“Let the black rooster bleed,” the fortuneteller advises a young woman who has come to see the soothsayer to help her return her husband to a spree and find a good job.
Takhmina Saidova, a 35-year-old woman from Dushanbe, tried for a long time to solve her problems on her own, and when all the options were tried, the woman was advised not to waste time and urgently turn to a fortuneteller.
“There may come a period in life when you are completely disoriented and do not know what to do, but you need to do something. I was advised to turn to a fortune teller, and this was done by very educated people who once also turned to her. And she helped them. I decided to try it, and suddenly it really helps,”Takhmina Saidova says.
Black rooster, snake skin and wolf's tooth are just a small list of what fortune-tellers and sorcerers in Tajikistan can ask for.
To some, all this may seem funny, but not to those who are going through difficult times and unsuccessfully trying to find an explanation and a way out of a difficult life situation.
In Tajikistan, fortune-tellers, sorcerers, tabibs, that is, folk healers, and more often both in one person, are very popular, despite the official ban on their activities.
Two years ago, Tajik MPs adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which a fine from 30 to 40 times the minimum wage (currently $ 128-136) is provided for witchcraft or fortune-telling, and in case of a repeated fine within a year - 70 minimum wages.
If illegal activities continue, violators can get a real prison sentence and spend up to seven years in prison.
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But, despite the prohibitive measures, many Tajiks are ready to take risks: they continue to go to specialists in relations with the other world to attract good luck, get rid of the evil eye, find a job, love, and even heal. Small amulets sewn into fabrics are worn by many in the country.
It became more difficult to get to fortune-tellers and sorcerers after the bans were introduced, but through trusted people you can arrange a meeting with the soothsayers.
Fortunetellers instead of psychotherapists
A friend brings me to the courtyard of a multi-storey building in Dushanbe and asks me not to tell anyone about the purpose of the visit.
Here I have to wait for my turn to get to Badri. He rarely visits the city, and therefore people are registered in line for him several months in advance.
Mostly women are waiting for meetings with the oracle, but there are many young men here, among them students and labor migrants. It was possible to arrange a meeting only after the promise of complete anonymity, so the names of all interlocutors were changed.
43-year-old Badri receives his clients in a specially designated room.
“A person comes and talks about his problem, and I start reading information about him. I can't say how this happens, the information appears by itself, I only voice it. I give advice, write amulets. If I don't like a person, then I ask him to leave. Often people are to blame for what happens to them, they need help to see themselves from the outside,”says Badri.
The power of a word
Badri graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies in the past, knows Persian and Arabic.
He says that the gift of clairvoyance came to him in his youth. In Soviet times, fortune-telling was forbidden, now there is also a ban, but people ask Badri to help them, and he, according to him, cannot refuse.
“A person is missing, the police cannot find him, relatives come to me, and I am trying to help them. I may not say where he is, but I will know for sure if he is alive. Often they bring to me those who refused to be treated by official medicine, and I help these people. A person must have hope."
“Quite often women turn to me asking for a love spell, but I refuse to do that right away and explain that this is already black magic, which is a sinful occupation. I am a believer. My task is to find the lost love for my husband and wife, to keep the family together, and not to separate them. Now migrants or their relatives come and ask to write them amulets so that they return safe and sound."
There are many officials among Badri's regular clients, including high-ranking, well-known civil servants.
Badri sees nothing surprising in this. "The higher the position and the more money, the stronger the competition and envy."
According to him, they come for charms and amulets that will protect them from everything that can harm them and their position.
Every day, dozens of people queue up to get an appointment with a sorcerer healer. They are very reluctant to talk about themselves and why they came to the oracle.
“I often turn to fortune-tellers. For example, if my husband goes on a spree, I come and ask to be returned home. Or if the son has problems at work, the fortune-teller will write him a small tumor (amulet), and everything will be solved,”the client Firuza shares with me.
“I graduated from the university, but I can't find a decent job. I was advised to contact a fortune teller. I can't say that I really believe in all this, but suddenly I'm lucky,”Daler admits.
Fortune-telling and healing is a good profit.
The fortune teller Mehrinisso admits that she can receive up to 10, and sometimes more, people per day.
The woman does not name a specific amount for the services rendered, each of the visitors gives as much as he sees fit to pay. According to her, she can earn up to $ 30 per appointment. It all depends on the services it provides.
“It all depends on what request you make. I ask someone to bring a black or white rooster, his blood can open the way for a person. There are rituals with snake skin, wolf's tooth helps. Sometimes I ask you to bury something in a freshly dug grave. We have a large arsenal, it all depends on the client's request and the complexity of the situation,”says the fortune-teller.
According to psychologists, fortune-tellers and healers often act as psychotherapists, so their services are popular.
In Tajikistan, Muslim priests are also popular who predict fate, write amulets and distribute amulets - for good luck and prosperity.
There are always many pilgrims at the door of these people. People come to them for advice in resolving their problems.
“The cause of physical illness in the body is to be found in spirituality. Amulets, amulets heal diseases of the spirit, and then the ailments of the body will also go away. I look into the holy books and find there answers to questions, why problems arise and how to solve them,”explains Mullah Saidbek.
“The holy book has written a lot about the stars under which people were born. Having found out the cause of the problem, you can start writing an amulet or tumor. God's word should help,”the priest continues.
For the mentally ill, he writes amulets and amulets with ayats (verses) from the Koran. "By the power of the word" brings back the spree husbands home. For girls who dream of getting married, it opens the way to marriage, and reconciles disputants. The word of religious leaders for many in Tajikistan is law.
Is the ban not a problem?
Meanwhile, according to the canons of Islam, witchcraft is considered a satanic affair and is strictly prohibited.
Fortune telling and trying to predict the future are also not welcome. Moreover, this is considered sinful both for those who are trying to find out something about their future, and for those who help in this.
And yet, in recent years, local priests, healers, fortune-tellers and sorcerers have more than enough clients. For many, they seem to be an affordable alternative to expensive medical services.
Official Dushanbe considers the fascination with fortune telling and witchcraft to be a serious problem for Tajikistan.
According to the Ministry of Health of Tajikistan, there are about 1000 people in the country who treat patients with “non-traditional methods”.
The activities of traditional healers - tabibs - are monitored by a special commission, which also issues them a state certificate and permits for activities, checking them "for professional suitability."
Applicants take exams, including those for knowledge of anatomy.
For example, herbal healers should know the potency of local medicinal herbs, when they were collected, and for what diseases they can or cannot be recommended.
Anora Sarkorova
