Telling Fortunes By Tea Leaves | Page 6

letter from a girl who has gone on a visit to
British Columbia, asking me if I would "do the cards" for her, as she
could not find anyone in her vicinity who was particularly good at

divination. She went on to say that "there is a perfect rage for
fortune-telling out here, and everyone is keen on it." Another instance
of this universal popularity was given to me by a friend who had
recently been to America. She was amazed at the numbers of women
whom she saw absorbed in the reading of their tea-cups each day of the
voyage.
The male sex holds aloof and leaves us to "perform these follies." Some
ascribe it to man's superiority. Or as briefly summed up by a delightful
member of their sex, who when declaiming against the possibility of
the future being made visible, said, "With all apologies to you, I must
say I am not so profoundly stupid as to believe in these things; it cannot
be anything more than rot."
It is remarkable how such protests die away when clairvoyant evidence,
either by cards, tea-leaves, or other means, has accurately predicted
some event of the distant future that at the time appeared absurd and
impossible of happening.
Woman may lawfully claim superiority with regard to her intuitive
faculty, and thus she is well equipped for exercising her divinatory
powers.
Who need be dull or bored when the language of symbolism remains to
be learned? Perhaps I should say, studied; for completely learned it can
never be, seeing that fresh events are constantly occurring in the world,
and new symbols appear representing each.
There are few things more fascinating than personal discovery, and
those who become students of divination by tea-leaves, or cards, may
safely be promised a taste of this pleasing sensation of achievement. It
is limited to the few to discover the marvels of radium, or the
discomforts of the South Pole, but a fragment of their glory is shared by
those who find new evidence of the far-reaching knowledge of
symbolism.

CHAPTER V
SOME HINTS FOR DIVINERS
REMARKABLE INSTANCES OF PROPHECY BY THE
TEA-LEAVES
"For a man's mind is sometimes wont to tell him more than seven
watchmen that sit above in a high tower."
To those of an inquiring or doubting turn of mind, there may arise the
very natural question as to why one shaped tea-leaf should mean "a hat"
and another "a table." It is useless to point out that these objects are
perfectly represented by the leaves. That is of no practical satisfaction.
The simple fact that each language has its alphabet, its spelling, and its
words, which must be learned before there can be any reasonable
understanding of it, seems the best and obvious reply.
Symbolism is a wide subject with many branches. Who can expect to
master even its alphabet in a moment? To those who cannot accept the
symbols in the tea-leaves on the authority of past experience, reaching
over several centuries, I would recommend a careful study of their cups
for, say, three months. Let them make notes of such signs as appear and
beside them place their meanings and predictions.
At the end of this time, compare all that has taken place with these
notes, and I think there will be no further lack of faith in the tea-leaf
symbols.
Before very many years have passed the language of symbolism by
cards, tea-leaves, crystal gazing, etc., will probably be almost
universally understood. The day will undoubtedly come when it will be
accepted as naturally as the English language, and we shall cease to
worry ourselves as to the why and wherefore of it all.
It is important that those who are learning the art of divination by

tea-leaves should realise the necessity for consistently attributing the
same meanings to the symbols. Do not be tempted to change their
interpretation for what may seem a more probable, or pleasant,
prediction for your client. It is a fatal mistake.
Remember that you are dealing with conditions and events of the future
which are outside the limited knowledge of the normal mind, whose
power of vision is limited to physical sight.
A simple instance of what may occur, should you thus change the
meanings of the symbols, will suffice to show the folly of such a
practice.
A consultant comes to have her "fortune read." She is known to you
personally, and you are aware that she is anxious to hear a hopeful
report of someone dear to her who is ill. The tea-leaf symbols are
obstinately unfavourable, and display ominous signs of forthcoming
sorrow. If you gloss over this fact completely, and predict a rapid
recovery from the illness, what becomes of your client's faith in the
power of foretelling the future? Certain