There is an ancient Chinese saying that goes“Fate first, luck second, fengshui third, virtue fourth, education fifth”(一命、二運、三風水、四積德、五讀書). This means that however the cards have been stacked in your life, the latter three give you opportunity to alter your life course, through use of effective fengshui in your living space and by cultivating virtue, studying diligently, and changing your practices to change your character. When life's obstacles have been placed in your way, going to a fortune-teller or diviner can help you clear your path, pick up your spirits and firm up your will, and help disperse dark clouds.
The types of fortune-telling available to the interested in Taiwan are many, with countless Chinese forms and many Western as well. From the Asian side, there's Chinese astrology, what is called“four pillars eight characters calculation”(四柱八字推算; the four pillars refer to the year, month, day, and time of birth), Book of Changes divination, divination using the poems on divination lots, studying the written name, studying facial features, bone reading, and other types. On the Western side, there's fortune-telling based on blood type, zodiac signs, tarot cards, etc. Each has a great number of devotees, and some masters even combine more than one method in their efforts to help people who come to them seeking revelation and a change in fortune.
The end of the present year is nigh. Intrigued in what lays in store for you in the year soon to be revealed? Looking for ways to guide your fortune along more fortuitous paths? Have a listen below to the options that lay before you, and choose the path you feel best matches your beliefs.
Xingtian Temple Fortune Telling Street – Chinese Astrology, Four Pillar Eight Characters, Rice Divination
If you talk to Taipei locals about fortune-telling, one and all will tell you that the most famous place to go is Xingtian Temple Fortune Telling Street (行天宮命理大街). Xingtian Temple (行天宮) is one of the city's most popular temples and many make a side trip to the cluster of fortune-tellers below street level before the temple—those who believe, to handle their life's issues, those who do not believe, to witness the color and devotional intensity.
The fortune-telling“street”is in fact in the pedestrian underpass below the major intersection outside the temple, and has an H shape. There are two sections, on the east and west sides, with a total of more than 20 fortune-teller kiosks, and a few spilled over to the street level along Sec. 2 of Minquan E. Rd. (民權東路2段). Most of the masters here have been in the business more than a decade, and provide a variety of services, including divination, reading faces, etc. The kiosks, each sporting its own unique decorative character, are opened from about 8 am to 10 pm, and a session will cost you from NT$500 to NT$1,000, more if an individual needs more detailed numerology services than the norm. In recent years, the number of Japanese customers has steadily increased, and most kiosks can now handle service in Japanese.
In fortune-telling, astrology, the four pillars eight characters technique, and other techniques are used to gain understanding of an individual's life and to use this insight to invite good fortune and prevent the bad. The person must supply his/her year, month, and date of birth, as well as the particular traditional two-hour period of the day, and with the astrology technique the constellations are studied, which are analogous with the ebbs and flows of a person's life. Calculations are made based on comparisons of the heavenly bodies, revealing the good and ill fortune a person faces. Star comparison is also used for the four pillars eight characters method, but yinyang and five processes theory (陰陽五行術) referring to the interaction of the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth elements is also brought into the mix.
If what you desire is simply to ask questions about such things as doubts and suspicions troubling the mind, rice divination is a good option. When presenting one's questions, you must first calm the mind and soul, then repeat the question over and over in the mind, with no words spoken out loud. Take a cluster rice grains from a jar, between middle finger and thumb, and place them on a plate, repeating this three times. The divination master compares the different numbers of grains with each round, determining the outside environmental forces impacting you, your inner forces and conditions, and the variable results and recommendations for action, referring to the Book of Changes for explanation and guidance in methods for overcoming your difficulties.
Longshan Temple Underground Shopping Bazaar Fortune Teller Street－Fortune-Telling Using Physical Appearance and Birds
Longshan Temple's Fortune Teller Street (龍山寺算命街) has long enjoyed a reputation equal to that of its Xingtian Temple counterpart. Stands were originally located around the temple's periphery, all moved into the Longshan Temple Underground Shopping Bazaar (龍山寺地下商城) when it was completed. This is now Taipei's largest fortune-teller street.
There are about 30 fortune-teller booths located on the B1 level. The booths follow the same neat, uniform overall design, though each has its own distinguishing decorative flourishes, and all are bright and airy and offer privacy. Each master here has experience in a number of fortune-telling techniques, helping with such matters as auspicious name selection and wedding dates, reading hands and faces, and so on. A number also help with the interpretation of the oft hard-to-decipher divination-lot writings obtained at temples, devotees coming to rely on their judgement.
In Chinese culture, there is deep belief in the idea that physical appearance reveals the heart, and experts read the physiognomy of the face and other areas of the body for understanding of a person's character and soul. The fortune-teller will take your hands in his own and then proceed with a careful visual inspection; hand shape, fatness and thinness, contours, palm prints, facial complexion, facial configuration, lines and marks, moles and spots, and your frame, figure, and posture all offer insight into your health, character, intelligence and wisdom, and other matters.
If you're looking for a simpler and more straightforward form of divination, you might try bird divination, numeral divination (the asker stating the first three numbers that pop into his head), or tortoise-shell divination (also called coin divination; the asker draws coins from a tortoise shell six times). All rely on the Book of Changes for interpretations and guidance. When using bird divination, the seeker must first calm the mind, then silently contemplate the question. The master will then open his bird cage and have the bird pick up three slips from a pile of divination poems, representing past, present, and future, which when interpreted will provide meaning and guidance.
East vs. West – Book of Changes vs Tarot Cards
All forms of Chinese divination have the Book of Changes as their base. This book, one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts, uses the concept of yin and yang essence to classify an almost inexhaustible array of materials, with 64 hexagrams used to describe the processes of change for all things on Earth.
With Western tarot cards, 78 cards with different faces reveal life's changes. The tarot specialist will randomly choose a series of cards, with the image on each, their order of appearance, and their reverse position revealing hidden messages, the soothsayer using his/her reasoning and intuition to construct and interpret them. Some specialists will also use other items, such as colored essence oils (revealing the true state of one's soul) or other types of cards (angel cards, thangka cards, etc.), in the search for maximum clarity in their divinations.
As you have seen, your destiny is not set in stone—it is yours to grasp and guide. And as you have seen, there are many fortune-telling and divination paths to choose from. Once you have divined the right path for yourself, it is time to take full mastery of your destiny—perhaps here in Taipei, with the help of Taipei's masters.
