Playboy Polls the Prophets

The More Parlous the time we live in, the more people yearn for answers, for some insight into the future that will tell them what to expect--whether good or bad. It is uncertainty that is intolerable, and it is in fractious and uncertain periods in man's history that he has turned to oracles, seers and prophets, seeking to obtain from them some glimpse of things to come. Today, recourse is most often to science: Sophisticated computers are fed reams of data to process and--it is hoped--will then spew forth the encoded mysteries of what lies ahead. All that's required, then, is simple decoding, so that the riddles of the machines can be made sensible to mere men. Alas, machines have an incurable habit of being uncooperative when it comes to simple answers; they talk not only in riddles but in probabilities wrapped in cautionary cop-outs dealing with "if so-and-so, then so-and-so" predictions, the net of which is often to replace one big question with a lot of smaller ones that are equally nettling. Little wonder that people turn from the hedged and unsatisfying logic of machines to the gratifying certitudes of magic and of super- and supra natural prophecy with no ifs and buts. Belief is the key to such gratification, of course, and that's often the rub. To help you determine how credulous you can be-and to give you some occult answers against which to test your credulity--Playboy conducted micro interviews and consultations with prophets, both human and otherwise, who, whatever they lack in scientific validity, can't be accused of reticence in clearing up any doubts you may have about what lies ahead.

Sybil Leek

--Witch--

Although she is a world-famous witch, British-born Sybil Leek is no daughter of Satan. She's a very jolly psychic, a white witch (white magic only) who has been a ghost-hunting medium and a lecturer in matters occult for many years. With uncanny foresight, she has predicted such natural disasters as earthquakes and floods; and some of her predictions have proved so accurate that the military men at Cape Kennedy and elsewhere have actually been consulting her. A prolific writer whose latest book is "Diary of a Witch," Miss Leek calls herself "the reluctant medium." She doesn't get her prophetic insights at séances or in trances. "Predictions literally have to catch up with me," she says, "generally at some inconvenient time, because I'm always busy writing. But when they come, there's no mistaking that something different is happening. I see an event as clearly as anything else in the material world. It's important for me not to think about predictions.

The following predictions came to Miss Leek in the course of several weeks and then were given to Playboy in one interview in New York.

Q: Will anyone reach the moon in 1969?

A: America will circle the moon in 1969, as the Russians did in 1968, but the Russians will be the first to land. However, the date I have is 1970.

Q: What will financial conditions be during 1969?

A: My main impression is one of a very depressed financial state, a real slump in money starting in late February but reaching its climax in April. Not just a few rich people losing money on the stock exchange, but a slump affecting many, many people.

Q: Will America pull out of Vietnam?

A: I do not see any end to the Vietnam war, although 1970 is a time that sticks in my memory right now.

Q: Do you see any assassinations of political leaders in 1969?

A: Not yet. But without tooting my own horn, I must tell you something that happened in 1968. Some time during the spring, I saw an assassination of a famous person coming on June 22 that would have the same earth-shattering effect as the assassination of President Kennedy. I first saw this thing the night before Martin Luther King was killed, but I definitely saw the date as June 22. Then I saw it again about 11 days later, and the date of June 22 was the same.

Q: In other words, you missed the assassination of Robert Kennedy by about two weeks.

A: That's right.

Q: Do you see any great scientific discoveries coming in 1969?

A: Yes, I see the discovery of a new source of energy, one that gives the push to the moon. This new source of energy will cause a revision of our present ideas about gravity.

Q: Speaking of space, what about UFOs?

A: This is quite interesting. In 1969, there'll be a very different attitude toward flying saucers. Most people now either laugh at them or ignore them. But in the early part of the year, events will make a valid case for flying saucers. From March 19 to March 27 of 1969, there'll be many sightings of UFOs around the world--so many, in fact, that the Government will set up a new commission to investigate them.

Q: Any other psychic feelings about anything we haven't covered?

A: Yes. I'm not completely clear about this, because while 1 was seeing it, someone interrupted me and then I couldn't get back to it. But in 1969, I see large groups of military forces being used in this country.

Carroll Righter

--Astrologer--

America's leading astrologer, Carroll Righter is the author of two books regarded as milestones in the science of astrology: "Astrology and You" and "Your Astrological Guide to Health and Diet." His syndicated column reaches more than 100,000,000 people and he appears frequently on radio and television.

A deeply religious man who believes that God did not create the earth just for man's benefit, Righter says, "The stars impel, they do not compel. What an individual makes of his life is largely up to him."

Righter is constantly traveling around the world to counsel statesmen, business leaders, movie stars and those lie calls "just people." His American home is in Hollywood, where he runs the Carroll Righter Astrological Foundation to study the effects of health, diet and weather on the moods of individuals.

To learn what's ahead for America in 1969, Righter drew the nation's horoscope: born at 2:15 a.m. local mean time at Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 (see chart on page 126), the time when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Using this horoscope, Righter then discussed the coining year in an interview with Playboy at a hotel in New York.

Q: Will 1969 bring war or peace?

A: There should be some definite moves for real peace in 1969, because Mars, the planet of war, is not so placed as to indicate war. America's horoscope shows no major war this year, although there may be mopping-up operations...We've had seven years of upsets and unpredictability, but 1969 should be a leveling off--except for the period of May 20 to June 20, when people may go back to belligerent ways.

Q: Will there be any major evil force in this calmer world?

A: Well, the nation that will be most effective in 1969 is China. A very powerful man will arise there, possibly through assassination. To be strictly accurate, China won't dominate the international scene for the whole year, just until October 22. Then, for the rest of the year, Russia comes into the picture.

Q: Will there be a moon landing?

A: Not only will there be a moon landing in 1969 but it will be a year of great new scientific achievements. There will be many interesting inventions, some involved with planes and space.

Q: Will violence continue to explode in our cities?

A: Urban strife will continue but decrease. However, with the sun tri Mars and Aries exalted, there may be more chance of using the military to stop any urban violence.

Q: Do you see any major changes in fashions?

A: Yes; in 1969, people will become more elegant. The hippies will be out.

Q: What about the financial health of the country?

A: Well, the mortgage situation will be very confused. And the stock market will constantly be fluctuating, because all the criteria and systems that worked in the past will no longer apply. There will also be more inflation. Jupiter is the planet of inflation and it's badly aspect-ed for America in 1969.

Q: Do you see any other trends for the nation?

A: The health of America will generally be better next year, though there'll be occasional outbreaks of virus. And there'll be great gains in the fight against air pollution.

Uranus conjunct Jupiter means that America will have speedier transportation and communication next year. Even (continued on page 126) Playboy Polls the Prophets (continued from page 122) though some railroads are shutting down passenger service, I see faster trains--like that new high-speed express between New York and Washington.

However, Uranus opposes the sun in 1969 and this means that many partnerships will break up, partnerships in marriage and even among nations. But these should lead to improved alliances.

The year 1969 will be the one in which you get what you earn, in which you get your just deserts, especially at the Aries ingress (spring), when America's horoscope has Venus conjunct Saturn. It will also be a more international year, with everyone looking at what the other fellow is doing and trying to project new methods and philosophies for dealing with him.

Astrological Horoscope of the United States of America

Born July 4, 1776, at 2:15 a.m. local mean time, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 40° north, 75° west

Madam Sorina

--Gypsy Fortuneteller--

Operating from a small storefront in New York's garment district, Madam Sorina is one of America's vanishing gypsies. Long hounded by the law for often being prostitutes or racketeers (some are both), gypsies arc now hard to find. The first two Playboy found in New York turned out to be Spanish hookers and not Romany mystics.

In Madam Sorina's window were flowers, candles, beads, playing cards and a sign saying Earrings For Sale. We went into the small front room, which was separated from the back of the store by a curtain. There we met Madam Sorina, a small, dark-haired young woman, who took us into the back and had us sit down on a couch. She looked at us the way gypsies through the ages have done, wondering if we were the law. She would not predict with either a crystal ball or tea leaves but preferred to use tarot cards, which she feels are a more legitimate prophetic mechanism than a sphere of glass or some shreds of tea. (Gypsies who use only crystal balls or tea leaves are usually fakes, though there are those who would call the term "fake gypsy" a redundancy.)

Tarot cards are as old as the Hebraic and Egyptian worlds and may come from both, though the gypsies claim to have brought them from India. Tarot's numerology is tied to the numerology of the cabala. There are 78 cards in a deck and they are about as wide as regular playing cards but much longer. There are two kinds of cards: the major arcana (which have names like The Star, The Town, The World, The Chariot, The Judgment) and the minor arcana, which are broken into four suits, like playing cards: Wands are like clubs, swords are like spades, cups are like hearts and pentodes are like diamonds.

Madam Sorina shuffled the cards and then Playboy cut three times left to right with our left hand, to produce an interaction of her subconscious and ours. Then site dealt the cards into the spread shown in the illustration on page 128, after first putting down a card to stand for the person about whom the forecast was being made. This card is called a significator. (In the illustration, it is completely hidden by the covering card, the knight of cups.) Madam Sorina picked the king of swords to stand for the United States, because it's a card indicating the active, masculine role this country plays.

After the whole pattern had been dealt, she discussed the meaning of each card. You cannot ask a tarot deck specific questions, such as "Will the teamsters strike?" The cards indicate only general trends, traits and influences, and some are quite complex. Nevertheless, Madam Sorina was able to describe the following picture of 1969 in America.

"Now, you see that the knight of cups is the covering card, and he's a searcher, someone in quest. This means that America is still a country that's searching, aware that it doesn't have the answers. The smugness is gone.

"The crossing card is the queen of wands, who controls sexuality and creativity. Therefore, the country is crossed by the fact that neither its creative energy nor the meaning of flesh and sexuality has been assimilated and given its proper place in our culture. So these qualities appear here as crossing rather than helping our development.

"What we call the card above--in other words, the card above the significator--is the Wheel of Fortune. The card above stands for the most you can aspire to in the immediate situation. In this case, the Wheel of Fortune represents change and flux; and so there'll be many changes in American society in 1969, but they won't be menacing.

"The card beneath stands for the structure on which all is built. Now, here we have the knight of swords, who's a man of action and blood, a man ruled by his emotions and moving very fast. He's involved in struggle; he's in a state of what the Hindus call karmic action. And this is the state of America: war abroad, black-power battles at home and a struggle between the money of the East and the money of the West.

"The card behind America is the eight of cups. This is quite interesting. You see, the cups stand for knowledge and all this knowledge is behind us. I believe it was the knowledge held by Thoreau and others in early America: that man is put on this planet to live simply under the sky with his fellows and the animals. This was the dream, the hope for a simple, equitable life, but now it's all behind us.

"In front of America is the five of cups. You see that three of the cups are spilled and this means a waste of earlier knowledge; but two cups are upright, so a bit of the old knowledge still remains. The man on the card looks upset. Well, he's shaken by the loss of truth and the old knowledge. But perhaps he'll find his way again by using the two cups still upright.

"The six of pentacles stands for the role that America has been playing as an almsgiver and protector. But you'll notice that there's a distance between the man on the card and the poor he's helping. This means that the alms are given through pride and not humanity. America still doesn't know the true meaning of charity.

"The two of swords is the card that stands for the significator's house--sort of the whole picture. It's hard to describe this meaning precisely, but it's sort of a balance achieved by a negation of almost everything. There's no looking outward here. It's a card of tense peace through emptiness, a state of tenuous equilibrium. But it's short-lived, because the Wheel of Fortune is turning.

"Now, just above the two of swords is the sun, and that stands for your hopes and fears. What America hopes for and fears is power and the light of the full truth of what the universe is about and why man is on earth, because then we'd see ourselves as young children. We fear this and yet we hope for it, because it's our only chance of resurrection and salvation as a country.

"The page of wands is our future. The page is a child in the service of the creative power, the queen of wands. So after coming through all the disaster, pride and emptiness, we finally do, in a different way, have the same new beginning that we once turned our back on. It's really a hopeful reading."

Q: It's absolutely fascinating. May we (continued overleaf) say something that we hope you won't find rude?

A: Of course.

Q: You sound much too intelligent to be a gypsy.

A: Oh, I'm a real gypsy, all right--on both sides; but being one doesn't exclude having brains. You know what I do with the money I make from readings? I take courses at NYU.

Tarot card reading for the united states on America

Significator: King of Swords (completely covered by knight of Cups)

1--This is what covers you.

2--This is what crosses you.

3--This is what is above you.

4--This is what is beneath you.

5--This is what is behind you.

6--This is what is in front of you.

7--This is you.

8--This is your house.

9--These are your hopes and fears.

10--This is your future.

I Ching

--Book of Oracles--

The "I Ching" or "Book of Changes" (the Richard Wilhelm translation from Chinese into German, rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes) is part of the Bollingen Series of the Princeton University Press and is sold in practically all bookstores. With prehistoric origins, the "I Ching" evolved from a collection of oracles into a book of wisdom that provided the common roots for Confucianism and Taoism, the chief branches of Chinese philosophy. The "I Ching" is based an the belief that the forces of yin (feminine) and yang (masculine) exist in a never-ending tension that produces constant change; but events are more the result of chance than of cause. The "I Ching" interprets chance events. It does not prophesy the future but gives the reader a metaphor to understand the questions at hand--and suggests proper courses of future action.

Playboy went to New York's Albert Hotel and visited Miss Diane Di Prima, head of the Poets Press and an "I Ching" authority, who agreed to use the book for coin oracles about America in 1969. Taking three coins, she assigned the number three to heads (or yang side) and the number two to tails (or yin side). She then asked Playboy to clear our head of all extraneous thoughts and to concentrate on a single question, one not too specific and involving no hope of gain, for desire can act as an agent. She said the book would produce oracles that might cover the next two or three years, but which would all start right now. Unlike witches, astrologers and gypsies, the "I Ching" can predict only from the present moment on.

Therefore, on October 8,1968, Playboy sat on the floor of Miss Di Prima's office and concentrated on this question: "What forces will dominate the course of the American nation until the end of 1969?" Playboy, Miss Di Prima and her assistant editor then threw the coins, using three people instead of one to get a better cross section of America. Each person threw the three coins six times, once for each line of a six-line hexagram that Miss Di Prima drew. She then looked in the back of the "I Ching" at a chart that gave the number 28 to the hexagram we had produced. The oracle [or this hexagram, called Preponderance of the Great, was on page 111.

Alternately reading from the "I Ching" and interpreting it, Miss Di Prima then explained our oracle, whose hexagram looked like this:

"Now, every hexagram is composed of two trigrams that stand for things. In this one, the bottom trigram stands for the gentle or wind or wood, and the top one stands for the joyous or lake. So it's like a flood time, when the lake rises above the treetops. This is, first of all, an oracle of great urgency. Forces are in the wrong place and everything is out of balance. Therefore, be gentle and joyous and don't attempt to change things by forcible methods. This is the wrong time for a revolution. As the book says, 'The problem must be solved by gentle penetration to the meaning of the situation. It demands real superiority; therefore the time when the great preponderates is a momentous time.'

"The book goes on to explain this. It says, 'The lake rises above the trees. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned; and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted. Here the book is telling the superior man, who stands for American leaders, how to act in a world situation that is urgent but temporary. This superior man may find himself standing alone, but he must be unconcerned about whether or not people are with him. If things get too bad, he may even have to withdraw from the scene; but he must be undaunted and ready to return and lead again. The symbol of the gentle is the tree, which stands firm even if it stands alone; and the symbol of the joyous is the lake, which remains undaunted."

This oracle was interesting but vague, so we decided to ask the "I Ching" a more specific question. Miss Di Prima now invited a fourth person to join us in the coin tossing, so we could have a still larger cross section of America. Concentrating on the question "Will America pull out of Vietnam by the end of 1969?" three of the four of us threw single coins six times in a rotation until we got this hexagram:

"This is hexagram number 18 and it's called Work on What Has Been Spoiled (Decay). The lower trigram is the gentle or wind, and the upper is keeping still or the mountain. The Chinese character for this hexagram, ku, represents a bowl in which worms are breeding and this means decay--a rather amazing application to Vietnam.

"As the book says, this decay 'has come about because the gentle indifference of the lower trigram has come together with the rigid inertia of the upper, and the result is stagnation.' Since this implies guilt, the conditions embody a demand for the removal of the cause. Hence the meaning of the hexagram is 'Work on what has been spoiled.'

"There are two kinds of corruption involved here and two ways to deal with them. The first is the kind caused by weakness, and you must handle that gently and with consideration. But the other kind is corruption caused by neglect in earlier times, and this is a real challenge for the superior man or American leader. As the book says, 'To do away with this corruption, the superior man must regenerate society. His methods likewise must be derived from the two trigrams, but in such a way that their effects unfold in orderly sequence. The superior man must first remove stagnation by stirring up public opinion, as the wind stirs everything, and must then strengthen and tranquilize the character of the people, as the mountain gives tranquillity and nourishment to all that grows in its vicinity.'

"The book is here saying that to end (continued on page 220) Playboy Polls the Prophets (continued from page 128) the decay of Vietnam, we need a very strong leader who is also wise enough to first re-educate the people. The oracle isn't pessimistic, for it says, 'Rigid adherence to tradition has resulted in decay. But the decay has not yet penetrated deeply and so can still be easily remedied.' But unless such a superior man is our President, we probably won't be able to end the corruption of Vietnam by the end of 1969."

Ouija Board

--Talking board--

A Ouija board can be bought in a toy store for $3.95. Two people sit opposite each other over the board, lightly place their finger tips on a movable plastic indicator, and then one of them concentrates on a question.

The board is basically programed for yes and no answers. (Its name is made up of the French and German words for yes-- oui and ja.) It does have an alphabet, but if you try to make it spell out words, you had better be prepared to spend a couple of weeks with it. Therefore, we did not ask it to name a new scientific discovery, major evil force or most valuable player.

Playboy was pleased that this prophetic mechanism could be played with a girl. We used a comely office staffer as a partner, because the board's instructions suggest that the participants be of opposite sex. During the gathering of the following answers, Playboy and our date exchanged some rather sharp accusations about pushing and pulling the indicator. Before reading the answers, please note the illustration of the board.

Q: Will America pull out of Vietnam in 1969?

A: Yes.

Q: Will someone reach the moon in 1969?

A: No.

Q: Will there be any more assassinations?

A: One.

Q: Will there be greater inflation?

A: Good bye.

Q: Will there be more rioting in the cities?

A: Yes.

Q: Will there be any major revolutions in the world?

A: Ouija.

Q: Will any new protest movement replace the hippies?

A: No.

Q: Will the stock market go up?

A: No.

Q: Will the stock market go down?

A: Good bye.

The Ouija Board

Ethel Meyers

--Medium--

Our final trip through the complex and mystifying world of the occult was with a genial woman in her late 60s: Mrs. Ethel Meyers is a respected, full-time medium who consults "the other side" from morning till midnight almost every day. "Philosophers on the other side talk to me," she says, "and try to help those in need through psychometry." Her contact in the world of the departed is her husband, Albert, a cellist who went immortal in 1944.

Mrs. Meyers has worked with many celebrities, whose names she won't reveal. But she does reveal at the drop of a shroud that she has done "trance work" with Hans Holzer, helping him find ghosts in haunted places. Their spiritual gumshoeing is discussed in Holzer's two books, "The Ghost Hunter" and "Ghosts I've Met." She has also worked with the Reverend Arthur Ford (Bishop Pike's medium), with Long John Nebel and with the Eileen Garrelt Parapsychology Foundation. But more important than any work with churchmen, foundations or middle-class ghosts is her claim to have heard from George Washington twice and from Abraham Lincoln several times.

Exhilarated by the possibility of discussing the nation's future with one of its most eminent forefathers, Playboy went to Mrs. Meyers' West Manhattan apartment on a fittingly dark and rainy afternoon. She at once heightened our suspense by showing us several pictures of ghosts that she had taken without a camera, with just a light bulb and printing paper exposed for five seconds to a visitor from the beyond. One such picture, milky but still defined, was of Albert, her celestial scout. Another was of a great astrologer from 67 B. C. who had given an entire lecture on astrology through Mrs. Meyers, even though she knew nothing about it. And a third picture was of a 19th Century gentleman who'd come down to New York to tell Mrs. Meyers that they were related.

Mrs. Meyers and Playboy then sat in opposite easy chairs. She leaned back, closed her eyes and breathed deeply for almost a minute before producing the following words, which came in answer to our question about the state of the nation and the world in 1969.

"The stock market will start going up in January.... There are new, jittery things concerning Russia.... Many things are happening.... Always a red herring in the Middle East. Also strange things Canadian wise. Unfriendly relations between Canada and the United States.... Inside, quiet talks between American and Russian politicians, because the Chinese Red Guards are not succeeding with their torments.... Disturbances in France are also lessening, because the Red Guards are looking more toward Mongolia.... Before the spring, America and Russia will be snaking hands across the Bering Strait ... and things will settle down and become more quiet ... Hello, hello, Albert speaking. Will Playboy speak to me personally, please? I have taken over the instrument."

Q: Hello, Albert. Your wife was saying that there'll be an agreement between America and Russia in 1969. Do you agree?

A: Yes, there will be an understanding between these two great powers. Unrest will level off.

Q: Will there be any major assassinations in 1969?

A: The year will be quieter in tills department, but the race situation will be uneasy.

Q: In what way?

A: In the spring and summer, there'll be much more controversy. And the youth problem will get worse.

Q: Speaking of the youth, will there be any new protest movement?

A: An educational movement will come into being and will use occult solutions in knowing oneself, in learning to use one's own true powers. This movement isn't just on the earth plane, for we're working on it here, too. But in 1969, man on your side of the veil will learn the truth of his inner self.

Q: Albert, are there any great Americans on the other side who could further enlighten us about conditions next year?

(A long pause while Mrs. Meyers breathes deeply several times.)

A: Hello, how do you do? I'm very pleased to have your invitation to come.

Q: Who are you?

A: Abraham Lincoln.

Q (definitely impressed): It's an honor to meet you, Mr. President.

Lincoln: Oh, I was but a man and not the great humanitarian people have made me. I had to fight my own inner instincts.

Q (still somewhat awed by this remarkable press conference): That's typically modest of you. Tell us, sir, do you have any advice for modern Americans on handling the racial situation?

Lincoln: Yes, the uneducated man must be educated. I cannot say that all men are equal without educational devices, and the white man has deprived the darker skins of chances to learn.

Q: Do you see any American leaders appearing in 1969 who will have your compassion and strength?

Lincoln: You do me honor; I was but a man.

Q: You said that.

Lincoln: A man will come along who knows the inner self. The fermented grapes are false gods that bring things inconsequential and untrue.

Q (thrown a bit by the transition to wine): Do those happen to be the grapes of wrath?

Lincoln: The man who wears dark skin has majesty within him. He will give much to the world.

Q: Will there be any wars next year?

Lincoln: There will be no wars as you know them. There will be peace caused by the coming together of two great nations.

Q: America and Russia?

Lincoln: That's correct. They will right the world through quiet, secret understandings. There are even in America today those who've been damned but who will be seen as statesmen in the years to come. And those who would twist the world as a chicken will be roasted in their own gravy.

Q (in confusion, as we leave the melaphoric kitchen): Tell us, sir, what do you see as the major evil force next year?

Lincoln: Greed is the major evil force and there'll be no end of it in 1969. Man will first have to know the truth of his inner self. But there'll be more peace in 1969 and international affairs will be sounder, so it will be a better year than the one we have just experienced. There will, however, be forces I know nothing about, electrical forces from planets, from a galaxy that will be approaching ours; and these forces will harass national affairs, though not too seriously. And now I must leave you, for there is still much work to be done on this side of the plane.

Q: Thank you, Mr. President.

(Mrs. Meyers shudders and then awakes.)

A: What happened? Did anyone come through?

Q: Yes, Albert and Abraham Lincoln.

A: Oh, good. (Still shuddering and squirming.) Pardon me, but after this happens, I always feel as though someone has actually possessed my body. How was Lincoln?

Q: A little wordy and vague, but we guess that's to be expected. After all, he is 157.