According to asiaone.com, after the Wong Tai Sin Temple released a divination app for smart phones and a prediction link on their website, business at the fortune-telling market surrounding the temple has been going down.
I posted about this market last year. The readers there are usually very busy around the Lunar New Year when thousands of people visit the temple and afterwards have their fortune told.
This year, when visitors throw the traditional divining sticks, instead of following up with the readers at the market, they can use the temple’s new app to find out what the sticks mean.
Or they can throw the sticks online and get an answer without even going to the temple.
Apparently the virtual oracles are popular, especially with young people.
But readers from the market say the apps can’t replace what they do.
The app doesn’t consider the querent’s year of birth, or what day it is, or what the weather is like, all things that would be incorporated into a traditional reading.
The stick you pull is only one part of the story.
A temple spokesperson agreed, and claimed that they weren’t trying to discourage people from getting personal readings. They just wanted to offer visitors a convenient option.
And despite myself being reader, I think the temple is right. The apps are no different than the little white book that comes with a Tarot deck.
They’re great for getting a general idea of what a card, or a yarrow stick might mean. And sometimes that’s enough.