December issue 2002

If you’re a new-age spiritualist, fascinated by the occult sciences of intuition and astrology, and their effects on human nature, Mariam Aftab is the person to meet.

What started as an unusual hobby, done “just for kicks,” transformed itself, perhaps by the force of fate itself, into a lucrative full-time career. Not content simply to predict the future, Mariam decided to complement her knowledge of the occult with expertise in human psychology. “The unconscious mind is very powerful,” she states. “Each of my readings is based on what can be achieved through sheer will.” Now 15 years worth of insight into various states of mind later, Mariam has chosen to publish her experiences in her book, Journey of Insights.

Before you write it off as another one of those “quack” books, it is interesting to note that Aftab’s journey has been published in association with the Mental Health and Social Development Foundation and the Hashoo Foundation. The book is an effort to understand the misery and helplessness of human experience and holds out a helping hand of hope to those in need. Stories range from a medical student driven to suicide, to those of emotionally dependent women wallowing in their victimised condition. All cases have been quoted from Mariam’s own experience, and complementing the case studies are Marium’s accompanying insights into self-awareness.

Trained in the science of Tarot cards, hypnosis and psychotherapy, Marium says her gift of insight has often proved spooky, even for her. “The more involved I get in cases,” she says, “the more I notice how many of my predictions actually come true.”