Last week, Salem City Council moved to temporarily suspend issuing new fortune-telling licenses. They want time to close a loophole in the existing ordinance.
According to the present law, in order to qualify for a fortune-telling license, 51 percent of a shop must be dedicated to the metaphysical, for instance tarot cards, crystals and the like.
But apparently, that’s not what’s been happening.
Councilor-at-large Joan Lovely says she herself is aware of two businesses that created separate corporations within the same establishment in order to get around the license requirements.
To stop this from happening, Lovely asked for the suspension of license issuance to allow the city solicitor time to recommend changes. She received unanimous support of the council.
None of them want too many fortune-telling business in town, but they’re also aware of how important they are to Salem.
Council expects to consider the proposed amendments at their first meeting in September. They’d like to settle the issue before October’s witchy season begins.
It’s now legal to juggle, perform acrobatic feats, and read fortunes in Cook County, Illinois’ Forest Preserve.
The Forest Preserve commissioners took time out last week to clean up some of the old, and possibly illegal, ordinances they still had on the books.
According to Dennis White, attorney for the County, the rules against juggling and acrobatics were probably instituted to discourage carnivals or circuses from setting up in the preserve.
If that’s true, I’d guess that’s also why fortune-telling was banned. But the decision to lift the ban had nothing to do with circuses.
According to one of the commissioners, that was done because the ordinance didn’t define what fortune-telling is.
So it’s now okay to juggle, somersault, and divine at the preserve. But take note, it’s still illegal to go naked on its driving range and golf course.
A giant phone hacking scandal led Rupert Murdoch to close down his flagship paper News of the World this past Sunday.
It’s a big story that looks like it’s getting bigger, and seems like an interesting topic for Tarot Views the News.
This is not a predictive reading, but rather a quick look at the following ideas, using the Tarot.
•what is hacking?
•what is privacy?
•what is journalism?
•what is the free press?
5 of Cups
The first card I pulled answered the question, ‘what is hacking? Consciously, I would have chosen the 7 of Swords, but the card I pulled was the 5 of Cups.
Rather than describing the action of hacking, the card seems to be describing the consequences. Hacking breaks trust, public and personal. It causes a lot of sadness and a desire to turn inwards.
The card might also represent the type of information that hacking usually gathers – personal sadnesses, tragedies, insecurities, and failings, all the disappointments in our lives, our spilt cups.
Queen of Wands
I pulled the Queen of Wands when I asked, ‘what is privacy?’ There she sits, with her little black cat, the keeper of secrets.
Privacy is power, your own personal power. This Queen is independent and strong, concerned more with being able to do what she wants, then to make others do anything.
In other words, she might be outgoing, but typically this Queen doesn’t try to get in your business.
And like her element fire, the desire for privacy expands and recedes. Sometimes we reach out and share, and sometimes we keep to ourselves. Privacy is the right to decide which we want to do when.
8 of Cups
For ‘what is journalism?,’ I pulled the 8 of Cups.
This card shows a willingness to leave what seems easy or comfortable in order to find deeper meaning. Or in this context, to follow the story.
Journalism is a passion. It’s not enough to just stay where everyone else is, you have to venture out to get the scoop. Depending on how you do that, it could be good or bad.
And maybe this card is also pointing to how journalism has been changing, that it might seem like the old structures are still stable, but really, they’re no longer serving their purpose.
Like the man in the card walking away from the upright cups, whether they’re being forced out through layoffs, or making the choice themselves, journalists are leaving traditional news organizations in droves.
#16 The Tarot
And finally, for ‘what is the free press?” I got the Tower – the shattering of empires, prisons, towers we’ve created for ourselves.
A free press isn’t afraid to speak to power, and sometimes that’s all it takes to brings things down. Revealing the truth can change the world.
And maybe the free press itself is facing a Tower of its own. This News Corp situation could really shake things up.
It’s a lightening strike that might tumble more than one fortress.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a case in Federal Court last month challenging fortune-telling restrictions in Sevierville.
Psychic and Tarot reader, Rose Williams, was ordered by the City last September to stop offering fortune-telling services, or shut down her business.
Considered ‘adult oriented activity’, she was told she could only continue her work in designated zones.
According to Sevierville bylaw, sexually oriented businesses, tattoo parlors, and psychic and palm reading activities must be at least 1000 feet from any school, church, public assembly facility, and/or residential zoning district.
Williams’ business abuts a residential zoning district.
The ACLU-TN is arguing that the zoning ordinance unconstitutionally limits Williams’ freedom of speech and expression, and deprives her of her rights as granted under the first and fourteenth amendments.
They’re seeking for the ordinance to be overturned, an injunction put in place to prohibit its enforcement, and that Williams be awarded actual and nominal damages.
Take a look at this video of Mitch Horowitz talking about the emergence of liberalism, occultism and the feminist movement in the United States. It’s part of the Big Think series.
In it, he argues that it’s no surprise these movements grew together, as all three were rooted in radical ideologies of democracy, equality and personal empowerment.
The book chronicles the history of spiritualism and the occult in the US starting in the 1770s, and focusing on the Burned-over District in Upstate New York.
This video is a quick overview of some of the main themes in the book.
Take a look, and if you get chance, read the book. It’s fascinating.
A group in the UK calling themselves the Christian Soldiers Dorset, intend to protest outside a Pagan Moot in Bridport on July 5th.
They mean it to be a peaceful vigil to warn people, especially the young, about the dangers of the occult. The group plans to protest other occult events as well.
Organizer of the Moot, Adam Marlborough, thinks that the group should be allowed to protest if they want to, though they’ll be disappointed if they’re looking for satanists. He believes in freedom of speech, and understands that everyone has their own perspective.
But he thinks the group could find better things to do with their time, and wonders whether they would have the courage to protest meetings of more mainstream religious groups.
I have to agree. There are a lot of problems in the world that are worth speaking up against. A Pagan meet-up about Earth Astrology and Colour Energy isn’t one of them.
People might not be interested in getting a reading themselves, but they don’t like the ban. Especially if it draws a lawsuit for being unconstitutional.
Dana Jones of Meridian has started a petition asking that Council reverse its decision. If you’re from the area, you might want to sign.
Comments posted on both her petition page and the WTOK report seem to support lifting the prohibition.
I don’t know that they’re actually representative of the general population, but they’re clearly concerned about the influence of personal religious beliefs on political decision-making.
Council may have thought that they closed this issue last Tuesday, but it might not be done yet.
Meridian, Mississippi City Council voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday, to maintain the city’s 38-year ban on fortune-telling, despite the risk of facing a potential lawsuit.
After months of debate, public input, and considerable soul searching, council’s made their final decision.
Members of the Meridian, Mississippi City Council are back at the table talking about fortune-telling.
And the debate is going strong. On one side, Ward 5 councilman Bobby Smith is absolutely opposed to rescinding the present ban. He’s been against it from the start and remains firm.
On the other side, there’s council president Jesse Palmer who maintains that it’s not really up to the council to decide if psychic readers should be allowed in Meridian or not.
He feels that they firmly believe in what they do, and it’s not up to him to say whether they’re right or wrong.
He’s also concerned that the ban is illegal. And he’s likely correct given that Maryland’s high court ruled last year that bans on fortune-telling are unconstitutional.
Undecided on the issue is councilwoman Barbara Henson who says she just doesn’t know yet how she’s going to vote, though she’s uneasy about the whole thing.
If the ban is rescinded, psychic businesses will be limited to a newly designated B-4 district.
They will also have to be least 1,000 feet from any existing fortune-telling business, and 500 feet from any residence, child care facility, church, or school.
Council will make what they hope will be their final decision on June 21st.
An interesting legal case is developing in Charleston, South Carolina. And a Tarot reader is at the center of the controversy.
In March 2010, Jonathan Spiel, a street performer and Tarot reader, set up his table, chairs, mirrors, candles and cards, on the sidewalk in downtown Charleston. He sat there with his dog, available for readings if people asked.
Police showed up four times while he was there, and each time, gave him a ticket for making charitable solicitations without a permit. These charges were later dropped, as it doesn’t appear that he was soliciting anyone.
In May 2010, police gave him four more tickets, this time for not having an ‘encroachment permit’, something he couldn’t get because used a table and chairs.
Later that month, Spiel decided to set up again, this time using a wheelchair as both his chair and a makeshift table. According to him, it was an attempt to avoid the encroachment issue.
When police told him to take down his wheelchair setup, he instead offered himself up for arrest, and was charged with disorderly conduct.
Now, the ACLU has taken up his case, claiming that city police violated Spiel’s right to free speech.
Their concern isn’t so much with his Tarot reading, but rather in what they see as his right to be in a public place, with furniture, and to speak to people when spoken to.
Susan Dunn of the ACLU, believes Spiel was being targeted simply because his presence was deemed offensive.
When the solicitation charges didn’t stick, police changed the offense. From her perspective, they were just looking for a reason to move him on.
She worries that this action could be precedent for targeting other forms of free speech, like volunteers with tables seeking petition signatures, or painters with easels.
Ravi Sanyal, an attorney representing the city, doesn’t see it that way at all. He claims the police have a right to clear sidewalks in order to protect pedestrians and drivers, prevent traffic jams and to keep Charleston visually appealing.
For him, the facts are clear; Spiel broke the law and needs to pay his fines.
I look forward to seeing how this goes. Spiel being a card reader has virtually nothing to do with the case, though it’s what made me look. And maybe it’s what made the police look too, who knows?
In any case, it’s interesting. And I can’t help but notice the humor in a free speech case being brought up for a man named ‘Spiel.’
