Our group met up with one outside the “wet market” we’d just toured. His method of divination was different than any we’d ever seen.
He used a parrot.
The way it worked, there were a bunch of little folders, slightly larger than a playing card. Inside the folder was a picture of a diety from Hindu folklore and a horoscope / fortune.
Our guide told the old man my name. (He didn’t speak English, although I bet we could have gotten this concept across). He then told the bird my name. Birds, who sit on the shoulder of God and are presumed to have his ear, are auspicious little critters.
Anyone who’s ever had one knows that if it is sitting on your shoulder and choses to speak, you WILL pay attention, whether you like to or not.
Anyhow, she tells the man my name, he tells the bird, the bird consults with God and then comes out of his cage and picks the appropriate fortune, after which he returns to the cage.
There wasn’t time to get it all down. The gist was that in the future there’ll be a long life, lots of friends, a solid family and wealth. The deity who’s picture was with the fortune is represented by the Temple in India that is second in wealth only to the Vatican.
That ain’t a bad omen, if you think about it.
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