Misfortune Teller
As with other activities presented here, there are several ideas where
fortune-telling, or misfortune-telling can be incorporated into
your Superstition Bash in an effort to educate event participants on the
subject, promote skepticism and, of course, have a whole lot of fun.
- The Classic Misfortune Teller
In your event area you can set aside a small section where
you can have a "misfortune teller" seated at a table, or in the style
of secrets and mysteries, use an additional room partitioned off by
curtains, beads, etc. The Misfortune Teller can provide "readings"
to guests. The readings can be given individually or a small group
can be invited to sit at the table and participate together. The "type"
of fortune-telling can be one of several listed below or a mixture
of many. You may want to simply have a volunteer improvise his or
her readings in a comical fashion or you may want to create a special
skeptical reading for the purpose. The latter can serve to
educate event participants about the methods used by fortunetellers
and also show the problems that exist with the techniques themselves.
(We will be including several of these skeptical presentations and
experiments in the near future that can be used in this type of activity.)
Additional handouts can be provided for guests and you may also want
to use this activity for fundraising, either by charging a fee for
the reading or including a donations jar on the Misfortune Teller's
table.
- The Misfortune-Telling Festival
Depending upon the other activities you have lined-up for
your Superstition Bash, you may want to make the fortune-telling activity
the major event taking place, as there is definitely enough material
in this one subject, alone, to have several different activities,
displays/exhibits, workshops and presentations. In the fashion of
a psychic fair, then, you could put on a misfortune-telling festival
that highlights a variety of prophecy and divining techniques. Check
out the list below for more ideas that can be used in workshops, interactive
displays, and more.
- Misfortune-Telling Seminar / Lecture / Workshop
If your main goal is to educate and show the fallacies with
fortune-telling, you may want to consider offering a seminar and/or
workshop that features several methods used by the paranormal community,
in predicting the future. A bit like having the Misfortune Teller,
you could put on a presentation in front of a large audience, use
volunteers from the audience to test various techniques while
also introducing the skeptical investigation of the subject. Workshops
could also be scattered about and supervised by a group of volunteers.
They can allow attendants to interact with the material and learn
through hands-on investigation. You may also have access to a local
speaker who has experience with the field of fortune-telling. Perhaps
an ex-psychic could be found to give a talk, or, even a practicing
fortuneteller for that matter. If you do choose to go with the latter
be sure that you have a moderator and that the "throwing the
psychic to the skeptics" doesn't get out of hand.
- Misfortune-Telling Entertainment
You may want to put on an entertainment show for the topic
of fortune-telling by inviting a comedian to your event and/or having
a volunteer show the comical side of such fortune-telling methods
as reading a lamb's intestine, crystal-ball gazing, etc. Several movies
and television programs have taken this approach with the subject
so another option here would be to rent a movie for a night of entertainment.
- Fortune-Telling Display / Exhibit
You may simply decide to put up a small or large display
on the subject of fortune-telling in your events area by working with
volunteers beforehand to create an attractive floor exhibit. Below
you will find material that can be used for this.
We will be including a list of the types of fortune-telling below, along
with descriptions and how-tos that are used by the fortunetellers themselves.
We also hope to include, over time, skeptical investigations and experiments
that have been conducted and that can be included in many activities for
the Superstition Bash.
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