Fandango’s Provocative Question #124

There was a movie by this name and I think it’s also a famous quote, but don’t quote me on that.

The last time someone asked me this question, she was a so-called psychic and I think (I was in my 20s and death was a million years in the future) I said, “Sure, what the hell.”

She said I’d die at age 68 in a foreign land. I’m 74 and not dead. You could, I suppose, say this is a foreign land, but I was definitely born here.

I used to be an astrologer and I was good at it. I quit doing it because one day, I realized that no one needs to see the future. Everyone should spend more time making the best of the present. I also thought that new mothers who wanted a horoscope for their infants were mentally cracked and I got tired of doing horoscopes for people who were having an affair and trying to find out more about their new partner. Since I did the work for free, this was meant as a gift to friends, not to their entire extended family, or — speaking of immoral — whoever they were shacked up with. Especially when I was good friends with the wife who didn’t happen to know about the girlfriend.

So here’s the final event that stopped me from wanting to predict death for anyone, no matter how it looked on the horoscope or Tarot cards.

I had a friend in Israel. He had a twin sister. He died at age 33 of esophageal cancer. She was fine. The difference in their charts was a bare few minutes, certainly not enough to change the charts significantly based on such a small amount of time.

I realized even when I had a clear reading, was it meaningful? Was it information anyone needed to know? Was I just planting ideas in people’s heads that would shift the direction of their future? There are always any number of ways to read a chart. Did I have the right one? I always found reading for strangers easier than reading for friends because with friends, you have expectations. I decided it was a waste of time and I quit.

Death will come when it comes. I’m not a Sybil. Who am I to be telling anyone this kind of stuff? Why does anyone really want to know?

Oh, I got it!

It’s the 12th century and you are the Henry II. You want to know which of your four sons is going to be king after you die. That must be it!

Categories: #FPQ, Anecdote, Death and Dying, Fandango's One Word Challenge, Provocative Questions

Tags: #FPQ, death and dying, Fandangoes Provocative Questions, knowing the future, Marilyn Armstrong