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Saturday, April 7, 2012

7 Tales of Trinket Inspirations: Fortune Telling

When I was little, I was fascinated by the concept of seeing into the future.  Could people really take a look ahead and see what was to come?  I remember  watching old Wolfman movies where there was always an old (or young) gypsy foretelling doom with a crystal ball or tarot cards. Or perhaps they chanted out wild, rhyming prophecies while eerie clouds covered then uncovered the moon.

And I always wondered if, given the chance to see into the future, would I dare?

(Okay, so I was the kid in class with the over-active imagination--the one who the teacher described as a" bit of a day-dreamer" in parent conferences.  I admit it.  I own it.)

And what if you only saw bits or pieces of a "vision", would you even understand it? Is it possible that our dreams are filled with moments from our pasts, presents, or futures and, since we cannot process what we do not yet know, we see them only as dreams? (When I read one of Stephen Hawking's books, I think it was A Brief History of Time, I was confounded by the fact that there is no scientific "law" that says that time must happen chronologically*.  What???)


So, could we have memories of stuff that has not yet happened inside of our brains and could they influence our decisions and guide our futures??


Yeah, it's early and I haven't had my tea yet.

But the whole idea of seeing ahead....it's huge in literature.  The course of Harry Potter's whole life was determine by Voldemort's reaction to a prophecy, if not the prophecy itself.

In The Seven Tales of Trinket I play with this idea a little, for there is a character that sees the future--or does she? Or is it possible to create the future by claiming to already know what is to come, and thus influence the choices people make?

What a delicious conundrum.

hrh

*Okay, I will admit that it is possible that I completely misunderstood this part of the book and thus created an alternate meaning that blew my own mind, rather than comprehending the actual intended meaning.


**Yes, I have had the rare psychic moment where I dreamed something that came to pass...but I never realized it until AFTER the event happened.  Go figure.

Remember these fortune tellers?  Yes, I made a few in my day

Okay, so I have one of these, too.  Did you realize they've been around for 60 years??

7 comments:

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Ha! I just attended a birthday party where someone was gifted a Magic Eight ball. They will never grow old.
I not only played with those, I visited a few psychics over the years. One told me long ago I would write a book (I don't remember if she said it would ever get published.) *sigh*
And, yes, I think it's possible to create the future by believing it to be so.

Jemi Fraser said...

I loved my Magic 8 ball too! And I made dozens and dozens of fortune tellers. Kids in my class still do it!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

I'm pretty sure I can tell the future...and it looks like.......


(Now it would spoil everything if I told, wouldn't it?)

Julie Dao said...

I love it! I think the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy is so intriguing. I used to make little paper fortune-tellers in school :)

Catherine Denton said...

I'm glad I wasn't the only daydreamer. And I love the idea of time not being chronological. I love that you're playing with this in your book.

Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog. I've been sweating bullets over here about putting it out there. You made my day!
Catherine Denton

Lydia Kang said...

I've gotten my brains into a twist thinking about the future and future memories. Mostly I think of stuff like, "I could know which stock to invest in, but wouldn'tcha know it, I'd probably forget the name as soon as I was back in the present."

Can you bring notepads and pencils back and forth when you visit the future?

Christina Lee said...

It IS a delicious conundrum!!! And the idea of this: "So, could we have memories of stuff that has not yet happened inside of our brains and could they influence our decisions and guide our futures?" splinters my brain. WHOA!