Brendan meets the Nadi readers of Vaithiswaren Koil, has his fortune read by Gypsies with magic sticks and his palm read by an accountant. Inland, he meets Tamil Nadu's most famous Channelors who take him to another level of reality. He ends his first week having his fortune told by a Divine Parrot. In Varadaipalem, he meets up with followers of Bhagavan and Amma, two living Avatars, who have an interesting take on the 2012 doom and gloom end of the world prophecy. In Calcutta, the heart of India's Gem Astrology, Brendan talks with ordinary people about their beliefs in gem stones bringing health, wealth and happiness.
In Bangkok, fortune tellers are in abundance and can be found on street corners, in market squares with private booths, temples and even the lounges of five-star hotels. Meeting several of the best Bangkok has to offer Brendan experiences numerology, tarot card reading, astrology, palm and face reading and the little known practice of genitalia reading. Two predictions come true within 24 hours.
Brendan takes a river boat to an ancient cave housing damaged Buddha statues to offer candles he received from the astrologist he met in Burma. Inside the cave, he finds Sensai Sticks, which tell him a shocking fact - he has no future! Arriving in Luang Prabang, Brendan wants to follow the advice given by the Channelor he met in Northern Thailand: Freeing caged birds, feeding the poor and meditating in temples. Just over the border, Brendan finds a remarkable Sculpture Park where the Buddhist Cycle of Life is shaped out of concrete. Next, he reaches Cambodia and heads to Siem Reap, the home of Ankor Wat, and a clairvoyant monk who lives among the ruins. Before going in search of him, he arranges a reading and cleansing ceremony with another monk who claims special powers.
Brendan travels to the ancient ruins of Ankhor Wat built during the Golden Age of the Kymer in the 1200's. He finds an old monk living in a large wooden house who offers him a robust reading. On reaching the city of Phnom Penh, Brendan meets up with a businessman to discuss the impact of fortune telling on different social classes. This is followed by a genitalia reading at the local college. He then meets up with a female card reader in her lock up garage and nearly passes out out during the session. Brendan gets an interview with the Royal Astrologist who produces a yearly almanac. Before meeting the "hermaphrodite" monk, Brendan meets two other readers based in the city center. His final reading is in a wealthy monastery run by an influential monk who trades blessings and readings with the rich and famous of Cambodian high society.
A Fortune Teller Told Me follows Brendan McDonnell as he travels through Asia examining and experiencing the serious (and not so serious) ways of reading the past, present and future. How influential are fortune tellers today? What skills do they possess? Who seeks them out? What impact do they have on their clients and why do people still have a deep need to consult them?