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Lebanese Awaiting Psychics' Predictions
Posted on Saturday, December 31, 2005 (CST) by Thoth
 When psychics and astrologers jostle for air time on Dec. 31 to tell TV viewers what to expect in 2006, skeptics may be tempted to switch channels. But, after last year's predictions, many will think twice. Take Michel Hayek, Lebanon's most famous psychic, whose prognostications for 2005 bore an eerie resemblance to the reality that followed.
In his once-a-year appearance on LBC TV, which airs internationally, Hayek said a huge attack in the capital would disrupt life in downtown Beirut. Six weeks later, a car bomb killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others, sparking massive protests in the downtown area that forced Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon.
He also warned that five prominent Lebanese would be targeted for assassination, including anti-Syrian lawmaker Gibran Tueni, an unnamed minister and President Emile Lahoud.
Tueni was
brutally murdered Dec. 12, Defense Minister Elias Murr survived a car
bombing July 12 and journalist and activist Samir Kassir and politician
George Hawi, both anti-Syrian, perished in car bombs in June. There has
been no reported attempt on Lahoud's life, and Hayek freely
acknowledges he makes mistakes.
Then, there's Carmen
Chammas, who will make a special New Year's Eve appearance to talk
astrology. On Feb. 14, she told radio listeners it was the worst
possible day for Scorpios, who should "be vigilant and keep your eyes
open." Four hours and 50 minutes later, Hariri was killed. He was a
Scorpio.
Even if one believes that all of this is nothing more than pure chance, its effect is acutely felt.
Last spring, Hayek had to
appear on TV to deny rumors he expected anti-Syrian protesters to be
harmed in a violent act during a demonstration.
And this month, phone text
messages circulated saying Hayek had warned of a weekend attack in
downtown Beirut. Although Hayek emphatically denied saying it, downtown
on that weekend was almost deserted.
Islam forbids
fortunetelling and several clergymen have issued edicts against it,
notably Sheik Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, who said, "Muslims should beware
of those charlatans."
Nevertheless, Arab
newspapers run horoscopes - even in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of
Islam - and psychics operate by word of mouth.
Lebanon, with its mix of
Muslims and Christians, is the freest Arab country, where psychics and
astrologers have regular TV and radio shows.
Hayek, a 38-year-old
Christian, strongly defends his work, saying he tunes in to "the
billions and billions of vibrations in the sphere ... like a wireless
device that doesn't stop, even during sleep."
If the clerics are so opposed, he asks, why don't they "rise up against Bill Gates, who invented new computer programs?"
Yasmine Abdallah, an
Egyptian who hosts astrologers on her popular weekly "Stars and
Horoscopes" show on Dream TV, said her guests stick to analysis rather
than prediction when responding to callers, "because in Egypt it's not
as open as in Beirut, for religion reasons."
But last Dec. 31, she broke
tradition by hosting a New Year's Eve special that featured predictions
- the first time such a program had aired on Egyptian TV, she said.
"I believe if you are able
to predict bits and pieces through astronomy, this is because God has
created a certain code for us to read," she said. "We are not invading
something we should not know."
Chammas said she tries to be diplomatic when giving bad news because Arab societies "cannot handle too much frankness."
"I believe in her
predictions. Most of them come true," said Mona Mehio, a housewife
waiting in line for Qodieh to sign her latest book, containing
predictions for 2006.
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