Gypsy Fortune-Teller by Taras Shevchenko (1841). So why is it that whenever the authorities have tried to repress fortunetellers for good, they have failed? Perhaps a fellow magician’s Twitter tribute to Meg offers a clue: “She defied the dreary sceptic,” wrote Uri Geller, “as did her fans.” Fortunetellers and their fansĬritics of astrology, tarot and other popular magical practices tend to have a black and white view of what draws people to supernatural pursuits and how audiences treat prophecies and divination.Įuropean thinkers in the 19th century saw attitudes to magic in racial terms, arguing that where “civilised” Europeans knew the difference between entertainment and reality, non-western cultures were too primitive to see magic as deception. He was prosecuted in 1908 and again in 1916 and sentenced to several months in prison, as well as a fine and costs. But unlike Meg, Talazac’s trade was illegal. The “Red Witch”, Jean-Jacques-Maurice Talazac, preferred telling fortunes by post in an age when telephones were still a luxury. Although many of the men and women who ended up on trial were rural “wise women”, “wizards”, or “ cunning folk”, others were not that different from Mystic Meg and the astrology hotlines of the 1990s. Tate BritainĪcross the Channel, from the 18th to the 20th centuries, the French authorities waged a long and unsuccessful war on magicians of all kinds. The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse, (1886). In the 17th and 18th centuries, many European countries abandoned attempts to prosecute witches. These accusations of harmful magic were often combined with the suspicion that fortunetellers were frauds taking advantage of popular credulity. Throughout his long career as an astrologer, he was accused of witchcraft several times. And John Dee may have earned the protection of the queen, but he needed it. In the biblical Judaic culture of Joseph, magical practices were tolerated, but considered suspect and dangerous. But unlike the many fortunetellers who came before her, Meg was able to practice her art without fear of persecution. In a career spanning five decades, Mystic Meg went from writing horoscopes to predicting winners on the live National Lottery broadcast from 1994 to 2000.įrom Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, to Elizabeth I’s astrologer John Dee (1527-1608), predicting the future has long been a path to fame and fortune. Since her death on March 9, celebrities and clients have been paying tribute to Margaret Ann Lake, better known by her stage name “Mystic Meg”.
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