Fads: Back in with the Black Arts

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The spirit world is fairly crackling with activity these days, and mostly for fun. The sale of crystal balls, especially the large $25 size, has risen roundly in Los Angeles. Manhattan Importer Edward Weiss has completely sold out his stock of Viennese fortunetelling Tarot cards. Across the nation, the sale of Ouija boards has tripled in the past year, even the Harvard University Co-op sells out whenever it stocks them. Zodiac sign guessing has become part of the social chitchat, and fashion magazines, such as Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country, have yielded to the fad, started regular monthly horoscope columns.

Partially responsible for the vogue are the show biz folks, always notoriously superstitious. Their favorite is astrology, the pseudo-scientific 5,000-year-old Babylonian art of prediction by analyzing the effect of the planets. France's Jeanne Moreau, for instance, lets it be known that she has her astral reading done annually, because "as an artist and an Aquarius, I especially need reassuring." Comedian Dick Gregory carries something called Moon Sign Book and consults it regularly before making any major decision, on the theory that "all I believe in is Nature, and all of Nature is in the book." Actress Rosemary Harris says that she was overjoyed when she discovered that her co-star in the recent TV revival of Blithe Spirit would be Rachel Roberts, because the two were born under the same sign, and get along especially well together. Rudolf Nureyev wears a gold Pisces medallion around his neck. Peter Sellers has consulted a clairvoyant for the past six years, says, "It's a lot like going to a head shrinker."

No Time for Gazing. High flyers in the Continental set are also becoming addicted to the stars. A favorite society astrologer is lissome "Cappy" Badrutt, the California-born wife of the proprietor of the Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, who has done horoscopes for Rita Hayworth, Paris Vogue Editor-in-Chief François de Langlade, the Aga Khan, Mrs. Herbert von Karajan, and Baroness Thyssen. Cappy says that a growing number of businessmen are also interested in the practice, because "in these times of uncertainty, people are groping for an answer."

In Manhattan, members of the jet set, movie producers and Japanese businessmen check with Astrologist Pauline Messina before boarding their planes. But most folk who follow their horoscopes in the newspapers or magazines hardly take them seriously. As one enthusiast explains, "It's an institution for buttressing opinions and explaining mishaps. According to the magazine you buy, you can always find a comfortable explanation to soften the blow of anything from infidelity to a bumped fender. If you don't find your answer, just change magazines."