Officials in Myrtle Beach, the most visited tourist destination in South Carolina, are discussing the implementation of a new zoning regulation that would permit fortune-telling and divination services in the area’s amusement and entertainment districts.
On Tuesday, the council reviewed a proposal for an ordinance that would allow certain types of businesses to operate in popular areas of the city. This would give bone readers, clairvoyants, numerologists, palm readers, and other practitioners the opportunity to attract customers and compete for business.
On March 5, the city’s planning commission suggested amending Myrtle Beach’s zoning regulations to allow for the proposed use.
The ordinance states that practices such as fortune telling, tarot card reading, tea leaf reading, bone reading, numerology, mediumship, clairvoyance, and other divination services are not allowed since they are not mentioned or described in our Zoning Code.
Bone reading, also called osteomancy, is a historic method of fortune-telling that involves throwing animal bones on the ground and analyzing their arrangements and positions.
However, a law from 1962 prohibits fortune-tellers from offering their services on a town-by-town basis.
The law prohibits individuals from practicing fortunetelling in any county of the state of South Carolina without obtaining a license from the county clerk first. This license allows them to travel from place to place to conduct their business.
Before the ordinance can be put into effect, city officials must vote on it again to give it their approval.