It is common
for people to try and get an idea of what the future will be like. Many just
ignore this urge but some use various methods to predict what destiny has in
store for them in the coming hours, days, months, or even years. Those who
claim to be able to predict the future have a ready market for their services.
Astrology
I was
introduced to astrology by my mum. Now, don’t start getting excited, she was
not an astrologer. Neither was she a witch or fortune teller. She was an
ordinary lady, a teacher, no less. She, like many other people then, and now,
would religiously read the horoscope section of the newspapers and magazines.
She used to relate our (my siblings and I) temperaments to our respective
zodiac signs.
For those
who may not be familiar with what I am talking about, the zodiac is a series of
12 constellations (groups of stars) that hover above the equator. The story is
that someone’s star is that represented by the constellation that is visible
when they are born. My star is Libra and it symbolized by a weighing scale. My
big brother’s star is Leo whose symbol is a lion.
Two of my
sisters, one elder and one younger, share a star, Taurus, whose symbol my mum
used to say is the head of a buffalo, but am not so sure anymore. I think it’s
a cow. The two sisters have a rather sensitive temperament which our mother
associated with the buffalo’s. You can therefore see am an “expert Layman” in
matters astrology.
Witchcraft
Witchcraft
is alive and kicking in this country. Signs have been put up on electricity
poles in almost all estates and villages across the country. People in my
village had been rather conservative until a witch doctor set up shop there.
Everybody was up in arms and they stormed there one morning with the intention
of evicting him. He disarmed them by threatening to name those among them who
had been seeking his services. That was enough to disperse the group and leave
the “good” doctor to his devices since they didn’t want names to be named.
My first
encounter with a witch doctor happened at the time when I was a taxi driver. I
had to take a client to a small village in Matuu, many kilometres from Nairobi,
to visit a witch doctor. The wife of my client was crippled and a friend had
told them of a witch doctor who could tell them what had caused the problem,
and also recommend a solution. I had shared the full story before here; http://acabdriverstory.blogspot.co.ke/2013/04/a-visit-to-witch-doctor.html.
Chain Letters
The first
time I received a chain letter, I was really scared because I believed
everything it said. It was purportedly initiated by someone known as St. Jude
and it promised great misfortune if I didn’t sent it to at least 20 people.
That time I was still in school and I assume whoever sent the letter got my
address from the newspaper’s pen pal section where I had posted it. I never got
to send the letters as instructed since I could not afford the stamps and
neither could I get enough anonymous addresses to send it to. Anyhow, no
misfortune befell me that I could directly attribute to my “disobedience”.
Nowadays I
receive a lot of chain letters but they don’t scare me anymore. Instead, they
irritate me. I consider them to have been initiated by very idle people who
want to increase internet traffic to their pages and profiles. I therefore
simply ignore demands by anyone telling me to forward some prayer or other
message and get blessed within two hours. I think that is all hogwash but then
that is just my opinion.
Excuse for Laziness
This entire
search for answers about the future to me is just an excuse for people who do
not want to do what is required of them. Students want to pass exams without
studying by hoping they can know upfront what will be in the exam. Women want
to get husbands without getting out there and socialising like normal human
beings and going through the selection, courtship, engagement, and marriage
process.
It was once
claimed that football teams in Africa spend more money on their witch doctors
than on the coaches. They believe more in fortune telling than in practice and
preparation. I wonder why they don’t defeat teams from the West.
The Big Hoax
When I
started writing articles, someone introduced me to a weird niche which pays
quite well. It was to do with writing horoscope messages and answering readers’
letters on matters concerning their future. I used to think only expert fortune
tellers could know about the future. I was told I could write anything as long
as it’s positive and gives the reader hope. I declined due to conflicts with my
conscience. I could not imagine some poor soul waiting to hear from me before
they could plan their day not knowing it was all a big hoax.
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