Headache, heartbreak, or troubles in your marriage? Fortune tellers in Afghanistan, who are called tawiz newis, have a solution to every problem. Just about every municipality in the country has one or more seers. Their trade has its roots in age-old traditions.

There are three main reasons people seek out the services of fortune-tellers, says Nasir Qasemi, a psychic and healer from Kabul. "Many unemployed people want me to give them good fortune so they can find a stable job. A lot of sick people come, too. But mostly, it is women who come to me when they are having problems in their love lives or marriage."

Universal fix-all

Like most clairvoyants, Qasemi does not have a practice. He usually sits on the side of a dusty street in the Afghan capital. His "office" consists of a table upon which are a pair of dice and old, yellowed books containing strange writing that resembles hieroglyphics. His "patients" don't mind sitting on the cold ground - as long as the "master" finds solutions to their problems in his old books.

"What matters is results," says 40-year-old Fatima. "I had issues with my husband and sought help from a fortune-teller. He wrote down two prayers for me which I was instructed to place into one red and one white envelope. Our marriage has been great ever since."

Freshta, an 18-year-old from Kunduz, also believes in the power of divination. She is convinced that it can not only help in matters of love, but that it can even help children who have trouble concentrating in school.

"The psychic told me I couldn't concentrate because of family matters. He wrote down some incantations for me and since then, everything has been just fine."

Warding off evil spirits

Afghan healers follow a simple concept: They never point fingers at their clients for whatever situation they might be in. Instead, they listen. And then blame the mean mother-in-law or another family member or even evil spirits for their clients' predicaments. Then, "for a generous donation," the psychics' saying goes, "nasty family members and evil spirits can be overcome."

Self-professed seers live off of people's naivete. And their advice can sometimes even be harmful. Zarlaschat, a 21-year-old from Kabul, told DW how the advice of one psychic turned her life into a living hell.

"My mother-in-law wants to find good husbands for her daughters. But she has not had any luck. She went to a psychic who said her daughter-in-law, that's me, was the reason for it. Since then, she beats me regularly with a cane."

Counseling

Zarlaschat's is not a unique case, according to general practitioner Zabiullah Fetrat. He says many of his patients come to him with similar ailments.

"In Afghanistan, we hardly have any psychologists or places for family counseling. A lot of people, especially women, need someone to listen to their problems and hear their side of the story. That is exactly what these so-called psychics do. But sometimes, it can have bad consequences."

Doctors as well as clergymen do their best to warn the public of fortune-tellers, or quacks, as they refer to them. But neither medicine nor religion has been successful at reducing the credibility of the 'tawiz newis' among the general public.

The fortune-tellers themselves reject the criticism. "We existed as early as 500 years ago. And our profession will be around for another 500 to come," Nasir Qasemi, Kabul's tawiz newis, predicts.

Author: Ratbil Shamel / sb
Editor: Gregg Benzow