What time of the year could be more suitable for a fortune telling than right now? Entering a new year marks a new beginning for many.
Some, on the other hand, refrain from accepting the concept of time as we know it.
“Time exists only for humans,” says Diana Manilova, a Russian psychic now settled in Chiang Mai.
Our grasp of time as something linearly flowing and thus measurable might be nothing but a human invention, an artificial (and even impossible) constellation created by humans as an attempt at control and everyday convenience. What if ‘time’ really is a melting pot blending all three tenses together?
Citylife has done away with rational scepticism. For a moment, we accepted the idea that for some people, the well of what was, is, and will be is accessible at any given point. We set out to find these people and ask them what the year to come has in store for those in the Chiang Mai area, ‘for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today,’ as the old African proverb goes. The first step of the journey takes us to the home of Manilova.
The psychic: ‘The King will be Safe’
Her tiny working room has almost a spaceship feel to it due to the seemingly impenetrable calm clinging to these walls covered with Buddha pictures, other paintings and a peacock-feathered dreamcatcher. Manilova surrounds herself with uncountable little knickknacks of all kinds, collected around the 64 countries she has visited in her lifetime.
She is a clairvoyant, a shaman, a psychic. One who connects with what she calls her Spiritual Teachers to reach a higher consciousness which in this case allows her to look into what lies ahead of us. The information from her Spiritual Teachers manifests in her head as pictures or simply knowledge.
“2011 is not a good year for taking on new big projects or making any radical changes,” she says. According to the Chinese Zodiac, which contains 12 symbolic animals, year 2011 will be year of the Rabbit. Manilova uses this to speak metaphorically of 2011: “The Rabbit is sensitive. Next year will be about finding the right idea and the right time before acting.”As she goes on in her charismatic Russian accent, we learn that next year will be a year of harmony with nature, even a year of vegetarianism. It will be a time for privacy and individualism rather than crowding together in groups, as well as a time for waiting and staying put.
Wearing a light blue patterned dress, three long necklaces and a wide smile framed with her mane of pitch-black unruly hair, Manilova looks maybe fifty. She says she is 128.
She jumps from speaking in an almost incomprehensible manner about 2011 being a year of the highest galactic consciousness to a more concrete prediction for the year to come: “Nothing will happen to the King. He will be safe.”
Manilova doesn’t go into a trance or start mumbling ancient words in an alien language and a deep voice. For a woman who has been declared clinically dead twice and come back, she appears almost surprisingly unremarkable. “Everybody is born with six senses,” she says, “but most of us are still asleep.”
The cards: ‘Secrets will be revealed’
Maybe Manilova is right, maybe we all harbour a latent sixth sense, and would hypothetically, be able some day to reach a state of divine consciousness, but if you aren’t quite there yet, you might consider seeking assistance with a fortune telling.
One who offers such assistance is 45-year-old Sarapee Phayachompoo, professional palmist, numerologist and master of the tarot deck. Offer her your name, your palms and your birth date, and she can go on and on revealing the wisdom she draws out of your personal information. She has made a living on these skills of hers for about nine years.
Citylife meets her early in the morning. Because of the energies involved when Sarapee works her tarot magic, it is best to consult the cards during this time of the day. Three black cards should reveal what 2011 has in store for people living in and around the city of Chiang Mai. One card in the draw turns out to be ‘the Hierophant’, one is ‘the Devil’ and another ‘the Seven of Cups’. “Fifty-fifty,” she says without hesitation as she first glances at the cards. “This means that next year will sometimes be very easy, and sometimes very difficult. It is unclear.” Overall, the cards seem to predict a black-white situation with many noteworthy ups and downs. Sarapee goes on explaining that 2011 will be a year revealing many secrets, probably in connection with money, education or the government. “It will also be a year of many changes and people will have to make many different choices,” she says.
The stars: ‘Walk in someone else’s shoes’
2011 might turn out as quite a bumpy ride. When looking to the skies for answers, Citylife repeatedly gets the message that an unusual amount of changes will shape the next 12 months.
Chiang Rai based Katharina, who prefers to go by her first name only, and who has almost 30 years of experience in astrology altogether, has done a Moon Reading yielding the energies influencing the Chiang Mai area through 2011. “I rarely ever see so many changes happening in just one year, so I think they will happen on all levels. For Chiang Mai, they will be concerned with Libra and Taurus, meaning they will concern people’s relationships,” Katharina says.
Radical changes will happen all over the world next year, but differ in character from place to place. “Here in Thailand the changes will start with people’s relationships. In business relations as well as in marriages,” she says. Most astrology as we know it today actually works with data that is now outdated. “The Tropical, or Western, astrology works with data that was accurate 2,000 years ago. It is 28 degrees away from the true star constellations,” says Katharina. Since 1993, she has worked with SkyView astrology, which operates with the actual positions of the planets above our heads. It is this data that Katharina draws upon when reading the energies streaming through Chiang Mai next year. “It is a great chance to improve our interaction with others. We should begin to see things not only from one perspective, but from different points of view. You can say it would be a good time to ‘walk in other people’s shoes,'” she says about the astrological energies influencing next year.
From a worldwide perspective, a great deal of these energies concern an expansion of our consciousness, a time to ‘move beyond dogmas and boundaries’ and ‘to see the true nature of things again’. “It seems to me that a lot of stuff that has been hidden from people, for instance about global warming, will be revealed. Many political covers will blow up and many truths will come to the surface,” Katharina says.
The seer: ‘Everything will heat up’
While some people read the stars, others look back through history to find answers on what the future holds. Around 450 years ago, the Frenchman Michel de Nostradame (better known as Nostradamus) was renowned for his future predictions already in his own lifetime, and he’s still world famous to this day. “He was basically what you would call a seer, someone who would see visions in water. He was a very religious, spiritual man and I think he genuinely believed that he could be a force for good,” says Mario Reading, bestselling author of among other titles seven fiction and non-fiction books about Nostradamus.
The seer would darken the water with ink and maybe take nutmeg, which is a mild hallucinogenic, before staring into the water almost in a trance state. “I think it felt like looking through a little tear in a wall and seeing a tiny amount of stuff through that. He couldn’t see everything, just a small amount that was specific,” says Reading. Out of Nostradamus’ 942 prophecies, a couple are most likely to concern the year 2011. One specifically mentions Asia: “The sea, sapped by the sun, will no longer pass/Those of Venus will hold sway over all of Africa/Saturn will no longer measure its reign by the sun/The Asiatic part will change.”
“The first line implies that everything is going to heat up. There is going to be increasing global warming,” says Reading, who interprets the quatrain as follows: ‘The Suez Canal will eventually dry up due to global warming, bringing Asia closer to Africa.’ Next year Africa will bear the brunt of global warming. It might not sound very promising, but Reading emphasises that these prophecies are not set in stone. They are warnings, and in this light they can be seen as potentially beneficial. “Nostradamus made it quite clear that people can change the outcome of things if they behave well and behave mutually,” he says.
The coins: ‘Time to wait and rest’
What is even older than the wisdom of Nostradamus is the ancient Chinese I Ching. “It is very complicated and difficult to learn,” says Swiss Pierre Wittmann, who has studied I Ching for about 30 years, the past 12 of them in Chiang Mai. Original I Ching operates with 50 sticks cut out of a special plant, but the modern, simplified version involves just three coins that you roll six times. Citylife visits Wittmann in his Chang Khian apartment one afternoon to roll the coins for the future of this city. Wittmann does a lot of seemingly complicated calculating based on how many heads and tails we get. The numbers lead to patterns compiled of lines resembling the yin and yang energies. When a pattern is complete, it forms one of 46 hexagrams, each with its own significant meanings.
The first hexagram we get to is number 21, called ‘Bite and Unite.’ This points at a rough intervention to overcome and rid chaotic obstacles and re-establish peace and order. Some difficulties might lie ahead of us, but success awaits in the end. The next hexagram is number 23, ‘Worn Out.’ “This means a time to restore forces, a period of a little tiredness. It is not a good time to go anywhere, but a time for waiting and recovering,” says Wittmann.
As we go through the details of the four hexagrams of this reading, next year seems to become a mixed experience, but Wittmann emphasises more than once that we shouldn’t take this sample reading too seriously. “When you do I Ching, the question you ask should always concern both yourself and an action. I would not rely on a reading like this because it is too general,” he says. “I Ching is about trying to understand energies, and when it would be a favourable time to take this or that action.” This seems to be one of the main goals no matter what approach people might have to the spiritual world, be it astrology, tarot cards, divine channels or the gift of visions sent from above. SkyView astrologer Katharina puts it this way:
“Astrology shows the quality of time, whereas our watches measure the quantity of time.”
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HAVE YOUR OWN
FORTUNE TOLD
This is where you go if you are curious about what will happen around and within yourself in the times to come, or if you are looking for advice on future decisions:
The cards hold your past, present and future
Sarapee Phayachompoo can tell your past, present and future just by reading the lines of your palms. She can calculate the energies of your name or answer different questions via her tarot cards. She usually does her readings at her own house in Chiang Mai. To draw the cards for your own future, call Sarapee. Tel: 084 611 9817
Let the coins guide you
An I Ching session with Pierre Wittmann is mostly an opportunity for you to learn when it will be a good time to execute your plans. You can ask him any question as long as it concerns yourself as well as an action. If you are interested in trying it out, you can reach Wittmann through his website www.wisdomlight.org.
SkyView astrology reveals your life path
Katharina regularly takes a trip down to Chiang Mai, but mostly her clients from Chiang Mai go to consult her where she lives in Chiang Rai. When asked about the outcome of a personal SkyView astrology reading, she says: “Many people are able to change their life in the direction it’s supposed to go afterwards and become much happier.” You can learn more on www.nadayogacenter.com or reach Katharina on katharinabless@gmail.com.
The psychic knows all about you
Diana Manilova is not only a psychic, but also a shaman, a clairvoyant, a healer…and the list goes on. Before you meet her for a private session, you should prepare a few questions on matters that concern you. It is necessary to call her in advance to make an appointment. To contact Diana Manilova, or for additional information, see www.lifeevents.org.
