Shining One gets poked

Something weird is happening. Over the past year several people have described me as shining. You guys know that I am not averse to a little ego expression (well perhaps a lot). But seriously, what’s with this shining one stuff? From real people to communed entities I have to deal with this in-your-face testimony to me shining with energy. One such incident occurred whilst over in the States a few weeks ago.

It was about 1 week prior to the events described in the Going Native adventure. I was passing through a festive Union Square. 14th Street (in Manhattan) when I African lady shouts me over and literally grabs me by the arm and says that she must read my cards. Being a rather astute card reader myself I thanked her for the offer but declined. She insisted so I used my final defence. “I don’t have any money”. She laughed “No, No, for you it is free” she said with the lilt of an African tongue. So, begrudgingly I sat down.

She brought out the grimiest deck of cards that I’ve ever seen. The images were so faded that it was hard to see if they had any image at all. With these she began her reading.

With a quick hand she slapped down one, two, three cards. One on top of the other. She didn’t even look at them. The final card was unrecognizable to me. “You have a message to share”. I shook my head hesitantly and she laughed. “No, no, you can’t hide from me”. I shrugged. Another 3 cards. “You are shining with this message.” Okay, not shining again! I waited for her to continue. Another 3 cards. This time I saw the middle card. It was the Hermit. Your message will shine in the world this year! And you know what? She actually poked me in the chest. “This” poke, “year” poke, “your” poke, “message” poke, “will” poke, “shine” poke. although I think I managed to avoid the final poke.

She picked up her cards and shuffled them up, “I’m done with e” and turned her back on me. What?!? I muttered a thanks to her back and walked away. The world be filled with weird folk!

Kal Malik