Image from etsy.com
I had actually been interested in getting my fortune told before Chinese New Year - as I heard it's a good way for you to prepare yourself for the year ahead - and Jericho recommended a lady in Cavite who does regular readings for his brother and sister-in-law. She had foretold that his brother wouldn't end up with his then girlfriend, and surely enough, they broke it off two weeks later. She also foretold his sister-in-law's engagement, which she didn't believe since she had only been dating Jericho's brother for a little over a year. Lo and behold, he proposed to her on a trip to Boracay a few months later. She's scary accurate!
Because of her track record for being spot on, Jericho and I decided to go meet her to get our fortunes told and see if her divinations would come true for us. So off we went to Novoleta near Cavite City to meet up with Ate C.
Ate C is a cartomancer, so her fortune-telling or divination uses a deck of cards. Cartomancy using standard playing cards was the most popular form of fortune-telling card readings in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. She uses a 52-card, four-suit set for her cartomancy readings - regular old playing cards.
We met up with her for a reading at her house, and upon asking her where she learned to read, she shared that it was something that was passed on from mother to daughter in her family. Ate C's grandmother was a healer and manghihilot, her mother got the same gifts but concentrated more on pangtatawas, and she did more panghuhula. I used to have a manghuhula in my province in Batangas whose cartomancy was similar to what she did, but while her skill was learned, Ate C's was a gift she inherited which came naturally.
"You get the cards you're dealt with," is the expression that comes to mind when I was getting my fortune told. You can't really dictate what part of your life you want read, it just shows up in the cards. And if you're single, then most of the stuff that comes out will be about your love life! So there I was, searching for guidance with regard to work, yet all I was getting was advice on dating.
There is a lot of shuffling, cutting, and knocking on the cards involved. She would ask me to pick 27, 21, 7, and 3 random cards from the deck and would read off of what I had chosen. You can ask questions, but it's really up to the cards whether they answer it or not. Some of the cards discussed my past, some my present, and the others, my future. It was creepily accurate the way she described my past exes, it makes me wonder if she's right about my future relationship. Jericho was scared at first and didn't want to have his fortune read, but after hearing everything Ate C had to say about my cards, he decided to give it a go and was pretty happy with the result.
So for all you chismosas and chismosos reading this, sige na, I'll share what Ate C saw in my cards:
1. I'm supposedly in for a surprise in the next two weeks. Whether or not I take this as a good thing or a bad thing is up to me. This was super vague and really broad - I don't know what to make of it, really.
2. She told me I was pihikan when it comes to men, which is true, but that I had loved once before. The problem was the guy I gave everything to couldn't see that and didn't appreciate what I was doing and sacrificing for him. He ended up cheating on me and he broke my heart. Yet even 'til today I still love the bastard. Ugh, I was annoyed at how on point she was. She also mentioned another ex-boyfriend who is supposedly married now who still thinks I'm the best thing that ever happened to him. Heh, I know exactly who you are.
3. Moving on to dating, she talked about a few guys in my life who I haven't really been paying much attention to. Apparently, I have a few moreno suitors who I just don't resonate with. She suggests I follow my gut, as they're not the right guys for me anyway. Her exact words were, "Malas sila para sa 'yo:" One even has a kid he's hoping I'd never find out about. She says in the quiet confines of my home I think about getting married and settling down (true), but because I'm so pihikan I haven't found anyone to really share the rest of my life with (true). Yet.
4. A friend of mine will supposedly be helping me travel abroad again this year. I'll be staying in wherever it is I'll be staying at for a while and making the most of my wanderlust while I'm at it. Oh, the feral hippie in me is excited for this and hopes it comes true!
5. Ate C says that I have no problems with work, but that I'm currently bored and in need of a challenge. Work is supposedly never a problem for me as I can easily always find work. The later has always been true, but it's finding work that can keep me interested that's a problem. I had a lot of questions about the work that I was doing and which direction I should go, but that was never answered since all my cards wanted to show me was my damn love life!
6. So about my love life, I am supposed to meet and fall in love with a guy who may be a year or two younger than me. He is supposedly white - whether he's Caucasian or mestizo she doesn't know - and I will be married to him within the span of a year. Supposedly. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping he's a hot Welshman! Haha! Knowing how impulsive I can be, this may just come true! Ate C goes on to read that I have a meager amount of savings right now, but that it's ok since my future husband will have me well taken care of so I don't really need to save anymore or worry about money in general. Haha! Yey, I have yet another excuse to shop! Future husband, whoever you are, I hope you're not reading this!
7. It'll also be because of my future beau that I'll be traveling a lot and will probably emigrate to another country. Whoever he is will take care of helping me find work in whatever part of the world we end up in, too. Ate C goes on to say that there will be a lot of country touring in my future. I was all giddy thinking about all the blog posts I could have with all the mucking around I'd supposedly be doing. Haha!
8. I am to be wary of meeting an older man in my travels. He's to be around 45-years-old up and he doesn't have very good intentions as far as I'm concerned. After my reading, Ate C gave me a Latin incantation to protect me from evil intentions.
9. A male family member supposedly wants to get in touch with me and needs help with something. This may be a brother, or a nephew, or a cousin. I don't really talk to my family and am a bit of an orphan in that respect, so this is piqued my interest. I wonder who he is and what he wants with me? I hope it isn't to borrow money because as Ate C said, I don't have any savings. Haha!
10. Ate C wanted me to know how proud my father is of me, and that just hit home as my dad and I were very close and he had passed away suddenly a few years back. She tells me that he will also be very proud of the man I choose to marry. While that's all well and good, I think I need to find a boyfriend first! I find it funny - and a testament to how close we still are - that my dad always makes a guest appearance in all my divination readings ever since he passed away. See, a mortal death doesn't end a bond - it may even make it stronger.
Ate C read Jericho's fortune next, but he doesn't want to share the details of his, so we'll keep it at that. Since he's also single, most of his reading also revolved around his love life and who he should and shouldn't date!
Overall, Ate C's advice is to take the readings as a guide as it is what it is. Nothing about our lives is written in stone and it's up to you to choose whether or not you want to go with the path divined for you or if you'd rather go another way. I'm pretty stoked with my guide and even though I wasn't too enthused that most of what she discussed with me was about my love life, she has gotten me all excited to fall in love again!
At the end of our readings, I tried paying Ate C P500 for her time with Jericho and I, but she didn't want to have any of it and instead, put the money I gave her towards feeding the children she taught to in her neighborhood. She said she would rather be paid in candles, since she uses a lot of them, or food for the neighborhood kids that she teaches to pray the rosary. See? You can be a devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes and share your gift of divination at the same time!
When mucking around Manila, why not get your fortune told? There are so many gifted seers in this country, from cartomancers, tarot readers, soul card readers, and even angel guides. Take what you want from each reading and use their advice to better yourself. It can be quite an experience and it's pretty cool when
Just mucking around Manila,
www.muckingaroundmanila.com
Follow @_muckingaround on Twitter and Instagram.
Like the Mucking Around Manila fan page.
*Note: Ate C is quite shy and requested that I don't disclose her name on the blog.
