Johnson v McIntosh (Cherokee Indians in Georgia who occupied land that became subject to a major gold rush were taken from them and distributed to adjacent counties.Fifteen years ago I invented a quasi-mystical fortune-telling procedure called Mohare’ (Missouri -MO Hand-HA Reading-RE) As I tell it, a band of eastern European gypsies migrated to the Ozarks in 1842 and brought with them a timeless system for analyzing the capacity for an individual to harness universal energy. It proceeds from the profile of a person’s left hand drawn on a paper tablecloth with their index finger pointing to magnetic north. From the outline, I proceed to draw the centerlines of each finger, tangent lines to each interstice between fingers and various radiating -generating lines as if I were analyzing the floor plan of a work of architecture. Colored pens are optional but very effective. Once the lines are drawn, I begin to see features: “Ah! A Johnson’s Junction - this fortells a deep capacity for sympathy with your fellow man” Oh look! Connie‘s Confluence! - You possess a remarkable intuition regarding things artistic. Holy Kee-rist - I’m seeing a Filbert’s Funicular - I’ve read about these for many years, they are famous in the literature (what fucking literature) but only two have ever been manifest in a hundred years and you have one! My point - A person can assert ANYTHING and if it is delivered with enthusiasm and conviction it can be maintained for at least the tail end of a candlelight dinner. This, according to Aaron Burr, is the nature of the law. Knowing this, perhaps it is time to examine our assertions. Mohare’ can be elaborated into a system with ten thousand measurements of the hand and ten million interpretations and as long as people buy into the system it has heft, it has meaning. My god - I have an Arc of Ambrose! It says here in the Mohare’ Bible (1,500 pages of diagrams and definitions) that I can sense infinite passion in others during the full moon. Why not? If my imaginary system allows real people to feel positive energy for even a moment then it is a real thing - it has temporal heft - it has changed one person’s outlook, made them happier even if only for a minute.
In Johnson v McIntosh (1823) the U.S. Supreme court asserted that native Americans had no right to convey property. The land they were occupying was up for grabs by the state of Georgia when it became valuable enough to steal. A very bald and bold assertion that was backed up with regal and colonial precedent. Wow! Look at these two lines crossing in the middle of your palm, Inga’s Intersection, this indicates that you will soon possess a great cosmic energy resulting in spiritual bounty and financial prosperity. If you say so. If you just say it isn’t so, the whole system evaporates. Our legal statutes have as much fundamental cosmic veracity as Missouri Hand Reading. It is time to re-define the meaning of many lines and arcs.