Sunday, January 16, 2011

Divination


As I arranged the new assortments of Valentine's at hopscotch, one in particular caught my eye. Cootie Catchers. That's what some children's marketer decided to call those pieces of paper that first graders fold into four squared fortune telling devices. In my day, one layer had boys names (who you would marry), one layer had the kind of car you would drive, one layer had the kind of house you would live in. It got me to thinking about all the other toys from Magic 8 balls to Ouji boards to mood rings and fortune telling fish that are based around divining the future. The thing that struck me when I took stock of my inventory was that the reading of the tea leaves starts at such an early age. I am a moderately superstitious person, I read my horoscope, I take my fortune cookies to heart. I HATE the ones that tell you you are a loyal friend. How is that a fortune? I look for omens. Whatever. I know it's silly, and it's more for entertainment than really thinking I have a clue what is going on in my life. But I do give them consideration which always makes me laugh a little at myself. When did this start, and how? It seems to me that I learned to twist the stem off an apple while saying the letters of the alphabet (again to find out who I would marry) at a very early age, and from another child. It also seems that these practices are carried out much more among girls than boys. I know it has been necessary to the survival and strategic positioning of the weaker sex that we gather information constantly, I suppose it makes sense that this information gathering would extend to the future inasmuch as we feel it is possible.
Well, that's it tonight. Just a musing. I'll leave the answers to the sociologists.