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A fortune teller gave Elizabeth Vargas some startling predictions based on what she saw in the leftover coffee grounds in Vargas' cup. (Getty Images)
Years ago, I was in the Middle East shooting for an hour-long special I was doing on the Resurrection. It was one of several hours that Peter Jennings and I both did on religion, and I was in Jerusalem to interview several Jewish scholars who had devoted their entire lives to studying an event they didn’t believe happened (for the record, one such scholar told me “something happened” in the days and weeks after Jesus was executed, he just wasn’t sure what).
One night, my producer Jeanmarie Condon and her good friend Nadia convinced my assistant producer Jenna Millman and me to drive to an hour away to see a Palestinian fortune teller. We were wrapping up a long week of shooting and could all use a break, so we jumped in the car and went.
When we arrived, I had doubts: We walked into a tiny room, with green walls, fluorescent lights, and a fly strip hanging from the ceiling. The fortune teller spoke no English, and basically ignored us. We were each given a tiny cup of Arabic coffee and ordered to drink it. I drank mine too fast, apparently, and was told to drink a second cup more slowly.
I was sitting between Jenna and Jean, already dreading a long, caffeine-infused night ahead, when the fortune teller walked over, pointed at me, and then turned and went into a small room. I followed with Nadia who was there to translate, and the woman asked for my cup with the soggy grounds of coffee left inside. She stared into the cup, and without asking me a single question, began to talk.
She told me I would get pregnant again, and that I must see a doctor right away. Since I was 43, and already had one child, and wasn’t planning on another–I thought she was crazy. Then she told me my husband would survive a frightening attack or life-threatening event. That kind of rattled me, but I took comfort because she said he would be OK.
Then she said something at my job was going to change in a big way, and that the person making that decision would be named David. At that point, I nearly fell out of my chair, because I had two bosses, my executive producer and the president of the news division, both named David.
Now, this woman didn’t know me from Adam. She had never seen me on television, she spoke no English, and when she was finished reading my now cold coffee grounds, she simply got up and left, making it clear she was done for the night, and my two waiting friends were out of luck. No amount of pleading could persuade her to read Jenna’s coffee cup, so we all piled in the car and drove back to Jerusalem. Nadia and I repeated everything the fortune teller had said. I was laughing — there was no way any of this could come true!
Months later, my boss named me co-anchor of “World News” after Peter Jennings’ tragic death from cancer. My boss was named David Westin. Around that same time, my husband was shot in the head after appearing in concert in Denver during an attempted carjacking. He recovered so fully he doesn’t even have a scar today from the bullet wound. And four months after that, while I was covering the first democratic elections in Iraq, I found out I was pregnant. No one could believe it–as one of my friends said, “no one gets pregnant naturally at your age”. (Thanks a lot!) My second son was born, strapping and healthy, three weeks before my 44th birthday.
Coincidence? Perhaps… But it sure makes one heck of a story.
Learn more about premonitions on “20/20: The Sixth Sense” Friday at 10 p.m. ET.
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Funny how people rage against “faith” but have nothing to say about fortune telling.
Posted by: mountainlover | October 26, 2012, 8:54 pm 8:54 pm
No surprises here except for you; because you must never have given these gifts a thought ever…to be so surprised…you went and interviewed people who researched the bible…what do you think the bible consists of? Ever hear of prophecy? Seems to me, PEOPLE educated people, need to get back to the basics of the spirit and the soul….and then they wouldn’t be sooooo surprised! Psychic is of the soul….always has been; always will be.
Posted by: No Surprises | October 26, 2012, 8:55 pm 8:55 pm
I must have been around 17 years old when a very old Chinese man came into a travel agency where I was working, saw me & wanted to read my fortune for free. He took my right palm, examined it very carefully then made some predictions, some extremely upsetting. He said I will marry 2 times, both unhappily & will have 3 children.
49 years later, all his predictions have come true.
Posted by: M.C. Lopez | October 28, 2012, 12:14 am 12:14 am
I have had premonitions about five deaths –JFK, my father, a classmate of my husbands, my mother-in-law, and my oldest daughter.
(1) I “knew” my father was dead before my mother told me.
(2) JKF – a dream about two weeks before he death — all grey white clouds, his head laying back, with red all around his head. My mother remembered all the details and told my daughters the story.
(3) I attended a party given by a classmate of my husband. I commented on the way home I felt like it was a “going away” party — the young man committed suicide that night.
(4) After an August visit by my in-laws I told my husband, I said we would never see them together again. She died in a car crash two months later.
(5) My oldest daughter (32) and I had several deep conversations in the spring of 2009 — she was planning to come to California for Thanksgiving. I told her I had one of my “feelings” and we would not be together for the holidays. I usually meet with her during the summer around her birthday (June 18), but was not allowed to vacation because of a project; I was planning to go as soon as I could. Kathy told me sadly/wistfully — “I will die before you, Mama”. She died on June 16, 2009.
Posted by: Jo Ann Esly | October 29, 2012, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
Just watched Vargas’ interview with Richmond. I could not believe how she was feeding him lines–spoon feeding him literate defense sound bites, rather than seeing what he had to say and letting him explain. She was very, very pro-active and “helpful”. I googled her and found her a “respected journalist” of many years??????????
Watch the vid if you don’t believe me. She should be ashamed. Please pass this to her. Thank you.
Posted by: L. Buckwalter | March 17, 2013, 5:38 pm 5:38 pm