Fortune-Telling

(redirected from fortuneteller)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.

Related to fortuneteller: horoscope

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Fortune-Telling

or mantic, various methods for the imaginary divination of the future or the unknown. Fortune-telling arose in the epoch of primitive communal society. Fortune-telling by the cry, flight, and behavior of birds was common in connection with hunting, and later with cattle raising (for example, auspices in ancient Rome); the owl, raven, falcon, cock, and hen were thought to be particularly prophetic. Fortune-telling by the stars arose among the early farmers and later developed into the pseudoscience of astrology. The Babylonians, Etruscans, and Romans attempted to tell fortunes by the liver of a sacrificed animal, by its form and position in the carcass. Among many peoples there was fortune-telling by means of bones, beans, nuts, coffee grounds, and the like. Among the Slavs common methods of fortune-telling included dropping a ring in water, pouring wax, and fortune-telling with a mirror. In more recent centuries fortune-telling with cards and by lines on the palm of the hand (palmistry) has become widespread. One of the earliest and most universal types of fortune-telling, which has survived to the present day, is through dreams. Fortune-telling has as its basis a religious conception of a supernatural world that governs nature and mankind, with which one can establish contact and thereby learn the unknown. Fortune-telling is usually a tool of charlatans who exploit people’s ignorance and superstition.

References in periodicals archive ?

I am not a fortuneteller, but I know Imran Khan's downfall is imminent.'

Selected PM has put the public into troubles: Nawaz Sharif

Not speaking a word of English, she informed Audrey and me that she had studied psychology and philosophy before becoming a fortuneteller. On most weekdays, she saw 20 people ?

Still skeptical about fortunetellers

Rainsy, responding to Hun Sen's statements from Washington, DC, where he was set to meet Cambodian supporters, said in an email to The Post that the prime minister is a 'very good fortuneteller'.

'Fortuneteller' PM sees 13 or 14 parties

Is it morally wrong to consult a psychic or fortuneteller?

Is it morally wrong to consult a fortuneteller?

Asked whether the coming president would be Deputy Michel Aoun, Deputy Sleiman Franjieh or a consensual president, she said "I am not a fortuneteller and this is not the role of the United Nations".

Kaag denies Syrian refugees' naturalization plan

Synopsis: A fortuneteller hires a detective to find her missing son in Todd Shimoda's existential noir mystery "Why Ghosts Appear".

Why Ghosts Appear

Dear knobkerrie, are you a friend, a medical doctor or a fortune-teller Dear knobkerrie, child of the black and white cow Dear knobkerrie, you from the beautiful raisin bush That carries sweet wild dry raisins Are you friend, a medical doctor or a fortuneteller? When I brag it's you by me When I hunt or guard sheep, it's you by me When I am attacked, it's you by me When I stumble due to age, it's you by me Are you a friend, a medical doctor?

In dialogue with Afrika: Namibian poems by Hungiree Wilson Billawer

In her column, she continues to cite Lajm and writes "you do not need to be a fortuneteller here to give the correct prediction that an unsettled conflict is hiding under the surface but this appeal can only be seen as realization of the prediction.

Appeal for peace upset Macedonian intellectuals

Charting the rise and fall of a fortuneteller who reads people like an open book, but remains blind to sea changes behind the corridors of power, this stately production is an elegant vehicle for a cast toplined by Song Kang-ho and Lee Jung-jae.

The Face Reader

user should send the photos to the fortunetellers. The user can select a fortuneteller from the website list of fortunetellers.

Mobile application for reading coffee cups

According to Sayidaty.net, the drama revolves around the personality of a fortuneteller that scams people and is revealed for the fraud he really is.

Well, if that's the least you can do: Adel Imam settles for a 15 mill' gig

London, Sep 18 ( ANI ): Injured England star Wayne Rooney will bounce back to have a long and healthy life, a fortuneteller has predicted.