FANS of South Korean soap operas have had a new topic to discuss ever since one series shown on Myawaddy TV featured a female clairvoyant about two months ago.

The day after the show aired, housewives in the market, students in class and company staff at work gossiped about the character, Cho Wang, who had the ability to see into worlds that were invisible to normal people.

Throughout Yangon many people who had already visited clairvoyants talked openly of their experiences, while others who had never thought of taking such a step were suddenly curious about how they could set up an appointment to consult someone with the “clear vision” to see the future.

I was one of those who fell into the latter group. Although I have never had much interest in astrology or palmistry, the character featured on the Korean show Like the Image piqued my curiosity about the phenomenon of clairvoyance.

So on a public holiday earlier this year I went with a group of friends to the suburbs of Yangon to visit one of these special people to have my future revealed. On the way, we talked about the soap opera and wondered how our clairvoyant would compare to the one on the show.

We finally arrived at the house of the clairvoyant, Sayamagyi. When it was my turn, she asked me to write down my name, date of birth and address.

After taking in this information, she started telling me about my past and future.
“You have been making your living using your verbal skills. But from now on bad luck will befall you and you will face financial and social problems,” Sayamagyi said.

If that wasn’t bad enough, my future only got worse from there.
“You will die soon after you reach the age of 30 because your husband from your last life, who is still a spirit, is calling you back to him,” she said, her voice creaking with excitement at my impending doom.

As her words sunk in I started feeling dizzy and even a little afraid of being in the house, which seemed to sway whenever anyone walked across the floor.
But Sayamagyi looked into my face, which felt to me like it had shrunk down to the size of a plum fruit, and told me not to worry because she could provide me with good yadaya – something done under an astrologer’s advice to compensate for misfortune.

“Do not worry. We must sever the connection between the life of human beings and the spirits. Many people live happily after cutting these connections,” she said.

She then asked me what I did for a living and how much money I made, and told me to come see her again in a week.

On the ride back home I remained silent, unlike on the way out when I was as talkative as everyone else.

Sensing my depression, one of my friends said she knew of another clairvoyant we could visit for another reading. I figured I had nothing to lose because I could not imagine anything worse than being told I would be dead in four years.

It turned out to be a good plan because the second clairvoyant had only good things to say about my future.

“You are attractive to the opposite sex and you are lucky in business and education,” she said, adding, “And you can live up to 70 years of age.”

Happy with the sudden broadening of my future horizons, I said goodbye to the clairvoyant and joined my friends at a snack bar, where we debated the readings we had received that day.

In the end, our debate turned into something that was not much of a debate at all but rather a source of entertainment, much like the Korean soap opera that had sent us on our search for clairvoyants in the first place.