However, whereas such people in the West are usually ridiculed by the majority of society
it seems like something far more normalized and pervasive throughout modern Korean society, to the extent that the freaking presidents have their own shaman who gives them advice on how to run the country.
I knew a woman once (actually an acquaintance of my wife). She was living in squalid conditions with 4 kids and a husband who didn't bring in much. One day she decided to become one of those 'all-knowing' psychic card reading monks who can channel all sorts of entities...you know the ones who shave their head, put on monk's clothing and hang a Buddhist sign outside their dilapidated houses. Some can also be seen walking around the streets and into shops and restaurants banging a wooden object and looking for donations.She spent a month studying with another of the same ilk, who was also casually known to us, and 'voila', she suddenly became this sooth sayer, who could see the future in the cards and give advice on how to conduct your life and things to look-out for. What a load of bollocks! The worst part was people paid her good money for advice. She left her husband and kids and the last I heard (a number of years now), she was doing very well for herself (well better than living on her hubby's wage). People didn't go to her for fun, they really believed the advice she was handing out. And...they were repeat customers, dragging others along as well.
Well Marti, as in keeping, you have gone off on some kind of tangent. One which is impossible to answer or debate...so yet again, I'm bowing out before I get dragged into the rabbit hole (Augustiner et al, 2023).This was just a story (shaggy, if you wish) to add to the thread. If you go back 20, 30 years, and deep into the past, shamans of this kind were sought for advice and more than a few people made decisions based on the shamans advice. This was very observable and often talked about...but I forgot, you didn't live here then, you were still in school. Enough said!
At the very least there would be a super popular 'Tarot TV' cable station that people would call into or they'd do readings on and this would be all the rage.
Guess you never heard of Psychic Friends Network or Miss Cleo.
Kinda my point. Where is the Korean version of this if this is so pervasive? Not saying there isn't but I don't recall any psychic channel or a big hit psychic show. Seems like this is the sort of thing that should exist if it really was as big as people claim.
The fortune telling thing is, unfortunately, a deeply ingrained part of Korean culture. Has its roots in shamanism, I think, which is still highly practiced in many Asian cultures in general.People basing major life decisions on fortune telling is not as bad as it was only a few decades ago (it was such a normal thing that you couldn't even get married without it not all that long ago -- and some people still won't without a fortune teller saying it's a good match), and more and more people in Korea are seeing it for what it is. I'm just happy that enough Koreans were super outraged that a politician was seeking out political advice from a fortune teller rather than from someone who's actually qualified.A lot of my students are still on the fence about it, though. They like the idea of it, of being able to seek answers and direction from otherworldly forces, but at the same time more and more of them are willing to say that they think it's all bullshit. For the ones who believe or at least like the idea of it, it makes them more willing to move forward with a decision so that they feel like they aren't making any major mistakes. Which I think is one of the reasons why fortune telling is so much more widespread in some cultures over others. In Korea's case, it's definitely part heritage, but I think a large part of it is also because people here are so afraid of making mistakes and losing face. There's a kind of reassurance in being able to seek guidance from a fortune teller.
Okay, so you accept that Americans are easily hoodwinked but not Koreans?
It's much too expensive to be a common "entertainment" thing; sure, you might go once for fun, like at the Ren Faire but whether its Korea or the West, there's big money in it if you can master cold reading and have the right personality.