Hear/Say

Visited Taipei’s famous Hsing Tian Kong Temple today. People from all over Asia (supposedly) visit to ask Win Tsu Kong (Taoist god– I tried to check the spelling, but nothing adds up. He might also be Guan Yu) about … well, anything and everything in their lives. There are those cashew pieces, and sticks with numbers… anyway, through a process of positive and negative confirmations, you eventually are answered through a confirmed number, which corresponds to a fortune that may be read through different lenses (depending on what you asked– i.e. love, career, health, etc.) to answer whatever question you asked. Another way to utilize this “fortune telling” is to accumulate hints and clues through the negative or positive signals in tossing the cashew-looking things.

It’s hard to explain.

Anyway, I’m not one for fortunes, or tarot cards, or whatever fate-reading designs and activities there are out there, but for some reason I find a strange trust in this particular temple– personal experience. Granted, all fortunes being told have to be accepted with a serious spoonful of salt– after all, whether or not it’s good or bad, you’re still the one dragging yourself out of bed every morning.

As fascinated as I am by my own fortunes, I don’t like taking them too seriously– I feel like it cramps my mojo. Or has potential to. Other people’s, though– is a free-for-all bloody thirst fest in terms of speculation…

It was an after dinner adventure; we had just gorged on this vegetarian buffet and tried to waddle the weight off, and ended up on a bus that dropped us out front of this temple which stands on the corner of an otherwise typical- looking urban intersection (neon lights; LED screens; stinky busses, fussy taxis). Michael asked 1. if he was going to be a lawyer and 2. if he would have a good wife.

If only life were that simple.

Graceee