An Armchair Haruspex Predicts the Future

Envisioning the new year with 23 household objects.

Left panel of the relief “Sacrifice in front of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus”. Marble. C. 118—125 AD. Paris, Musée du Louvre

In parts of the ancient world including  Assyria, Babylon and Etruria, as well as in some of Africa,  haruspicy was the practice of divining the future by inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals, particularly sheep, poultry and cattle. The branches of haruspicy extended into different organs, the most common being the liver, but they also included the spleen, kidneys, lungs, and even the outward appearance of the animal. I have been wondering over the last few days what a Haruspex would tell us about 2023.

Being as we are in the 21st century, and being as I am in the northern suburbs of Chicago visiting my family this week, and totally incapable of animal sacrifice (my daughter complains that every time we find a spider at home I take the pains to capture it and let it go in our garden instead of expeditiously exterminating it) I thought I would try an alternative, parlor-style of haruspicy by quickly gathering 23 household items and try to make a reading of them. (My parents emigrated from Mexico City to Chicago in 1989, bringing along their entire house which included items from several generations; my mom’s home today is thus a history museum of sorts  where there is plenty material  to draw from).  I now present the images of 23 objects followed by the prediction text (for those curious about their provenance, I do provide the object descriptions at the end).

Objects 1-9

2023:

(1) You might feel that you exist within the universe of an AI program, asking yourself at times if what you are living is nothing other than the virtual background concocted by an algorithm drawing from all existing scenarios in order to create the one you are living, or rather, the one you think you are living now.

(2) You will require the interpretive knowledge of indigenous wisdom to guide you, and should accept its guidance.

(3) You should not dismiss the knowledge and wisdom that you acquired from your childhood, including the things that feel naïve and even superfluous; in them, as in the honest vision of the child, you might find clarity.

(4) Do not attempt to force your plans into the real world; plan instead to creatively adapt to what is presented to you.

(5) At times you might encounter challenges that will force you to go underground and reinvent yourself; consider that what you are fighting for should not be only for yourself but for your community, and the goal should be for the well-being of everyone, not just your own.

(6) This fighting spirit is well inside of you since your childhood, but while it only existed in pretend play, it is time to truly bring it to life next year.

 (7) It is a path in which the vehicle that you will need to use  to get there might appear uncomfortable like wearing a pair of wooden clogs; yet it is important to remember that many people use them on a regular basis; the method of usage becomes natural after a period of time: the inadequacy of the vehicle is immaterial if you are ready to grow into it.

(8) Every communication you have received, everything you have ever been told, is the source of your strength as it is the body of your knowledge; this is what makes you a richer individual. 

(9) The so-called digital/analog divide is not so; to believe so constitutes a setback in itself.

Objects 10-18

(10) So are commemorations, markings of times and periods: regardless of the cultural parameters imposed, these do not determine your present: they are just dates.

(11) Nonethess, the past is not worthless: it is a form of wealth to be stored in a safe place and spent wisely in the form of retrieval and use to get guidance from its wisdom.

(12) Ensure to preserve the products of your whimsy, as they might become the most valuable.

(13) The simpler tools are always the best to use to address the most intractable problems. 

(14) Do not ring the alarm or cause havoc unnecessarily; it will turn you into the boy who cried wolf.

(15) A year makes you older and might make you feel that your tools are rusty and antiquated; at the same time you have gained another year of expertise in your use of them.

(16) Work should not prevent you from leisure; and the vulgarity of the fight should not block you from the moment of refined enjoyment.

(17) Nor should it prevent you from the simple pleasures such as the tasting of  fresh water from a clay pot

(18) Look at the generosity of others as a precious resource that must be preserved and cherished.

Objects 19-23

(19) Always examine your prejudices, even those that pertain to those who enjoy things that you do not.

(20) You might think that you know better, but you should  consider the pleasure that simple things provide for so many that the not-so simple things that you look for do not.

(21) Consider that the basket might be more fragile than the eggs.

(22) Fiercely defend your principles, and

(23) Life may not be art, but thinking of your life as a long film that will be screened for posterity might help you act with greater determination, coherence, and an ethical compass.

Happy new year.

Object descriptions:

(1) Promotional item from the steel and iron supply company La Consolidada (Mexico, early 1950s) (2) Effigy of La India Catalina, Cartagena, Colombia, purchased in 2006 (3) Snoopy eraser, c. 1970s (4) Metallic shoehorn, promotional item from El Borceguí shoe store, downtown Mexico City, 1950s (5) Zapatista doll, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, mid-90s (5) Toy plastic soldier c. 1960s (7) Souvenir from Holland, 1970s (8) Rubber stamp by Red Fox Press, Ireland, 2004 (9) Canon Canola electronic calculator, 1979; (10) Commemorative silver ashtray, Mexico 1961; (11) El cofre del Cid, tourist souvenir, Burgos, Spain, 1936. (12) Witch character made by Elena Lizalde Chávez, plasticine, c. mid-70s (13) Plastic hair comb, Arce S.A., Mexico, early 1980s; (14) silver bell, c. 1950s (15) Scissors, souvenir from Toledo, Spain, purchased in 1991 (16) cut glass cup, c. 1950s (17) German wine stopper, c. 1970s (18) Small clay water pot, Mexico, 1980s (19) Venice pill box souvenir, c. 1995 (20) Glass paperweight, probably Taxco, Mexico, 1980s (21) Decorative glass basket, probably Murano, c. 1950s (22) metal lion figurine, probably Spanish, n.d. (23) Kodak super-8 home movie, shot in  Mexico circa 1972.

(Dedicated to my first grand-niece, Luisa Evrard Snow, born December 28th, 2022).