DIVINATION BY TEA-LEAVES AS AN AMUSEMENT AND AS A MORE SERIOUS STUDY
The need for patience cannot be too strongly impressed upon those who
are beginning to learn the language of tea-leaves. Some of the most
interesting symbols are very minute, and will certainly be missed by the
seer who is in a hurry.
When tea-leaf reading is indulged in merely as an amusement to while
away a few moments after a meal, a hasty glance at the cup, or cup and
saucer, will suffice. The seer will just note the chief features, such
as a journey, a letter, a parcel, or news of a wedding, and pass on to
the next cup. But this is far from being a really interesting method of
divination by tea-leaves, wherein so much knowledge is to be found, and
so much useful information gained.
Those who closely study this fascinating subject will certainly be well
rewarded by a deep personal interest, in addition to the pleasure they
give to others.
It is wonderful how rapidly converts are made to this form of
divination. Some who in the past have been heard scornfully to assert
that they "have no belief in tea-leaves," become the most regular
inquirers. Moreover, these sceptics have proved to be very efficient
students.
There is always a satisfaction in persuading another to one's own point
of view. The more obstinate the opposition, the more glorious the final
conquest!
It is a rare occurrence nowadays to meet with three people in the course
of a day, and not to find that one at least is deeply interested in
fortune-telling in some of its various forms.
Quite recently I had a 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.