_New Moon Divination._--Being lately on a visit in Yorkshire, I was amused
one evening to find the servants of the house excusing themselves for being
out of the way when the bell rang, on the plea that they had been "hailing
the first new moon of the new year." This mysterious salutation was
effected, I believe, by means of a looking-glass, in which the first sight
of the moon was to be had, and the object to be gained was the important
secret as to how many years would elapse before the marriage of the
observers. If one moon was seen in the glass, one year; if two, two years;
and so on. In the case in question, the maid and the boy saw only one moon
a-piece. Whether the superstition would, in this instance, be suggestive to
their minds of anything to be deduced from the coincidence, I do not know;
but as they were both very old-fashioned folks, I suppose the custom may
not be unknown to those learned in Folk Lore.
What is the orthodox mode of conducting this kind of divination?