Fireworks explode in the sky over the outskirts of Los Angeles during the 4th of July celebrations in California, 04 July 2020. Los Angeles County cities authorities have cancelled most of the Independence Day amid a recent spike in coronavirus cases. Picture: EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT
I’m one of those suckers who really loves the beginning of every new year.
First there’s the party – the eating, drinking, singing, dancing on tables, the midnight countdown and trying to get the champagne cork to pop at precisely the right moment.
It’s all followed by hugs and kisses and promises that, fortunately, fade away as the sun awakens the hangover.
It’s an annual ritual which ensures every year gets the welcoming it deserves and should only be skipped with a global pandemic.
The next highlight is reading what clairvoyants predict for the next 365 days. In decades past, it used to be one of the big annual reads, usually published in the first newspapers of the year.
As a journalist, I often interviewed tarot readers, astrologists and psychics about what the future holds.
This practice of reporting on future events has somehow slipped down the ladder and is nowadays mostly reserved for social media.
Internationally, Baba Vanga was one of the top-rated clairvoyants, allegedly predicting the 9/11 attacks, the death of Princess Di, and the Brexit crisis.
This blind soothsayer, known as “Nostradamus of the Balkans”, claimed she lost her sight at the age of 12 and at the same time was bestowed the gift of vision into the future.
Although she died in 1996, aged 85, she did make a series of predictions for the year 2021 and beyond, saying this will be the year a cure for cancer is found.
Other rather strange predictions for the years and decades ahead include that petrol production will stop and the earth will rest; a strong dragon will seize humanity; and the consciousness of people will change.
Baba Vanga is – unsurprisingly – a cult figure among conspiracy theorists but considering that she predicted US President Donald Trump would suffer from a brain tumour in 2020 and that time travel will be invented between the years 2262 and 2304, perhaps a pinch of salt should accompany her visions.
My vision for 2021: I see the pinch of salt and reckon it should be accompanied by a slice of lemon and a tequila. To 2021!
Danie Toerien.
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