scenes from the dreams of a fortune teller

I am a scavenger, a collector of cultural residue, a cipher of fragments. Even as a little kid my pockets would always bulge and rattle with artifacts collected along my daily excavations and expeditions through the south side of Chicago neighborhoods. Each thing that I found I believed to be an important clue to understanding a deep and expansive mystery. If I could put them all together in the right order, I believed, meaning and understanding would be revealed to me. I continue to look for the answers that will surface when I find the right clue and put it in the right place.

The “Scenes from the Dreams of a Fortune Teller” series is a current manifestation of my daily search for meaning and understanding. There are currently 650 prints in this continuing series that began in 2002. The prints are one of a kind Polaroid Transfers that were printed to 9”x11” on Crane’s Platinotype paper, from slides made in my studio of accumulated clues and artifacts collected while combing the shores of local second hand stores, rummage sales, and alleys. After the prints are made I read what I can from them, and write a story for each in the form of a fortune.

You become very lonely at the end of a life changing relationship - on a business trip you meet an attractive and talkative dark-haired person who pulls you into a financial deal that fails - soon afterward an older blond-haired person who is kind and generous will lend you a book that inspires an externally positive outgoing energy in you - leading to a life of love and truth

Under the spell of flirtation and temptation a flame of passion will pull you away from the big picture - physical fulfillment will try to replace a need for emotional fulfillment - you will dream of revealing your soul to the three graces in a moonlit garden near a fountain - floating before them you will feel that you are overcome by forces of change and metamorphosis - this dream will have a catalytic effect on the reality of your life - your ability to communicate will acquire a magical power - your heart will grow in the direction of a person who is a twin - though issues of jealousy have the potential of confining you to a small corner - love and passion will allow you to see beyond these limitations

After a brief trip south you are left with a conflict between reason and emotion – you will seek the insight and wisdom of an old friend or family member who believes that the world is filled with ambition and the quest for power – you will come away even more confused and will live in a state of silence and blindness – an exotic woman in a red scarf will appear in your life offering her help – it will take a great effort to climb with her over a wall of obstacles to a place of positive spiritual growth

Peace in your family is being held hostage by financial hardships – you briefly run away to escape from the complexities of the situation but you return because of a sense of duty – you will decide to begin a new enterprize or vocation that will have a positive effect on you personal life as well as the culture that you have grown from

Though you have many sources of inherited good fortune you have decided to find your own career and means of support – your romantic connection to a mysterious and magical lover will lead you to a disagreement with an elderly man of great strength who will cause you financial hardships – but through reconcilliation your life will turn for the better – a hidden opportunity lies behind the vision of a redish blond woman whose temperance becomes an inspiration in your life

There is an emblem of protection over your life that will hold good luck and fortune for you – uncontrolled passions in relation to three who hold your heart will threaten to consume your attention - your courage and strength will keep you focused on being true to your own values – an inner compass points to a person walking through the gates of a city – love looks away to a distant dream behind them – you have a redezvous with your destiny near the twenty fourth of august

Your involvement and focus on current opportunities presenting themselves in your life have blinded you to one that presents the most valuable opportunity for spiritual growth – two children aged nine and seven sit near this potential experience – the youngest will be obsessed with traveling the world and will be a catalyst to your own spiritual journeys

A hard working young man who crosses your path many times during the day will introduce you to a profitable opportunity that will involve overseas travel – surrounded by younger people will cause you to feel vulnerable and you will want to withdrawal but your kindness and honesty will endear you to many – there will be one person out of your view who waits for strength and courage enough to reveal a truth of love and affection – it is advisable to climb above the level you are to meet this person rather than have them climb down where an element of deception lies hidden

Your heart is held captive by a woman with child in her arms – your world has been turned upside down as your wish to be close is blocked by a charming admirer who is trying to pull her in a new direction – a mature friend of yours advises you to stand back and look at a larger picture and the responsibilities that would be connected – a visitor will arrive by plane and will explain to you the importance of balance in your life – what has prevented you from getting in has also prevented her from getting out

It will be essential that you listen carefully to your inner feelings and intuition in your life’s next challenge – it will be very important that you communicate effectively in this unfolding situation concerning the character of one person from a large and powerful family – though a disappointment to this person’s father good luck and emotional satisfaction surround this person’s life – you will grow to love this person but your future holds nothing of this person’s attention – their family will adopt you as one of their own and material and emotional security will follow you into a very old age

Your path and that of a close friend or lover will lead in different directions and will pull your relationship apart – with wisdom and self awareness you are prepared to move on – as the darkest hour comes just before the dawn a new light of passion will light the way of your involvement in an emotional rescue – the spirit of a female relative who wore a large brimmed brown hat will try to speak to you from a moonlit garden – she will mention that a blue suit is a clue to the resolution of differences between three women who have been in a long disagreement – an old man in a vest looks on from the distant shadows at an accumulation of abundance and accomplishment enclosed in your soul and tells you in a dream that they are all guarded by the demons of need and desire

Messengers of death and change look from different directions into you life - the ghosts of Priapus and Aesculapius will intervene to subdue the impending physical crisis - through this ordeal you will find that there is a magic energy in chaos and you will be extremely strengthened by it - your biggest battle will come from your feelings that physical pleasure and spiritual ascension are opposites

Something at the beginning of your life stands guard before the entrance to your future and destiny - in the greater key of Solomon an intersection will be your passage - the release of passion will hold a creative energy before the bondage of material wealth - and a sense of liberty and freedom will lead to an alter of spiritual initiation - you will grow above the need for rivalries and hollow victories and you will be held in the arms of love and affection

After many years you will be reunited with a friend from your past - a sexual relationship will make you both feel that major dreams have been fulfilled and that happiness awaits in your future - the maternal father will visit in the spring and will present himself as the representative of life and hope in the future - a baby boy smiles from the future named after four of his ancestors.

you will attempt to deal with your jealous heart by taking a trip to a large city - you will receive a letter from an associate just before you leave with news of a potential promotion for you at work when you return - you will meet an elderly woman on your trip who will seem odd - but magic and sorcery stand behind her and her words must be respected - the words of a street preacher will echo in your mind and reflect a new perspective on the direction of your life - you will meet a brown haired person who loves to read and talk and has great potential in business but lacks self confidence - you will become close friends and eventually form a successful business together - later you will discover that you both had a similar chance meeting with the same elderly woman in the same large city

Two physical ailments will inspire in you a spinning argument involving reason and emotion - a close brush with death will begin in you a release of spirit from the limits of the body - on the eleventh of march a passionate fire in you will ascend into a state of peacefulness and through your association with a woman who is close to water you will reach a higher level of enlightenment and spiritual growth

Great change will come into your life with the friendship of an elderly woman who is the head of a large family - she will cause you to ascend to a higher level of understanding and awareness - the return to her family of a wounded soldier will bring you into play within a family argument - quarrels will be really about issues other than what is quarreled about and you will feel a great need to defend you position and judgement - the man of the family will look favorably upon your confident verbal exchanges and will smile at your growing romantic relationship with one of his children and at the joy and happiness that you will find in your own family

The memory of a generous gift given to you in a time of need from a dark man of the country who had a just and honest spirit and a noble reputation will distract you away from the temptation of deception and dishonesty - before a rainbow three women will call on you with a message that will shed light on a matter of forgiveness - your good luck will grow with the dawning of the spring - before summer a proposition or invitation will open up many opportunities in both romance and the creative arts.

Your base desires and instincts will lead you to a life changing relationship in the spring days of Rosalia - cooperation and planning will enable you to grow into a stable and nurturing future - beware of letting ambition grow too important in your work - confusion and chaos will snap at the base of your focus on power and control - there is a dark chapter in your lover's past that is guarded by an elderly man - he is troubled by what he knows and has his hand on his heart - a woman who watches you from the shadows also has knowledge of something that will enrich your life and marriage

You will meet a woman who will inspire you to follow a new direction that has potential to expand your spiritual horizon - a large city will open your heart to new friendships and a receptive social network that you will provide an essential balance to - your involvement with a theatrical community will help you to develop an understanding of compassion and forcefulness and you will discover that the selfishness you occasionally notice in yourself is being propped up by the memories of two caring women who thought only of your mind and not of your heart - a great temptation will come to you just before a major achievement - your strength and courage enters from the right.

Disillusionment looks from the shadows upon a message that will soon be delivered by a truthful and dependable source - your addictive relationship to gambling and taking a chance pulls you into the path of darkness - an illness will set the stage for getting your priorities sorted out - this will result in a change of your direction and will require you to take a significant and meaningful journey by air to a place of peace and harmony

You are at the dawn of a new cycle in your life - after a period of accomplishment and success your respect for tradition and conventional methods in business will grow - you will be drawn to a path leading toward a happy and comforting family life - issues of morality will be catalytic to your growth as a mature adult - an emotional turbulence surrounds a ghost from the past who emerges into your life in a dark suit and waits under the memory of a winless argument to fulfill a past promise - your focus on issues that better your family will keep you on a path of peace and good fortune

An immigrant family from the far east who you are familiar with will soon bring to your attention news that they have received from an elderly female ancestor of yours who has recently passed away - she is in the process of moving on to a new life and will soon be back within the family for an extended period of time - your family is close and deeply enmeshed in each others lives and each relation has a tight orbit within the confinements of cultural traditions - the new addition of this old spirit will direct attention to the future while whispers of gossip will not be heard for the length of three generations

Denial and rejection will leave you emotionally wounded and bound in isolation - a series of four visions will lead to a meeting with an enlightened person whose life is connected to wood - under the autumn stars of Pegasus your spirit will be drawn back together and will inspire an upward flight of wider perspective and heightened understanding

A message of love will come to you where you live and will cause a rejuvenation of your spirit and great change in your life - the person involved will come from an abundant family and will possess an awareness of spiritual and physical balance - temptations from this person come more from the heart and the night rather than from secret messages passed in the light of day - faithfulness in love will grow into your best dream of happiness and emotionally rich family life

You are at a point of significant change and transition - a new awareness is beginning to emerge in your life - an erotic adventure will be catalytic in your development of awareness but courage and strength of character will bring love to your heart - dishonesty and deception will not be distracting if your course remains true - an offer of travel to a Latin American country will involve the passions and consuming personalities of three people who hold your affection - they will seem to be in control but are unable to act until you give them a symbol of hope and a vision for balance

You will soon meet someone new in a place that you both had never been - though somewhat annoying this new acquaintance will be a powerful protection for you against unwanted and harmful associations and will overhear a secret revealed in gossip that you are the song of love to a secret admirer - a new scene of adventure waits in your future as passion climbs a red ladder - death will smile at the growth of ambition.

What will begin as attraction will grow to romance and love - at a time when you feel obsessed and materially possessive a close friend will implore you to be more temperate and thoughtful - ancestral saints will come forward in dreams to reconnect your head to your heart - a marriage will take place below the sign of the lion - a woman points a finger at you and says "look within" - your bond may be endangered by someone who likes to depart but not arrive - the memory of words spoken by a Native American will give you the patience for your destiny to be illuminated and understood

A woman of power is holding you back in relation to a current project - you have issues about authority figures that will need to be addressed before you will be able to achieve even the lowest level of success - keeping in mind that positive growth is at the heart of any issue - nurturing upward development will illuminate your mutual desires and cooperation will be the first loop of a long lasting bond - ignore gossip that has taken your words out of context - intellectual reason will calm the potential emotional turbulence - you will be offered three new opportunities within the coming year - each will provide you with important and significant knowledge and understanding

Changes in regards to romance and relationships will soon take place in your life due to events at an upcoming wedding or celebration - you will be blind to what plays into your future by self imposed barriers of past embarrassments - a wise spiritual man will convince you that a person is more than their past history - a trip to an English speaking country will herald in a new cycle of your life where many of your dreams will be realized.

Childlike exuberance seems currently to be locked deeply within yourself - subconsciously you know that a part of your heart remains young and playful but the weight of time and memories covers it under many layers - you are surrounded by people who love you and they will provide insights to the picture that your mind holds of the past and of your parents - a truth concerning your mother will enable you to understand the complexities of emotional awareness and you will then be able to accept the child of your soul

In a cycle of rejuvenation and emotional replenishment your heart will be warmed under the affections of four people - gossip will weave a web that you might easily get caught in unless advice is taken from a celibate woman of deep religious convictions - she will be able to point out the illusions that cover your view of love - in the night an ancestral spirit will ride into your dreams with an image of someone who will move your mind above its physical roots - you will meet this person for the first time as she carries a gift basket of food to someone who is in need of it

A new friendship will be a catalytic element to a great transformation within your life - passion will ascend beyond what you have ever known before - as your friends and family try to hold you to what is best for them your resolve to move with your heart will grow stronger - hidden from your view is a man who waits for his share of a generous gift that will be given to you - three men with weapons guard his house where a birth and a wedding wait for death to arrive first.

Nature will push up to the boundaries of human greed and gluttony - though more subtle than the human agenda - defensive forces will be in play to return balance to nature and its cycles - politicians and false leaders of political religions will be rewarded for their effort to enrich the wealthy - in nine years the strength of the seasons will intensify and force the world back into balance and harmony and humanity will need to move along or struggle in their journey away from the center.

You are pulled by your heart on a journey to find the love of your life - to do this you decide to take all of your acquired abilities to a distant shore and leave them to be looked after by an ancient ancestor who has long resided in a spiritual place of your subconscious - divested of these burdens you feel that now you will be able to let wisdom and pure understanding find room to take their place - as you grow along this journey you will meet a woman who owns a white dog - she will appreciate and understand the courage of you quest and will become your closest friend - together you will find the ultimate balance between the physical and spiritual.

A dark haired woman at a party will tempt you into a closer relationship that will be part of a bait and switch scam - she works for a ruthless professional woman who has profited by preying on the meek - you will think that this opportunity is the light at the end of the tunnel - a talkative young man who is a long time friend of yours will visit you and will rescue you from making a large mistake - your physical attraction to a person of the opposite sex will result in your ultimate financial success

You hold the cards of a happy and fruitful family life - the tenth - fourth - and second day of the same month will have some positive significance - a new business venture will have conditions leading you to a clever - rather remote - but informative teacher - this teacher will be surrounded by two people of fire and catalytic energy that you will have to interact with to be with this person - something very important will be revealed during your meetings - Caution: a very dogmatic man in conservative dress will attempt a bait and switch scheme to pull you into an unfortunate place

After generously extending yourself to many people in your place of work - you will be betrayed by an elderly woman who you always regarded as honest and reliable - though it will seem like the end of your career - a Solomon-like wisdom will turn back the gossip and false stories - a beautiful young red haired woman looks on with interest in love or friendship

A dark and mysterious person from a distant place will unexpectedly bring you a message concerning an old friend who now lives in a large city - once successful this friend now faces a dramatic upheaval and new unexpected challenges - you are hesitant to get involved and feel a lack of confidence in your abilities to restore balance in another's life - doubt and hesitation concerning a marriage is at the center of your friend's issue - fate holds a card of good fortune and long life above an abundance of escaping passions and illuminations - you will be catalystic in directing your friend's course to balance because of your honesty and positive and optimistic focus

A failed leader of shallow character will haunt the foundation of a new administration wrapped in nostalgia and fond memories of past potential - playfulness will be lost on the road to maturity - you will be in an erotic affair through a social transition and will feel the need to spin the arrow of your life in a new direction but will feel trapped and restricted by a feeling of dishonesty and guilt - four years will pass before an angel will lead you to the place that you should be

You will be pushed by your conscience to apologize for your part in the escalation of an erotic affair - the redemption of your heart will become the focus of your attention and in the end you apology will be directed within - an emotionally sensitive and spiritual person will reveal a loving heart from the shadows and quiet corners of your vision - an obstacle of jealousy has the potential to block your path to each other - a great change and new adventure will present itself to you just beyond the days of the dead

You will be visited by the spirit of a dead ancestor behind the music of a mandolin - under the statue of liberty she is looking into the future and sees a woman from the "old country" whose life is connected to farming and animals holding something important that connects you to the rest of your ancestral family - on a boat you travel through choppy waters to a calm and safe harbor - a messenger will lead you to a place of enlightenment and personal understanding

You will be visited by five spirits whose purpose will be to rescue your sense of hope that has been lost in emotional confusion and disappointment - tranformation and change will come out of necessity and will be forced onto you by outside forces - creative power and forward movement will blossom in the springtime - a wise and generous man whose life is connected to water will present you with two options that intersect into very different directions - your good memory will help you make a good decision.

Problems of the heart will take you into central america where your focus will be solely on physical and material matters - you will come to the realization that your life needs a clear and honest view of your potential and strengths - a dark and direct man of high standards and fair judgement will show you significant truths of your assets and liabilities - a young person dressed in purple waits for your love along the shore of a pond in a large city - your life will need to be flipped upside down for you to find the balance that you need.

You will awake from a very strong and realistic dream with the memory of it more as an emotional sensation than a specific story - the atmosphere is wrapped in the silver darkness of night in a garden under a full moon - love seems to offer immortality while the spirit of death seems to be the guest of honor - your heart will be warmed under the love of three people and in choosing the most erotic and sensual of them - a spiritual growth will be nurtured and developed in you.

Your letter to a young woman will generate much affection towards you - three opportunities will present themselves before you that may lead to an ascent of passion and an eventual accumulation of worldly success - an elderly man of charismatic character and power in business will offer you an opportunity to play a major role in his organization based on your abilities with communication - a young flirtatious associate will be in your corner on international issues.

In the midst of a passionate outcry for what is right and true you will gain the attention of a young and innocent person who will forever be a committed friend and supporter - your generous nature will worry your friends but your strength and confidence will be focused on what is fair and good - what is below the skin and surface of human life will become more visible to you than what most others will notice and you will focus your attention more on the roots than the branches of world affairs - a painful truth will be revealed to you while walking through a park in a large city - at the end of an uphill struggle you will receive a message of commendation and you will enjoy the satisfaction of achievement as you enter the final stage of life.

Anger and passion will attempt to destract you away from a rendezvous with a person destined to lead you to a place of inspiration and creative enerrgy - in your thoughts is an image of a woman who is held in a state of suspended annimation - she is troubled by a temptation that is out of her reach - your indecisiveness has diminished growth and resolve in an important relationship - in a dream your grandfather will appear to you dressed in an old military uniform - doubt and hesitation are holding your heart in a purgatorial prison - he offers you a sword of honesty and says that only you can use it to free your heart to the destiny before it.