Article featuring great Fortune Tellers appeared in the February 2006 edition of the UK Mind, Body and Spirit magazine.
November 2005
Article featuring Face Reading appeared in the November 2005 edition of the Australian New Woman magazine: DIY Face Reading: Long nose? Monobrow? Hairy mole? What does it all mean?
August 2004
Article featuring Phallomancy appeared in the August 2004 edition of Marie Claire in the USA: Sex Secrets: The suprising way to spot a great lover.
September 2004
Interview appearing in a discussion-based English textbook in Japan (AEON Institute of Languge Study).
Extract:
Australian fortuneteller Serena Powers seems to know every method of divination ever used, but she says one is as good as another: "Any form will work if it's approached in the right frame of mind." People visit her extremely detailed website to learn about the history of fortune telling, to buy books and Tarot cards, and to pay Serena for a reading. We asked her to share her expertise via email:
Q: What are the most popular types of fortune telling used in the developed world today, and what are their origins?
A: In the Western world, the most popular is Tarot, which developed in the 15th century in Italy as a game. Astrology is also extremely popular and has been practiced for thousands of years in various forms.
Q: Is it possible for someone to become too dependent on fortune telling?
A: Yes, it is possible. [Some] people look to fortune telling to decide every small decision they face. Another trap is that people don't accept the first reading they receive, and keep having more and more readings for the same question. This makes a mockery of the process and results in murky, unreliable readings.
Q: What is your response to people who say fortune telling is antireligious or Satanic?
A: They may have experienced one of the many fakes who are out there, or they have seen only sensational film representations of fortunetellers.
Q: What would you say to someone who had never tried having his or her fortune told, and was a little skeptical?
A: Nothing, really. The future will unroll just the same whether you know about it beforehand or not. However, sometimes the benefit is that even though something may turn out disappointingly in the future, divination can reveal the hidden success and new paths you will follow as a result.
January 2004
Appearance as an entry in Ray Buckland's excellent new encyclopedia The Book of Fortune Telling: Encyclopedia of Divination and Soothsaying. See more about this excellent new book in The Showcase.
June 7 2002
Live radio interview with Rod Ryan's Morning Show (KKND The End 106.7) in New Orleans, USA. (11 minutes)
April 22 2002
Live radio interview with Charlie Wolf's Late Night Talk Show (RedFM 104-106) in Cork, Ireland. (15 minutes)
January 2001
An interview for the cover story of the January 2001 issue of The Web. The title of the article is "I see a tall, dark stranger. Click your mouse and gaze into the crystal ball" by Adrian Christopher. Image of Cover (left), click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Extract:
"Ground coffee beans at the bottom of your mug. Dishwashing bubbles in your kitchen sink. The lines on the palm of your hands. Your facial features. The day you were born (down to the exact hour and minute), playing cards, your throw of a dice and the tea-leaves you throw in the garbage bin. Everything tells a story, and apparently reveals your future prospects...
...But according to Serena Powers of SerenaPowers.com, it doesn't really matter what tools you use when it comes to divination. It's all about whether you're connecting to the subconscious mind, or not.
In other words it's the thought that counts.
"You can tell your own fortune but it's difficult to hold to any kind of objective viewpoint. All of us have re-dealt the cards when faced witha negative or disappointing answer first time round, rationalising that maybe we didn't concentrate hard enough,"...
..."The belief and intent (of what you are doing) creates the link to the divine. The only trickery involved is fooling the conscious mind to accept an illogical process and allow intuition from the subconscious to shine through,"...
...what attracts people to an oracle is its impartiality. "Oracles are perceived as far more impartial than any advice given by a friend, relative or professional. One of the main benefits of consulting a tarot reader is having the chance someone listen deeply to your problems without judgment or criticism."
"They value the confidentiality, and of course, the 'insider informaiton' of the future that the reader provides," she continues...
Ironically, playing cards work just as well [as tarot],... It's just that some people find that playing cards don't work because of previous associations with the hearts and clubs in Blackjack and Rummy.
"Doubt crowds in and before you know it, it's almost impossible to interpret the cards...even if hindsight shows how accurate they were..."
September 2000
An article on real life divination and how to integrate it into everyday life appeared in the Spirit Suites e-zine, entitled Divination in the Real World.
Extract:
"...You can even invent your own system and it will work for you. You can scry into a black mirror, a crystal ball, a bowl of water or a sink full of dishwashing bubbles. You can read the future using tarot cards, ordinary playing cards or baseball cards. You can read coffee cups, tea cups, wine glasses (if there are dregs) or cereal bowls. I can already feel your skepticism about the dishwashing bubbles, baseball cards and cereal bowls. Where is the glamour? Where is the pomp and ceremony? Who would believe me?
Divination is a serious business but there is no reason it shouldn�t be fun too. Enjoy yourself. Relax. This is the best way to let your intuition shine through. As with anything, if you love what you are doing, you will do it well..."
Q: What are the most popular types of fortune telling used in the developed world today, and what are their origins?
Extract: