relief.  I don’t know how I feel about a deck of cards depicting my future fortune, but both women were extremely caring and warm, so to have a woman who possesses some sort of power to tell you that everything will be ok is a relief.  One part that really struck me was how the Cambodian woman told me about my future in America- that I will have a good job and I have things to look forward to.  When I met with the seer in America, she told me that going to Cambodia was my destiny and whatever it is that I’m looking for, I will find it. 

After a delicious lunch, Phanet wanted to see one of her former students who lived nearby, so we stopped at her house for a bit.  We left Battambang at 8 am and arrived back at 5:30 pm.  Almost every time that I have gone with a Khmer person anywhere, there is always a stop to be made and a few hour trip quickly turns into an all day affair.  That’s fine by me; it was a fantastic Independence Day.  Darlene and I were talking about our sessions and we both agreed that we had a lot to look forward to because we have had great lives thus far and our best years are right around the corner (our best years, coincidentally are the same year). 

Sitting at the students house

Coconut tree

Huge spider

Many people find these things to be scams or fake.  The jury is still out in regards to how I feel personally, so I will take it all with a grain of salt. One of the women in the car stated that the teller helped her with a very successful business venture and has helped in her personal life on a few previous occasions.  I tend to be naïve when it comes to things like this, but I think that it helped me to breath a little easier and I think will help me take advantage of the last few months of service , because I know that everything will work out. Maybe talking to a fortune teller helps people be braver and do things that they probably wouldn’t because they are too shy, but by someone saying, yes, it’s ok, maybe we take more chances because we are unsure of how it will end up.  The four other women felt very positive about their experience.  As for me, does it really matter if it comes true or not?  Everything seems to work out in the end, and if these women are reassured in their futures for $2, who really cares?  All I know is that the vibe on the ride back was much more jovial than on the way there.