FORTUNE-TELLERS AND CHIROMANCY.
Of the numerous family of impostors, composed of mountebanks, gypsies,
chiromancers, fortune-tellers, and sorcerers; the gypsies date from the
fifteenth century, and were first seen in Bohemia, in strange garbs, with
swarthy faces, and pretending to great proficiency in the art of
soothsaying.
They made their appearance in Paris, 1442; proclaiming themselves to be
pilgrims wandering in expiation of their sin. Among them, were a Duke, a
Count, and ten Cavaliers. The remainder, one hundred and twenty in number
were on foot. These strangers were lodged at the Holy Chapel, to which the
Parisians flocked to obtain a view of them. They had sallow complexions
and black frizzly hair, and spoke an unknown tongue. The females who
accompanied them, devoted themselves to fortune-telling.
The Bishop of Paris eventually excommunicated them, and had them expelled
the city; a persecution which served to create an interest in their
favour; and returning to Paris, they multiplied both in that city and in
other parts of France to such a degree that, in 1560, the States of
Orleans found it necessary to rid the kingdom of them; and subject them to
the pain of the gallies if they dare return. Treated with merciless
severity, they gradually disappeared; taking refuge in Germany, Hungary,
England, and the banks of the Danube; where they have remained ever since.
Gypsies are known by different names, according to the countries they
inhabit; and constitute a wandering tribe in all the civilized states of
Europe, still retaining their pristine habits and customs.
Public curiosity has long been directed towards the origin of the gypsies.
Theologians first traced them to Cain on the following grounds: when by
the murder of his brother, the elder born of Adam had brought upon himself
the supreme malediction, a mark was set upon him to secure his
recognition, at that time mankind were white. The Almighty is supposed to
have changed the complexion of Cain, that all men might know him. The
gypsies, therefore, who exhibit such remarkable complexions, and lead such
vagabond lives, had every appearance of being a proscribed race; and the
progeny of the first murderer. Other theologians make the gypsies descend
from Shem, the son of Noah, or Cham, the inventor of magic; for the
gypsies pretend to be magicians, and to descend from Cham. Father Delrio
asserts their sorcery to be so effective, that if you give them a piece of
money, the others in your purse invariably take flight to join their
fellow.
The gypsies, uncertain of their origin, suppose themselves to have been
expelled from Egypt, and condemned to wander the world for having refused
hospitality to Joseph and the Holy Virgin, when they took refuge on the
banks of the Nile. But even in Egypt, the gypsies are declared to be of
foreign origin; so that the problem has still to be decided.
These people ground their predictions upon an inspection of the palm of
the hand. Juvenal distinctly alludes to female drawers of horoscopes.
"Such a woman," said he, "exhibits her hand and forehead to the diviner."
The chiromantic principle has much analogy with those of judiciary
astrology; and Aristotle cites chiromancy as a positive science.
Chiromancers divide the hand into several regions, each presided by a
planet. The thumb belongs to Venus, the index to Jupiter, the middle
finger to Saturn, the annulary to the Sun, the auricular to Mercury, the
centre of the hand to Mars, the remainder to the Moon. The direction of
the line of life is still undecided by chiromancers; some placing it
between the thumb and index, traversing the centre of the palm; while the
Hebrew cabalists make it diverge in a quarter of a circle from the middle
of the wrist to the first joint of the index. To denote long life, this
line should be deeply defined; when feeble and superficial, it implies a
limited existence, (even if the person so qualified should have survived
his eightieth year!)
The triangle in the palm of the hand is consecrated to Mars; the three
lines of which it is formed being regarded by chiromancers as most
important, and comprehending the united indications of mind and body. The
hepatic line proceeds from the liver, and forms one of the large sides of
the triangle. When deeply indicated, it is characteristic of an exalted
soul and magnanimous character; but accompanied by a propensity to anger
and despondency. The mediana, which forms the base of the triangle,
implies frankness, sprightliness, and the love of pleasure. Should the
thumb and its root be furrowed with numerous lines, crossing at right
angles, or forming ellipses, stars, and repeated circles, you are favoured
by Venus; but should you possess the ring of Gyges, beware of her wrath.
This name implies the circular line of the thumb, and indicates an
infamous death. Adrian Sicler declares in 1639, a notorious villain who
met his fate on the wheel had this awful sign on the first phalanx.
Between chiromancers and fortune-tellers with cards, the sole difference
consists in the means employed; and if you watch the sleight of hand of
the latter, instead of listening to their chattering, you will be amazed
by their dexterity.
Card-conjurors are mere upstarts by comparison with chiromancers, who were
consulted by Augustus in the zenith of his power. Their art cannot have
existed previous to the days of Charles VI., for whose diversion cards
were invented.
The miserable personal plight of these foreshowers of the future, is
singularly at variance with their reputation. How many of them grovel in
filthy retreats; where for the smallest sum, they dispense their promises
of fame and fortune. It is lamentable to think how many dupes such
impostors still command. Fortune-tellers captivate the confidence of the
vulgar, by predicting circumstances of frequent and common-place
occurrence, with the certainty of occasionally hitting home. Should one of
these by accident make a fortunate guess, his fame is established. But
their extortions are unimportant compared with the debasement of faculties
apparent in those who consult them; whom they disgust with their useful
callings by fostering hopes of impossible eventualities; or keep weak
minds in a state of terror for the mere guerdon of a piece of silver.
There are examples of people being so awe-struck by the predictions of
jugglers, as to fall their victim. A person has been known to die at
forty, merely because that term of life was assigned him by a
fortune-teller. A slight illness having brought to mind the fatal
prediction at the appointed period, cerebral fever ensued which ended in
death. Such a fact is mentioned by Dr. Bruhier in his work upon the
Caprices of the Imagination.
Though evil is said never to exist without corresponding good, it would be
difficult to point out a compensation for the mischiefs of fortune-tellers
and card-conjurors. Their predictions have often proved fatal in private
life, and they have exercised their evil influence by urging Princes to
acts of cruelty. The Emperor Valens having incensed his subjects by his
tyrannies, certain of them, meditating his overthrow, consulted a
soothsayer, who predicted future events by means of a cock. A circle being
described with the letters of the alphabet around it, a grain of corn was
dropped on each, and a cock placed in the centre. The letters from which
he pecked the corn were immediately taken up and a horoscope grounded upon
them; and the cock having, in the present instance, pecked up grains from
letters T. H. E. O. D., the conspirators concluded that the empire ought
to belong to Theodore, the Secretary of Valens, a man of merit, and
generally esteemed.
The crown was offered to him, which he was rash enough to accept; but the
plot being discovered, he and his accomplices were executed. Not satisfied
with this act of vengeance, Valens banished all those whose names began by
the letters selected by the cock. But this did not prevent Theodosius the
Great from being his successor.