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VIsliMii 8Pfl Pfiphcclcs
 MYSTERIES OF THE INKNOWN

ill
S\ ^ i

By the Editors of Time-Life Books

TIME-LIFE BOOKS, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

 CONTENI^

CHAPTER 1

Seeing info (lie Fuiure

Omens and Auguries

Essay Portents in the Palm

53

Body Languages

Essay Penmanship and Personality

93

Essay The Meanings of Numbers

Symbolic Guides io Faie

Essay The Magic of the Tarot

130

Acknowledgments
150

Bibliography
150

Picture Credits
153

Index
154
 CHAPTER 1

Seeing info flie Future

istory is full of astonishing predictions about the shape of things to come.

But few have been more precise or disturbing than the prophecy reportedly
delivered by Jacques Cazotte at a dinner party in Paris, early in 1 788.
Some time aflerward, one of those present, ]ean-Frang:ois de La Harpe,
wrote a detailed account of what he claims was said, it was evidently a
lively evening The host was a distinguished nobleman noted for his pol-

ished wit, and he had invited an equally luminous company: writers, cour-

tiers, members of the French Academy, and ladies of title, all of

lawyers,
whom were known for their conversational gifts and high spirits. Cazotte
himself was a well-known writer, author of the occult romance Le Diable
Amoureax, "The Devil in Love " The dinner was sumptuous, the wine flowed
freely, and everyone competed to be more outspoken and irreverent than

his or her neighbor No topic was considered sacred The ladies listened to

delightfully wicked stories without blushing, religion was mocked, the icon-

oclastic philosopher Voltaire was extolled. All agreed that revolution must

soon come to France and that it should be welcomed as a new broom that
would sweep away superstition and fanaticism
was then that Cazotte is said to have stilled the laughter by declar
It

ing: "Ladies and gentlemen, be content You will yet see, every one of you,
that great revolution for which you are so eager. You know, I am something
of a prophet, and I assure you, you shall all see it
" He went on to describe,

in chilling detail, exactly how the impending revolution would alTect each of
those around the table
"You, Mi)nsieur de Condorcet, will die prone on the stone lloor of a

prison cell. You will perish of a poison you will have taken to cheat the
executioner. And you, Monsieur de Chamfort, will cut your veins twenty two
times with a razor, and still you will not die -until some months later.

As for you, Monsieur de Nicolai, you will die on the scaffold And you, Mon
sicur Bailly, also on the scaffold " As he continued, people began to whis
per, "It IS easy to see the mans mad " And "Oon't you sec he is joking' His
jokes, you know, always have something eerie, fantastic, about them " La
Harpe, a noted freethinker, objected that Cazotte had not predicted his late
 '"Ah, for you," replied Cazotte, "I foresee something Some have said their knowledge comes from God. Others
even more extraordinary: You will become a Christian." At believe they have uncanny powers of foresight denied to the
this, the entire table burst out laughing. Declared Chamfort: average person.
"What a relief If we are not to perish until L^ Harpe be- But for most people, the godlike ability to foresee to-

comes a Christian, then we are practically immortal!" morrow has always seemed to hang, tantalizingly, just out

"And what of the ladies?" demanded the Duchesse de of reach. Lacking prophetic vision, many have turned to
Grammont. "Surely, we shall not be harmed in this revolu- divination — the art of discovering hidden knowledge
tion of yours?" Replied Cazotte: "Your sex, ladies, will offer through the interpretation of omens and symbols. Human-
you no protection in this bloodbath. You, Madame la Du- ity's attempts to know the unknowable by such means are
chesse, and many other ladies will be taken to the scaffold reflected in some of its earliest artifacts: Babylonian models
in the executioner's cart, with your hands tied behind your of a sheep's liver, marked with instructions for diviners;
backs, like common criminals." And as the company Chinese animal bones, inscribed with predictions. Some
seethed with disbelief, he delivered his last and most horri- methods have become so esoteric that they require years of
ble prophecy. "I must tell you this: No one will be spared. study: the Tarot cards, for instance, or the sixfold symbols
Not even the king and queen of France!" of the / Ching. Others have focused on the here and now;
If this story is true— and it was supported, but only af- those who seek clues to human personality in physical
ter the revolution had played itself out, by several witness- characteristics, for example, have kept systems such as
es—it surely ranks among the most accurate prophecies ev- palmistry thriving for centuries.
er recorded. For within five years, Jacques Cazotte's vision It is not the present but the future that holds the great-
had been fulfilled in almost every detail. The French revolu- est allure for would-be soothsayers. And they are not inter-

tion, which began in 1789 with the highest ideals, was ested in just any future, but in the fascinafing matter of hu-
transformed into an orgy of violence and bloodletting. Ca- man fate— be it the destiny of an individual or of a nafion.
zotte's dinner companions met the fates he supposedly had Even the farmer, hoping to gauge the morrow's weather by
predicted. But he had not foretold his own grim destiny: the behavior of birds, is really asking what is going to hap-
death under the guillotine in 1 792. pen to him. Will his crops and hopes wither beneath an un-
When Cazotte described himself as remitting sun, or will his fields turn lush from nur-
"something of a prophet," he laid claim turing rain and bring a rich harvest?

to one of the oldest titles in history. Indeed, many future events are quite
Every age has had its visionaries, predictable. We know that the sun

seers who seem to possess a will rise in the east tomorrow; we

kind of second sight that en- also know that we will die. Oc-
ables them to peer through currences such as these follow
chinks in the wall of time. easily observable natural pat-

terns. We can also fore-

 Like the ghost ofBanqvo in Shakespeare's
Macbeth, French novelist Jacques Cazotte knev,
how to wreck a dinner party. In this >

nineteenth -century engraving, the glittering

guests at a famous 1 788 soiree grow grim as
Cazotte predicts disastrous fates awaiting them
in the impending French Revolution.

tell events statistically. Within a few thousand, for example,

we can number the people who will die in highway acci-

dents in the coming year.And we know that the iron law of

averages dictates that in that same year, a major earth-
quake will strike somewhere in the world, as will a devas-
tating drought. But unique features of such events are im-
possible to foresee by any explainable means On what day,

at what hour, will 1 die' Where on the globe will the earth

quake hit? No science yet exists that can answer these cru
cial questions.
Outside the scientific realm, however, in the misty

land of the paranormal, many people have claimed to pos-

sess the vision denied to mere scientists and scholars One
such was John William Dunne.
In January 1901 the no-nonsense British soldier was
convalescing on the Italian Riviera, recovering from
wounds suffered during the Boer War in South Africa. One
night he dreamed he was back in Africa, in a dusty Suda
nese town, when three ragged explorers arrived The next
morning Dunne saw a headline in an English newspaper
that announced the arrival of the paper's overland expedi-
tion in Khartoum The description of their physical condi-

tion and hardships en route corresponded almost exactly to

what Dunne had dreamed. was as though he had already

It

read the account Other dreams followed: A volcanic blast

destroyed an island town; a rubber factory burned. Again,
the visions were echoed in the next days headlines
unne thought that many people probably had
prophetic dreams -but forgot them on waking or
failed to understand their signiTicance In the
course of a pioneering career in aeronautics, dur-
ing which he designed Britain's first military air

plane, he experimented with inllucncing and recording his

dreams In 1927 Dunne wrote An Experiment with Time, in

which he maintained that dreams are a mingling of images

of past and future, useful as a predictive tool to anyone hav
in '
e to record and analyze them Time is multi
dit tie wrote. Events exist before they occur in the
conventional sense, and we move up to them just as we
tween past, present and future is an illusion, although a fate that had been thus predicted, they would seem to be

persistent one." contravening the divine will.

In positing his novel notion about the nature of time, In Babylon, supposedly god -inspired kings may have
Dunne raised the age-old issue of fate versus free will. If been the first prophets. In the Gilgamesh epic, believed to

people really could see the future, was the future then pre- have been first recorded as long ago as 2000 BC, the semi-

determined? Or was it a mass of alternate possibilities from divine ruler dreams about an upcoming fight; his mother, a

which to choose? To take just one graphic example, was the goddess, tells him that he and his enemy will then become
Titanic destined to sink, or might the captain, forewarned by fast friends. And it came to pass, just as Gilgamesh had
prophecy, have set a different course and have thereby been told in his dream.
avoided the iceberg? The legendary Sumerian king Enmenduranna, who
Such questions have loomed especially large in cases was supposed to have lived before the Flood, was said to

of what might be called "pure" prophecy, when a visionary have codified the rules of prophecy. Certainly the seer's art

claims to know the future through direct revelation. In the was well developed by the time of the First Dynasty of Ur,

long history of second sight, perhaps the most common ex- around 2500 BC. Prophecies were delivered in the name of

planation for such unsettling knowledge is a religious one. the ruler and said to be inspired by the gods, but they were
Many ancient prophets claimed that theirs was the voice of made by professional seers, who developed a number of

God-or gods-merely funneled through a human mouth- divinatory systems involving inspection of sheep's livers

piece. And if lowly humans were to take steps to avoid a and other natural objects.

me Illusion Of nme
Soothsaying calls into question the na- things. Still, the theory profoundly af-
ture of time itself For if the future can fected the most influential modern
be seen, then it must already exist, as thinker to concern himself with meta-
part of some coherent structure of time. physics: psychologist Carl Jung.
Albert Einstein (right), the father of Einstein and Jung knew each other
modem physics, posited that there is in Zurich in the days when the great

no absolute time. Rather, he said, time physicist was refining his special theory

changes with the motion of a particu- of relativity. And, said Jung, "It was he
lar observer. We treat time as though it who first started me off thinking about
were linear, one thing leading to an- a possible relativity of time as well as
other. But Einstein showed that past, space, and their psychic conditional-
present, and future need have no fixed ity." Einstein had unveiled a theoretical

status. In theory, at least, it is possible world where cause need not precede
to perceive them in varying order- effect. Years later, Jung adapted the

future before present, for instance. idea in his theory of synchronicity, sug-
Einstein's theory draws no conclu- gesting that meaningful coincidences
sion about seeing the future. In fact, he occur through some mechanism out-
was not much interested in such side the realm of cause and effect.
 British aircraft designer John William Dunne called
his theory of time Serialism, describing time as an infinite sequence of overlapping
levels. Duiwe even suggested that humans move endlessly
from level to level and are therefore immortal.

In Egypt, a priestly caste arose to interpret dreams, to guide their destinies. Priests administered sacred rites

which were said to bear messages from the gods. These and sacrifices, but offered no guidance on personal crises or

priests practiced primarily in two remote temples of the issues of state. When such advice was needed, the ques-
sun-god, Amun-Re: one in Napata, the other far out in the tioner would instead visit an oracle, a shrine where such
Libyan desert, twelve days' journey from the capita! at questions were put to a god through a human medium
Memphis. People feared dreams almost as much as they did These temples existed throughout Greece Most were con-
spints, and believed that a correct interpretation could help secrated to Apollo, the son of Zeus and the Greek god most

to defuse the dream s potential threat. The priests who per- associated with prophecy. And none enjoyed greater fame

formed this task were especially cautious when called upon than the Delphic Oracle

to decipher the pharaohs dreams. So, according to the bib- The ruined Temple of Apollo at Delphi can still be

lical account, it was only Joseph, a captive Israelite, who seen, in a setting of great natural beauty on the slopes of

would explain the Egyptian rulers dream of the seven fat Mount Parnassus, just north of Athens Today, the few local

and seven lean cows, and the seven good and seven thin inhabitants depend on the tourist trade, but for a thousand

ears of com The astute prediction -seven years of plenty, years, from the sixth century BC until the coming of Chris-

followed by a similar time of famine -was accompanied by tianity in the fourth century AD, this famed oracle drew the

the wise advice to lay up stores of com. rich and famous from all over the Greek world Delphi grew

The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, contains fat from their patronage
numerous reports of prophets whose privileged relationship The temples origins are lost in myth Greeks believed
with God allowed them to face the future with confidence. that the earth-goddess Ge and her daughter Themis had
Israel's seers were known as nabhi, "called persons" on given answers (also called oracles) at this spot, which was

whom the spirit of God apparently had breathed, and their then called Pytho, before Apollo took possession by slaying
chief functions were to teach, to encourage, and to warn a great she-dragon And archaeologists have found the re-

the people what would happen if the deity was defied. mains of a sanctuary dedicated to Apollo that dates back to

Around 800 BC, Amos, a simple shepherd's son, reportedly the eighth century BC
prophesied that "Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel o great was Delphi's fame that legends have ob-
shall surely be led away captive out of their own land scured its true character The Greek historian He-
Therefore shall I cause you to go into captivity beyond Da- rodotus claimed that the medium, usually titled the

mascus, saith the Lord "

Jeroboam was another name Pythia, spoke in a trance induced by natural gases
for the northem kingdom of Israel, and some years after the seeping through the rocks Her mutterings were in

prophecy, in 72 BC, its ten tribes were indeed conquered

i tcrpreted by priests who rendered them in deliberately

and transported to Assyria The Bible also relates how other vague verse However, recent scholars have found that
prophets, including Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel, were most responses were in fact straightforward commands on

divinely inspired to foretell the downfall of Assyria, the religious matters and, less frequently, on public or private
Babylonian invasion, the devastation of Judah, and the alTairs Few were in verse, and these dated from the later

Babylonian captivity Uke so many accounts of prophecy, years Declares one researcher "A close study of all reliable

however, these statements were written down long after evidence reveals no chasm or vapors, no frenzy of the
the predicted events had occurred, leaving their veracity in Pythia, no incoherent cries interpreted by priests The P\'thia

question for those without implicit faith spoke clearly, coherently, and directly to the consultant in
"

The ancicni Greeks had no sacred books like the Bible response to his question

10
 ^

'
«^ *>>
1 /

Sometimes, in fact, she may have spoken more direct-

ly than she intended. According to one tale, Alexander the

Great was told that he had come to Delphi on a day that the
Pythia did not prophesy. When the impatient soldier
grabbed the priestess and dragged her toward the tripod on
which she delivered her pronouncements, the woman
gasped, "My lad, you are invincible"— which was answer
enough for him.

Although Delphi was the most celebrated of Greek or-

acles, it was also the most costly. At the height of its fame,
the minimum rate for oracles was the equivalent of two
days' pay for the average Athenian— to which the visitor

would have to add offerings and travel expenses. States

were charged ten times that amount; moreover, they could

consult the Pythia only on the seventh of the month, the
date of Apollo's birthday.
A more democratic alternative to Delphi was located

in the Temple of Zeus at Dodona, far to the west. Petitioners

there wrote questions on thin lead strips that were rolled

up, numbered, and placed in a jar, from which they were

drawn one at a time by the priestess. Queries had to be
phrased to allow a yes or no answer. Hundreds of these
strips have survived. One man wanted to know if he should
marry, another if he should take up sheep farming; a town
in the province of Thessaly asked whether it should invest
funds collected in the name of its goddess.
Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the

fourth century BC, population and wealth flowed from

Greece into its colonies in Asia Minor, and new oracles su-

perseded those of Delphi and Dodona. Claros, on the west

coast of what is now Turkey, was popular with the newer
Greek settlers. Cities that consulted the oracle of Claros
would often organize an annual civic outing, which includ-

ed a choir that sang a hymn to Apollo. The inquirers were

led, by night and in single file, through a subterranean maze
of corridors to a vaulted hall. There they waited in the flick-

ering light of torches, while the medium retired to an under-

ground fountain whose bubbling waters were reputed to in-

spire the prophecy. So theatrical a setting may have

 Secrds of Uic Maya's Calendar
Europeans and Americans pack time in tiation, and attuning oneself to the cycles
parcels We treat time as linear expanses of nature A day was not an empty pack-
with beginnings and ends-days, weeks, age to be filled but, rather, a precise poten-
months, years, centuries-each a package tial to be realized

to be filled with events and stowed away,

each to be replaced on time's conveyor Only four major writings from the Ma-
belt by a new and empty segment, more or ya's Classic Period(AD 250 to 900) sur-
less identical to the one that went before vived the Spanish conquest of Central
and the one to follow America. Shown here is a portion of one of
The ancient Maya of Central America them. Known as the Madrid Codex, it is a

saw things quite differently For them each sort of farmer's almanac painted by an an-
day was unlike any other, a unique entity cient scribe on a twenty-two-foot length of

pregnant with meaning and demanding fig-bark paper and is stored at Madrid's
divination The Maya, whose obsession Musco de America.
with time created the most accurate calen- Mayan priests used the codex in divina-

dar in history, did not see time as a proces- which days were aus-
tion rites to discover

sion of linear starts and stops Rather, it picious or ill-favored for such workaday
was a system of interlocking wheels where pursuits as rainmaking, planting, hunting,
gods, humans, and nature meshed in per- weaving, and beekeeping The document
petual concert is made up of rows of glyphs, which ac-

Using exact calculations of the earth's company pictures of gods or beasts Each
rotation and of the lunar and solar cycles, of the twenty days in a Mayan month had
the Maya actually created not one calen- its own name, and the codex glyphs name

dar but two a solar one of 365 days and a the days over and over through the 260-
sacred one of 260 days The two inter- day cycle of the religious calendar.
locked to create fifty-two-year cycles. In divination, priests probably counted

The precision of these two calendars out kernels from a random pile of corn
was essential,since time and religion were while reading the codex from right to lefl.

Inextricableand coexistent for the Maya One was removed from the pile for
kernel
Each day. year, decade, century, and mil- each day The day reached when the pile
lennium had Its own god, and these divine was exhausted yielded the augury The
bearers engaged m a circular and perpctu panel shown at right, for example, depicts
al relay race, passing time intervals from the god of death, who is adorned at the

god god Diligent calculations made by

to head, wrists, and ankles with bells that
the Mayan astronomer priests supplied in the Maya called "death eyes Over his "

formation as to which gods bore each head is a glyph that foretells sickness or
day knowledge that was crucial to under
- death Running out of com on this glyph
taking right actions, offering proper propi was very bad luck

12
.::f fW\^^i^-^^ -^^'^^TM
 Prophetic gijts took Joseph fiom prison to power. This
recounts the
nineteenth century French engraving, based on a painting by Raphael,
biblical story of Joseph, the Hebrew who interpreted the
pharaoh's dream to mean famine for Egypt.

and eventually was canonized as

encouraged deception. One Cynic philosopher, who re- martyred at the stake,

Saint Joan. An Italian hermit named Bartolomeo Brandano

ceived a promise of rewards after toil, discovered that the
identical message had been given to many others -and that was imprisoned in Rome in 1517 for his denunciation of

alleged papal sins and his prediction that a "trans-Alpine

all had suffered toil without reward.
share of soothsayers and nation" would devastate that city. There had been no inva-
The Roman Empire had its

sion of Rome for five centuries, but in just ten years the
divmers, but few prophets of the fame and influence of Del-
phi Not until the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity in forces of the Holy Roman Empire -a federation primarily of
Europe did prophecy become as pervasive as it had been in Germanic principalities-swooped down from the north and

the classical world.

overran the city. Brandano, vindicated, was released from

Perhaps because of the Church's emphasis on sin and prison by imperial troops.
Far more secular in her outlook was England's legend-
damnation, Christians of the so-called Dark Ages were eas-
ily swayed by prophecy based on portents of
doom. The bib- ary sixteenth-century seer Mother Shipton. Intriguing sto-

Book of Revelation predicts the advent of a thousand- ries of her remarkable prophecies have circulated since the
lical
seventeenth century, but no one knows for certain whether
year period -or millennium -of righteousness during which
woman ever existed. By some accounts, she was
Christ will rule on earth. Many of the faithful became con- such a
Coming would logically arrive in, or born in Yorkshire in 1488, the daughter of a witch Perhaps
vinced that this Second
taking after her mother, the seer was reputedly "larger than
just before, the year 1000. Apparently most of these people
common, her body crooked, her face frightful, but her un-
did not believe they were holy enough to be included in the
new kingdom and therefore viewed the Millennium as the derstanding extraordinary."

end of the world In the waning years of the tenth century, a ^^ he supposedly foretold the final downfall of Thomas
who was
succession of supposedly portentous events -including an ^. Wolsey, the statesman and cardinal

eclipse of the sun, a particularly harsh winter, plague, an among the richest and most powerful men in En-

eruption of Vesuvius, and invading armies -strengthened gland until he ran afoul of his monarch, Henry VIII.

In 1529, stripped of all offices except the arch-

the mood of fatalism
bishopric of York, Wolsey was on his way to that city when
As the dread year approached, people throughout Eu
Sure that the end was nigh, Mother Shipton is said to have announced that he would
rope were seized by panic
never enter York. Hearing this, the story continues, Wolsey
Chnslians abandoned their farms and villages to gather be-
neath crucifixes, praying for mercy. Some of the devout sold vowed that she would be burned as a witch when he did

their property and joined pilgrimages to Jerusalem to await arrive, and he sent three members of his entourage to in-
the coming of the Lord Intoning hymns, they watched the vestigate. She calmly bade them welcome, offered them

skies, expecting them to open and reveal the Son of God cake and ale, and demonstrated her power by casting a lin-
When the new century dawned without incident, daily en kerchief on the fire and retrieving it unsinged Wolsey
life resumed and apprehensions over the Millennium were came to within eight miles of his cathedral city but was
largely put aside The Church, however, continued to be the summoned back to London by the king to face a charge of
focus of prophecies of other kinds Claiming to speak to an- treason; he died on his way to the capital

gels, the fifteenth century French peasant Joan of Arc, for Other prophecies attributed to Mother Shipton were
cxampl" prfdicicd the defeat of the English invaders and published starting a century or so after her death. At times

th' , nf the king of France Through her inspired she seems to have had extraordinary insights "Carriages
hallic she fulfilled her own prophecy, was without horses shall go, / And accidents fill the worid with
Ic.
 Around the earth, thoughts shall fly / In the twin- guages, mathematics, and astrology from his grandfather;
woe. /
The world to an end shall come, / in studied liberal arts at the University of Avignon; and then
kling of an eye. . . . /
switched to medicine and enrolled at the University of
eighteen hundred and eighty one."
Montpellier. Although he eventually abandoned his medical
hese verses have often been quoted as extraordi-
career favor of prophecy, he was for a time a gifted phy-
nary examples of foresight, detailing the existence in

sician who devised a number of unusual pharmaceutical

of railways and the telegraph centuries before their
London preparations; one he used was rose pills, made from roses
invention. However, as the editors of the
Queries disclosed as long ago as plucked before dawn. The fact that Nostradamus refused to
journal Notes &
bleed his patients at the slightest hint of illness, a common
1873, these and other Mother Shipton prophecies were
in

fact fabricated by a British bookseller, Charles Hindley, who may also have contributed to his success.
practice,

in 1862 published them as a reprint of a pamphlet that he The young Nostradamus had no sooner obtained his

appeared in 1684. license than he made his mark as a healer, successfully

claimed had first

treating victims of the plague that ravaged Montpellier and

Even so, it is said that many provincial Britons feared

that the world would indeed end, just as the discredited

Mother Shipton prophecy had it, in 1881. And even today,

Hindley's acknowledged fakeries are sometimes cited as
evidence that a sixteenth-century British seer foretold the
coming of such things as automobiles, radio, and aircraft

The stories about the dubious Mother Shipton fade next to

the fame of her contemporary, the French physician Michel

de Nostredame. Unlike the Englishwoman, Nostredame was
widely known in his own time, and his life is fairly well doc-
umented Under the name of Nostradamus, he became a
prophet for his era and for every generation since, more ac-
claimed -and more denounced -than any other seer.
Michel de Nostredame was born in 1503 at Saint-
Remy-de Provence to a Jewish family that had converted to

Christianity A precocious boy, Michel learned classical lan-

An llluslralion from a fourteenth

icrttury Italianmanuurlpt of Dante's Inferno
repcct% the port's hearty tontempt for
fortune tellers lie tonslgns ihem to hell
with their heads twisted to fate forever haik
ward, a punishment for the orroganie
they exhibit In aspiring to <jod'% prestlenic.

16
other cities of the region. In about 1532 he married a young while traveling through Italy and bowed down before him,
woman "of high estate, very beautiful and very amiable," addressing the startled young cleric as "Your Holiness." In
according to a contemporary account. They had children, 1 585, years after the seer's death, the former swineherd Fe-
and Nostradamus seems to have enjoyed three years of lice Peretti— by then a cardinal— was elected Pope Sixtus V.
happiness. Then the plague returned with renewed viru- Many such stories arose as testimony to Nostrada-

lence. Nostradamus, who had saved so many, was unable mus's alleged second sight. In one account, the visionary
to cure his own wife and children, and they died painfully. was challenged by a skeptic, the Seigneur de Florinville,
Deeply depressed, Nostradamus spent the next six while staying at his chateau in the province of Lorraine.
years wandering around France and Italy, consulting with "Here are two pigs, one black, one white," declared de Flo-

other doctors and learned men. Once, he is said to have rinville. "Foretell their future."

given a striking demonstration of the prophetic gifts that "You will eat the black one, a wolf will consume the
would win him lasting fame. According to accounts of that other," replied the seer. Determined to prove him wrong,
time, Nostradamus encountered a humble Franciscan monk the lord told his cook to slaughter and serve the white pig

t'^
for dinner that night. After the roast had been served, de prediction by the astrologer Gauric, who reportedly had

claimed victory, but Nostradamus insisted that warned Catherine's husband, King Henr>' II, that he must
Florinville

his prediction had been correct. Finally the nobleman sum- avoid "single combat in an enclosed place, especially near

moned his cook to settle the matter. The chef admitted that his forty-first year," for he risked injury or death from a

a wolf cub had entered the kitchen and eaten the white pig, blow to the head Nostradamus was summoned to the court

in Paris, where is said he further predicted that three of

and the black one had been prepared in its stead. it

etuming to Provence in about 1544, Nostradamus Henry's sons would become kings. During that visit, he re-

resumed his successful career as a healer, travel- portedly embellished his own legend with some off-the-cuff
'/m. Ii£»
ij^g wherever there was a call for his services But clairvoyance L^te one night a royal page who had lost a

"#- in 1547, the wanderer finally settled in the small valuable hound came to the seer's door. Hearing only the

9»A town of Salon, in the heart of Provence. There he knocking and without opening the door, Nostradamus
remarried and began to compose prophecies, drawing on snapped, "What is it you want, O page of the king? You

his accumulated knowledge and books on* astrology and make a deal of noise for a lost dog!" He told him, correctly,

magic His first of several best-selling almanacs-pamphlets that the beast could be found on the road toward Orieans.

purporting to prophesy events for the coming year -ap- in the summer of 1559, his prophecies concerning the

peared in 1 550. But he soon went far beyond this narrow royal family began to fall into place At a tournament held in

scope and turned to producing his famous collection of Paris to celebrate a pair of royal weddings- Henri's daugh-
prophecies known as Centuries, which seems to look all the ter Elizabeth was married (by proxy) to Philip II of Spain, his

way to the year 3797 daughter Marguerite to Henry of Navarre -the king ignored
Centunes. so called because the prophecies were as- the warnings and rode against Montgomery, the captain of
sembled in groups of iOO-except for one set that contains his Scottish Guard. At the third encounter, the captain's

only 42 -would eventually consist of 942 four-line verses, lance penetrated Henry's visor and pierced his eye. The king

or quatrains, that appear to forecast events from around died in agony ten days later. And it came to pass, as well,
1 560 to the end of the world The first were written in 1 555; that Henry's sons reigned in -and perished -as Francis
turn

others were added later The verses are deliberately ob- 11, Charies IX, and Henry III, whose murder in 1589 would be
scure Couched in a French that was already archaic in the interpreted by some as the second of the "two loppings"
sixteenth century, they are interlarded with words from olh referred to in the Nostradamus quatrain
er languages, as well as with anagrams, obscure images, Skeptics have pointed out that there is no documenta-
and terms the seer apparently invented. Nostradamus tion of the face-to-face prophecy regarding Henrys chil-

claimed that he could have put a date on each verse but dren; in any case, untimely death was hardly an unexpected
chose not to, in order to protect himself from charges of occurrence at the time, even -or perhaps especially-
being a sorcerer among royalty On the other hand, believers can cite qua-

Probably the most famous of the quatrains is one that trains that they say refer to the fates of Henry's offspring To
IS said to have caught the eye of the French queen Catherine that, skeptics can retort that each of the quatrains, because
dc Mtdicis "The young lion shall overcome the old / On of the obscure language employed by their author, can be
the field of war In single combat, / He will pierce his eyes in interpreted and translated in any number of ways
a cage of gold / This is the first of two loppings, then he Critics have also questioned specific details of Nos-
" Henry
dies a cruel death tradamuss best known prophetic quatrain At forty,

The poem sounded like an uncanny echo of an earlier was only six years older than his opponent, his visor, they

18
say, was not gilded; a tournament ground can hardly be Louis XVI, aerial warfare, communism, nuclear warfare,
called "a field of battle"; and elsewhere in Centuries, the and the rise and fall of Hitler. Watergate, the Egyptian-
word c/(3sses— translated variously in this case as loppings, Israeli peace accords, and the AIDS epidemic are a few of
fractures, or wounds— is used to signify a fleet of ships. Fur- the more modem linkages. Enthusiasts have found in the

thermore, in a verse written later, Nostradamus seems to quatrains references to rockets ("machines of flying fire"),

predict a bright future for Henry II. For most students of the submarines ("iron fish," usually bent on war), and various
seer, however, the verse remains one of his most impres- aspects of air travel, from the practical necessities- Nostra-
sive pieces of prediction. damus seemingly recognized that pilots needed oxygen and
There is no limit to the ingenuity of interpretations of a radio for communications— to the more philosophical re-
Nostradamus. He has been credited with foreseeing the flection that "the world becomes smaller."
Great Fire of London, the French Revolution and the flight of Some of these interpretations seem to involve a willful

L E S
PROPHETIES
DE M. MICHEL
NOSTRADAMVS.

'Dont tljyen a troU cens qui

riont encores iama^ efle

tmprtmees.
Adiouftccs de nouueau par
lediift Autheur.

The first edition of Nostradamus's complete prophecies

(right) was published posthumously in France in 1568, and
the enigmatic and controversial quatrains have been in ^ L r O Ny
print ever since. Above, an eighteenth-century portrait
by an unknown artist depicts the seer with what scholars
PAR BENOIST RIGAVD.
believe is a telescope, symbolizing his astral preoccu- I 5 6B.
pations. The device is an anachronism; astronomers of
Nostradamus's day had no telescopes. j4tiic pcrmiffion.
 For in- skeptics are quick to note, the geo-
ignorance of histoncal fact
graphic definition is broad enough to
stance, verses referring to "Hister"
cover half a dozen countries, and the
have been translated by some com-
Hitler; how- description could also be taken as a
mentators as referring to
reference to Ferdinand II, a Holy Ro-
ever, Hister was simply the Latin
Nostradamus used for the
man emperor of the early seventeenth
name that
«r<iulns<«(rlrt<i, (^orliit, «.=«*.
centur\'. Similarly, the following qua-
nver Danube Indeed, in one quatrain,
train has invited more than one plau-
the seer refers to the completion of a
sible interpretation. "The sermons
bndge across the Hister
from the Lake of Geneva annoying, /
Still other quatrains that have Prophecy al War From days they will grow into
been considered to be farsighted may
Nostradamus s persistent inlluence rests weeks, / Then months, then years,
actually refer to contemporan,' events
partly wih his ambiguit>^ For years, people then all will fail, / The Magistrates
with which Nostradamus should have
of vanous persuasions have managed "

been familiar Skeptics cite the qua- will damn their useless laws
to read something meaningful into his
Did Nostradamus intend this as
train that purportedly depicts the cnptic verses
down to the During World War II both Germany and a blast against his contemporary,
Great Fire of London,
Great Britain enlisted the seer for their John Calvin, whose sermons from
date, twenty-three the sixes.' or
own ends Nostradamus Predicts the
amve at the year, believers
Geneva were provoking intense con-
1666 (To Course of the War' is the English title of a
add a pair of pamphlet (abcwi produced by British intel- troversy' Or was the quatrain, as later
multiply twent\' by three,
ligence in March of 1943, the document commentators have claimed, a far-
sixes, and note that it was common in
was meant to cause constemation in the
omit the sighted glimpse of the Geneva-based
Nostradamus s lime to first
enemy's homeland by prcdictmg Hitlers
digit of a date ) The verse's forecast of doom The Third Reich already had come League of Nations-which, in the late
up with Nostradamus adaptations of its 1930s, degenerated into an impotent
the fall of a lady from a high place has
own and planned to airiift into France cop- debate society' Or could it. perhaps,
traditionally been interpreted as a ref-
supposedly
ies of selected quatrains that
erence to St Paul s Church, which be both' Such ambiguities, and the
forecast German victon,'
vast and obscure opus that the seer
was so ravaged by the flames that it It appears the leaflets were never used,
however perhaps because of France s left behind, will no doubt continue to
was torn down But skeptics suggest
quick surrender And the small number of fascinate future generations of Nos-
that Nostradamus more likely referred
Bntish pamphlets smuggled into Germany
tradamus's readers
to Queen Mar>' of England, known as had no appreciable elTect.
Bloody Mary, who was at the time ex- Nostradamus, lacques Cazotte, and

ecuting numbers of heretics, often in groups of six Al other European prophets reflected in their dramatic predic-
was tions the death of monarchs, the rise and fall of empires In
though Mary did not die until 1558, after the verse

pnnted. it would not have been particularly insightful in that the United States, prophec>' took on a characteristically util-

t„ .'
r s downfall or death itanan bent In the nineteenth century, for example, Ameri-

•s have also applied many of ca would witness the career of a remarkable New World
cnl historical events For ex visionary Andrew lackson Davis, who came to be known
•ic birth near Italy of an em as the Poughkeepsie Seer
in a butcher.' has been understood Davis was bom in 182^, at Blooming Grove in New
Hitler and Napoleon -although, as York s Orange County His childhood was dillkult and pc-

20
 Exotic German-bom seer Terfren LaUa, whose name in
Hindu supposedly means "then Che sun rises over the mountain," claimed she
predicted Hitler's fall shortly after he came to power in the 1 930s.

21
 -

his father was a that technological progress would bring spiritual develop-
nurious. His mother had no education;
who scraped together a living first as a weaver ment and forecast horseless carriages- "moved by an ad-
drunkard
and then as a shoemaker. But it seems that young Davis mixture of aqueous and atmospheric gases" -traveling at

found a way to transcend his surroundings. After a day high speeds on good roads. He also foresaw "spacious sa-

he claimed to have heard voices loons, almost portable dwellings, moving with such speed,
spent alone in the fields,

move that perhaps there will be advertisements- Through to Cal-

and seen visions-one of which advised the family to
"
Thinking that prospects might indeed be ifornia in four days!'
to Poughkeepsie.
made the move in 1838. o be sure, this was written at a time when railway
better there, his shiftless parents
In the early 1840s, Davis began to dabble in the newly lines from the East had already reached the banks
A Poughkeepsie of the Mississippi, but the quickest route from New
popular art of mesmerism, or hypnotism.
tailor put him into what he described as "magnetic sleep," York to California was still by ship around the tip of

in which state Davis claimed that the human body became South America. Davis's vision of the future also in-

transparent to him, enabling him to diagnose diseases and cluded prefabricated apartment buildings, a phonetic spell-
dreamy boy wandered ing system, and a kind of typewriter that would print a per-
prescribe cures. At eighteen, the
home a trance, during which he experienced a son's ideas as readily as a piano expressed harmonies. "A
from his in

profound state of mental illumination. He claimed that dur- glorious period is before mankind, "
he announced with the

had met Galen, the Greek-born physician faith characteristic o( his age. "It will be a kind of material
ing this trance he
and the Swedish mystic Emanuel heaven -a preparation for the Spiritual Harmonium."
of the second century AD,
Swedenborg, who died in 1772 Davis's books sold well, and the seer worked tirelessly

His rise to prominence began in 1845, when the fledg- for decades, lecturing, writing, and prescribing cures. It is

Img seer took up with a Bridgepori, Connecticut, musician said that Edgar Allan Poe was one of the many people influ-

enced by grand vision Davis died in 1910, the owner of

and amateur hypnotist who put him into a series of magnet- his

ic sleeps While in this trancelike state, Davis began dictat- a small Boston bookshop and author of more than thirty

ing to a scnbe, the Reverend William Fishbough For fifteen books on spiritual matters.

months this dictation continued, sometimes, according to a

knowledgeable witness, in near-fluent Hebrew The tran- From somewhat the same mold as Davis was the humble
scnpt was published in the year 1847 as The Pnnciplcs of dreamer Edgar Cayce, who was born in Kentucky in 1877, a
Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind This half century after Davis Cayce came to be known as the

inspirational work had an extraordinary afTinity to Sweden- "sleeping prophet" because he dictated his predictions

borg's wntlngs, which Davis steadfastly maintained he had and his medical treatments-while in a trance. When he
never come across awoke he had no recollection -or even understanding -of
The book was an interesting mixture of foresight and what he had said More than 14,000 such "readings, as he "

mysticism For instance, Davis announced the existence of called them, were transcribed up to his death in 1945 and

nine planets before even the eighth had been verified At arc now stored at the Virginia Beach, Virginia, headquarters

the same time, however, he predicted that advanced forms of the Association for Research and Enlightenment, found
f humanity would be found on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. ed by Cayce in 1934.

Davis's work was hardly done, however. In The Penc- Best known during his lifetime as a healer, Edgar
il.. t(} important Questions, pub Cayce also made predictions about the future Among other

lis, urlhly prophecy. He asserted things, he claimed to have foreseen the Wall Street crash of

22
1929. In April of that year, a broker consulted him about a be shot, and as the time approached, she pinpointed it to

dream, and Cayce declared that there would be a panic on the day and the place and even sought to warn the ill-fated

Wall Street and other financial centers. Prices would fluctu- chief executive.

ate over a period of six months and then collapse. On Octo- The truth, however, seems far less dramatic and far

ber 29, Black Friday, came the crash. Many of Cayce's other less emblematic of Dixon's prophetic powers. Her only re-

visions were apocalyptic scenes of natural upheaval around corded prediction of the president's death is one printed in

the year 2000. Earthquakes, he predicted, would shatter the Parade magazine in 1956. In that article, written by Wash-
western part of the United States, cause massive flooding in ington correspondent Jack Anderson, Dixon announced
Japan, and change the geography of Europe. The lost conti- that the 1960 election would be dominated by labor and
nent of Atlantis would rise from the floor of the ocean. In won by a Democrat who would be assassinated or die in
1936 Cayce saw himself reborn in the year 2100, flying office, not necessarily in his first term. Dixon also seems to

across North America at fantastic speed and exploring a have hedged her bets. In 1960 she predicted alternately—
devastated New York City. and incorrectly— that Richard Nixon would win the presi-

Skeptics maintain that Cayce's record as a healer and dency that year.

prophet has been exaggerated by his faithful followers, Jeane Dixon is a staunch anti-Communist, and many
and they dismiss some of his accurate predictions of wars of her prophecies seem to have been colored by her person-
and earthquakes as lucky guesses. To have prophesied a al beliefs. Repeatedly she extolled Richard Nixon ("our last

second world war in June 1931 was no great feat, they ar- hope") while failing to predict the Watergate scandal and
gue; the entire decade was full of such prognostications of his resignation from the presidency. During the 1950s she
global conflict. Itwas bound to happen sooner or later, and forecast Soviet invasions of Iran and Palestine; in the late

Cayce did not specify a date. As for his many other prophe- 1960s she saw the "ever-increasing presence of Russian

cies of late-twentieth-century disaster, time will tell. submarines near the Bolivian coastline" as part of a "grand
Critical as some people have been of Edgar Cayce's design" for world domination. (She was uncertain why they

track record, no one ever accused him of cashing in on his were menacing Bolivia, overlooking the fact that the coun-
apparent abilities. As the century has progressed, however, try is landlocked.) Dixon has also said that by 1990 the So-
a number of self-proclaimed seers have found some mea- viets will be in the final phase of "absorbing the Western
sure of fame and fortune, usually through the medium of Hemisphere by all means necessary including an atomic

the tabloid newspaper. Perhaps the best known of these war if needed."
popular prophets is Jeane Dixon, who has achieved both It is easy enough to make fun of such speculations and

wealth and celebrity from her syndicated columns and tele- to list the predictions that fell wide of the mark. It seems
vision appearances. unlikely that a comet will hit the world, or that the United

Dixon claims to see the future in several ways: States will experience germ warfare by China or have a

through visions in the air, through pictures in a crystal bail, woman president-all in the 1980s-as she once said would
and sometimes through a form of clairvoyance when she happen. And it is doubtful that even her most fervent sup-
touches a subject's fingertips. Her fame rests largely on her porters are much worried by her claim that the dread Anti-
assertion that she predicted the assassination of President christ was born in the Middle East on February 5, 1962.

John F. Kennedy. A number of legends have grown up Taken as a whole, Jeane Dixon's record is so inconsis-
around this insight. According to a rather breathless biogra- tent as to cast considerable doubt on her apparent success-
pher, Dixon repeatedly predicted that the president would es. She claims, for example, to have forecast the disaster at
Edgar Caycc,
who would even
lually become Ihe
mott iKfluentlal mod
em AmerUan seer, was
working o% a photographer
when thh picture believed to he
a telf portrait wa% taken In /V/7.
Cape Kennedy in January 1967, when a fire in the Apollo last big quake. The party was a huge success, and the many
command module took the lives of three astronauts. There predictions of disaster went unfulfilled.

was no written record of this prediction until after the Two years later, however, a big earthquake did strike

event, however, and she failed to foresee the even more —in the San Fernando Valley, far to the south. This event

tragic disaster of 1 986 in which the space shuttle Challenger stirred a fresh wave of prophecy in San Francisco, and Alan

exploded soon after launch, killing all seven aboard. Dixon Vaughan entered the sweepstakes with a confident predic-

accurately predicted Senator Robert F. Kennedy's assassi- tion that a small quake would occur on May 22, at 5: 1 8 p.m.

nation in 1968, but so did many others, Kennedy among It did not. Admitted Vaughan, "Either my method doesn't

them. Just two weeks before he died, he told French writer work, or I got the wrong year."

Romain Gary, "1 know there will be an assassination at- Geologists, using the best scientific tools at hand,

tempt sooner or later."

In a way, Jeane Dixon and her fellow tabloid seers

have chance on their side. A prophet who claims that in the
upcoming year there will be, somewhere in the world, a

major earthquake, a political assassination, or an airline di-

saster, is likely to prove successful. And for all that, the pen-
alties of failure are slight. In ancient times, seers could be
put to death for their mistakes; today's prophets risk noth-
ing worse than ridicule. Moreover, as a number of skeptical
observers have pointed out, the public tends to remember
the one accurate prediction and to forget the thousands of
inaccurate ones. Any self-professed prophet who foretells

enough future events, particularly if the details are suffi-

ciently vague, will hit the bull's-eye occasionally.

Alan Vaughan is a contemporary psychic who is can-

did enough to admit that some of his major predictions
have missed the mark. One of his confessed failures oc-

curred in San Francisco, the one large American city to

have been devastated by an earthquake in this century
Fears of another major tremor constantly recur. In ear-
ly 1969, for some reason, disaster scenarios proliferat-
ed: Prophets of doom seemed to emerge from every
quarter, each with a different date for an impending
catastrophe. To avoid possible panic-and promote
his city in the bargain -Mayor Joseph Alioto de-
clared that San Francisco would survive and an-
nounced an earthquake party to be held at the
Civic Center on April 18. It was to begin at 5:13

a.m. -sixty-three years to the minute after the

Probably America's best-known pur

ported prophet, Jeane Dixon is also a prolific
writer. Among the six volumes she has
published are an astrological cookbook and
a book for casting dogs' horoscopes.
 Your Fortune in a Cookie
California than to Canton. Los Angeles social The Lyndon B Johnson used
late
Since gastronomy conveys it into the
and San Francisco have vied for the cookies to promote at least one of
world of believer and skeptic alike, the
among the most recognition as their original home (a his political campaigns And, during the
fortune cookie is
mock court ruled In San Francisco's 1960s, it was the fleeting fashion at
common of all fortune-telling devices.
Few take it seriously, perhaps, but favor in 1983), and several Chinese- some debutante parties to have specially
hardly anyone leaves a Chinese meal Americans -and at least one Japanese- made fortune cookies dictate dancing
American-have claimed to be their partners for the various guests
without first reading the slip of fate
tucked Inside the ubiquitous dessert. creator. In any case, the cookies first The composers of cookie fortunes are
appeared In California just after the many and various Canton-bom George
The humble cookie claims aristocrat-
origins among the upper classes of turn of the centur>', and their populari- Cheng, a major manufacturer of the
ic
was immediate V^hile most are cookies for many years, received cookie
ancient China There, a much-loved ty

purchased commercially, they can also wisdom from a wide cross-section of

game involved writing essay topics on
paper and tucking ihem into be made at home (bdow) Fortune- acquaintances in Los Angeles, where his
slips of
would pluck out the cookie messages range from the trite business was based. Contributors
tea cakes Players
topics and compete among themselves (
Wealth will be yours") to the included one homemaker who turned
aphoristic ("A good name is better out fortunes steadily for more than
to write the best essay
than gold") to the slightly ribald (The fifteen years She was. Cheng opined,
Chinese tea cakes may have
redhead at the next table is dy- probably the best-read author in the
presaged them, but in their familiar
modem form the cookies owe more to namite ") They may also be political or state of California

*"
Z 1" '
'^Tm cotos«'* „„ """"Lewies coot

COOWC D
,w lV\C
<-
^—^Bt.
seem to have a better track record than any psychic at pre- roshima and Nagasaki and declared: "The A-bomb is the

dicting earthquakes. And it is not unlikely that human intel- biggest fool thing. The bomb will never go off and I speak as
ligence, ingenuity, and imagination are stronger forces than an expert on explosives." Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley,
supposed supernatural insight when it comes to predicting Britain's astronomer royal, dismissed the notion of space
the future. Leonardo da Vinci, who lived from 1452 to 1519 travel as "utter bilge" just months before the Russians

and was the most versatile genius of the Italian Renais- launched their earth-orbiting Sputnik satellite in 1957.

sance, turned his own imaginings into sketches— of Verne, the French writer who is deservedly known
such things as helicopters and machine guns-
fules
as the father of science fiction, had better luck as a

centuries before technology began to catch up prognosticator. Indeed, he gave a fairly accurate ac-

with his visions. The English philosopher _ count of the first manned space flights more than a

and statesman Sir Francis Bacon, born in ^ some

^^
hundred years in advance, coming intriguingly close to
moon
the reign ofQueen Elizabeth ranged al- 1, of the key details of the Apollo exploration

most as widely. He scoffed at prophecies, program in his novels From the Earth to the Moon (
1 865) and

though, considering them fit only for Round the Moon (1870). Verne's spacecraft, the Columbiad,

"winter talk by the fireside." But in his took off from Florida and splashed down in the Pacific,

book The New Atlantis, published posthu- where its three-man crew was rescued by an American
mously in 1626, he foresaw the possibility of ship. Verne calculated that the trip from earth to moon
the telephone and the refrigerator, of hybrid would take 97 hours and 13 minutes. Apollo 1 1 's total flight

agriculture and the desalination of seawater. time was just over 195 hours, an average of 97 hours 39
It is often the specialists, blinkered by practical minutes each way. Both the real and the fictional craft were
knowledge, who fail to foresee the dramatic advances to equipped with rockets to escape the lunar orbit and slow
come. In 1928, for example, the American radio pioneer Lee down reentry; both the Columbiad and Apollo 13 suffered a
De Forest declared, "While theoretically and technically life-threatening loss of oxygen in flight. However, Verne
television may be feasible, commercially and financially I could not entirely escape the assumptions of his time: His
consider it an impossibility, a development of which we astronauts wore smoking jack-
need waste little time dream- ets and reclined on tufted

ing." Early in 1945, Ad- li velvet couches. And

miral William Leahy, who they were propelled

/ served as chief of staff to from the earth not by

S ^-^rtMl^
President Franklin Roo-
sevelt during World War
II, assayed the prospects
for the atomic bombs that

would soon devastate Hi-

^
rocket motors but, like an artillery shell, from a huge gun situation in the twenty-first century, they may be contend-

barrel buried in the earth. ing with too many variables for even the most powerful

Verne firmly believed that, as he put it, "What one computer to handle.

man can imagine, another man can do." And his account of Often they lack crucial information, and even when
space travel did in fact fire the imagination of the Russian dealing with much the same data, they tend to come up
rocket-pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who also wrote sci- with wildly different conclusions. In 1972, for example, the

ence fiction on the exploration of space. Another visionary largely European experts who formed a futurists' forum

writer, H. G. Wells, had a similar impact. In 1913, he de- known as the Club of Rome predicted a catastrophic drop in

scribed a future nuclear war in The World Set Free. Almost population and industrial capacity within the next hundred

twenty years later, the noted Hungarian physicist Leo Szil- years if present trends continue. But the equally distin-

ard read the novel and later guished prognosticator Her-

claimed that it provoked him man Kahn was far more up-
to think about the power that
vj;1 >^ beat during a 1982 address in

could be generated by a nu- Arizona. He attacked the Club

clear chain reaction. Szilard of Rome's continuing gloomy

went on to collaborate with forecasts, insisting that we
Enrico Fermi, developing the ^''•*»~., are in fact living through the

nuclear reactor that made most exciting period of

possible the worids first atomic bomb. change in history. "One hundred years

Men and women of the modern from now," Kahn declared, "mankind

world are no less curious about the fu- will be everywhere numerous, every-
ture than the ancient Egyptians and where rich, everywhere largely in con-

Greeks who pondered dreams or con- trol of the forces of nature"

sulted oracles In these latter days, Only time, of course, will tell
Leonardo da Vinci did not construct
however, prediction has increasingly the airscrew he sketched in 1 488, but he
which o( these long-range global vi-

become a team effort, conducted by envisioned its role in human flight. sions will come to pass Meanwhile,
groups of researchers with number- many paranormalists will continue to

crunching computers. But governments and industries that believe that the prophetic powers reportedly shown by Nos-
commission studies from the Rand Corporation, SRI Inter- tradamus and others represent untapped abilities of the hu-

national, and other such think tanks are acting from some man mind. Perhaps, they argue, we should have less faith in

of the same impulses that led Roman emperors and medie- nonpsychic experts and more trust in our own powers of

val kings to seek the services of astrologers and soothsay- intuition They suggest that people with prophetic talents be

ers We need to know, as much as they did, the probability encouraged and trained in different fields of expertise and

of an uprising, the size of the harvest, the chances of an that a consensus of their forecasts be sought. The wheel
enemy attack and how best to avert it would be brought full circle, from dreaming kings awaiting
For all the computers and masses of data at their com Gods guidance to scientists trusting their intuition to bridge

mand, professional futurists -as the modern oracles are of- the gaps in their data Some people, these paranormalists

ten called struggle with a host of problems Called upon to arc convinced, can breach times barriers and discern what

predict everything from next year's weather to the political will come in what is now

fules Veme'i ftcUon described a voyage to the mf>on a century

before the fad. This engraving from an 1 865 trench edition of From the Forth to the Moon
»/iowi Ihc %pair\hlp he Imagined hurtling mmtnward
ViMionarles iUih a% Ix-onardo da Vlml and Vemc did not >.lalm to be prophets.

28
29
 CHAPTER 2

Omens and Auguries

he legend began one night in the early 1600s on the remote Scottish isle of

Lewis. According to the traditional account, a hearty Highland woman

named Mrs. Mackenzie was grazing her herd of cattle alongside an old
graveyard, when all at once the entire crop of tombstones wavered,
creaked, and toppled to the ground As Mrs. Mackenzie watched in frozen

fascination, ghosts floated out of the ground and flew swiftly away
More intrigued than afraid, the Scottish woman waited to see what
would happen An hour later all the ghosts but one had returned from their
wanderings in the mortal realm. Mrs. Mackenzie then placed her staff over
the last open grave. Finally, the wraith of a young woman appeared and
shrieked, "Lit\ your distaff from my grave and let me enter my dwelling of
the dead'" "I shall do so," said the staunch Mrs Mackenzie, "when you
"
explain to me what detained you so long after your neighbors
"My journey was much farther than theirs," replied the shade. "1 had
to go all the way to Norway. 1 am a daughter of its king and was drowned
while bathing My body was carried out to sea and eventually swept onto
the shore not far from here, where was found and interred in that grave
it

so that may once more take my rest

'

Now please remove your distaff I

Mrs Mackenzie did so, and before the dead princess sank back into
the earth, she said, "In remembrance of me, and as a small reward of your

courage, I shall tell you where you will find something of rare value. If you
will search in that loch over there, you will come across a small round blue
'

stone Give it to your son, who by it shall see mto the future

Mrs Mackenzie found the mysterious treasure and presented it to her

son When he peered through a hole in the center of the stone, he found that

the phantom had spoken the truth Using this curious stone, a simple object
drawn from nature, he could slice through the veils of time and divine what
was to come, thus one of humanity's most ancient dreams
fulfilling

This tale tvpifies the legends that sprang up around the obscure Ren-
aissance seer Kenneth Mackenzie or Coinneach Odhar, as he preferred to
be called in Gaelic Very little is known of the man himself, but records of

the sixteenth century Scottish parliament contain an order, sent to authori-

ties in the county of Ross, to prose- for more details, which he re-
cute the wizard Coinneach Odhar. fused to give. Finally, when
Presumably, this led to his execu- she resorted to threats, he
tion. And it would not be surprising I
snapped back that in his
if his crime had been the widespread vision he had seen the
practice of scrying -divination by gazing earl in a sumptuous Parisian salon with his
into shining surfaces. Nor would it be un- v j arms around another woman.
usual for a man of that era to claim second V^ / After a moment of silence, the countess
sight, an ability that many Scots still believe to be their spoke. "You have sullied the good name
birthright. The wizard of parliamentary record differs of my lord in the halls of his ancestors,
from the story's prophet in one key aspect, however / and you shall suffer the most signal ven-
He lived almost a century before the events related / geance I can inflict"— death on the pyre.
in the Coinneach Odhar legend, a fact that only / .. The earl returned from Paris as Odhar was
adds to the mystery surrounding him. / being taken to be burned alive. Upon hear-
The seer was said to have announced his ! ing the news, and knowing Odhar's words
prophecies in a manner that daunted even his de to be true, he rode off to stay the execution.
tractors, and his predictions were nothing if not dour. One Meanwhile, Odhar, who had been sure that the count-
day, while walking across a large field in Drummossie, he ess would, upon reflection, reduce the initial sentence, at
supposedly fell down and wailed, "This black moor shall be last realized that she was determined to carry out her
stained with the best blood in the Highlands. Heads will be threat. In fear and rage he is said to have cried out the
lopped off by the score, and no mercy will be shown or final prophecy that earned him the title of the Brahan
quarter given on either side." He was kneeling on Seer: "I see in the far future the doom of the race of my
Culloden Moor, the future site of the terrible massa- oppressor. I see a chief, the last of his house, both deaf
cre of the Scots during the rebellion of 1745-46. and dumb. He will be the father of four sons, all of whom he
Word of his uncanny success is said to have elevated will follow to the tomb. The remnant of his possessions
Odhar from a local curiosity to a man of great renown and shall be inherited by a white-coifed lassie from the
status. He began to predict the future, charging high fees to East, and she is to kill her sister." Isabella was
rich families on the Scottish mainland. For all his apparent so incensed by this that she ordered her men to
powers, however, Odhar's vanity may have prevented him carry out the execution by thrusting Odhar
from predicting his own demise. One day at the height of his headfirst into a barrel lined with sharp stakes
fame, he was summoned to Brahan Castle, near Dingwall, and filled with burning tar. The earl was too late
by Isabella, the wife of the third earl of Seaforth. The ear! to halt this grisly deed. A few years afterward, Isabella
was long overdue from a journey to Paris, and the countess threw herself out of the casfle tower to her death.
was beside herself with worry. She begged Odhar to use his One by one, each element of Odhar's reputed dying
powers to alleviate her fears. prophecy came to pass. An earl of Seaforth born in 1 754
According to the story, the seer gazed through his lost his hearing to scarlet fever when he was about twelve.
stone and then broke into a lewd grin. "Madam," he Each of his four sons died young, and after those trag-
said, "there is no need to worry concerning your hus- edies, he also lost his power of speech. He died on
band's welfare. He is well and merry." Isabella pressed January II, 1815, and one of his daughters re-
 home in In- scrying stone was not so much a magic talisman as it was a
turned to Scotland not long afterward from her
was dressed device that allowed a powerful intellect to focus its concen-
dia, where her husband had recently died; she
woman eventu- Nature supplied humankind's first symbols of hid-
in traditional white mourning clothes. The tration.

ally remarried, and since there were no male heirs, the

Sea- den knowledge-stones, water, flowers, birds, clouds-and
in seeking to divine messages from them, our ancestors
forth lands passed to her and her second husband One day,
was driving overturned and killed her sis- may have taken their earliest steps down the road to the
the carriage she
thus concluding the last act of the predicted tragedy. sciences of biology, geology, and even meteorology.
ter,

Many Odhars alleged prophecies came true years

of n the modern world, reading tea leaves and gazing in-

to crystal balls are two of the more familiar methods of

after his death. He supposedly predicted that the eight-ton
Petty, situated well inland, would end up in the natural divination, but there are many other traditional
Stone of
sea-as it did, after a hurricane in 1799 struck the area and techniques, each with its own title ending in "mancy,"

apparently dislodged the stone. And there are those who a suffix based on the Greek word mantis, meaning "di-

maintain that one legendary prediction may yet come to viner" or "prophet "Capnomancy is the practice of reading
pass. Coinneach Odhar is said to have foretold that "a dun portents in the way rising smoke drifts in the wind; apanto-
cow appear in Minch and will make a bellow mancy explores the significance of meeting animals -giving
hornless will

chimneys off Gairloch House. The rise, for example, to the notion that if a black cat crosses
which will knock the six

whole country will become utterly desolated, after which your path, bad luck is on way Anthropomancy, perhaps
its

the darkest art of divination through human sacrifice

deer and other wild animals shall be exterminated by horrid all, is

black rain." Some doomsayers see the dun hornless cow as Happily, most forms of natural divination seem more hi

a nuclear submarine and the bellow as a nuclear explosion zarre than sinister (page 35).

with its consequent devastation and fallout, intriguingly Divination from nature may be rooted in ancient sha-

enough, Gairloch House had no chimneys at the time of this manic rituals. For at least 25,000 years, shamans have
prophecy; today it has six. played their part as priests, magicians, and healers. Por-

One thing missing from the Brahan Seer tales is a de- traitsof entranced shamans decorate the walls of Stone

tailed discussion of Odhar's mystical blue stone. But if it fit Age caves; even today, in parts of Asia, the Arctic, and the
the pattern of other time-honored tools of divination, the Americas, these supposed magicians practice their arts.

•Jrf i<fa %/irrp'i liver \crvrd ii\ <i guide for anilcnt
' < 'tmplrx art of hcpaliiuopy, or "liver
:u,t,lrl'\ forty ^cifmcnl^, a^ well a« the raised

Aiih a different god or cicmcrtt of nature.

32
 Practicing the somewhat grisly method
of prophecy known as hamspicy, a
Gunmg shaman examines the innards
of a sacrificed chicken. For the Gurung,
a farming people living in Nepal, the
shape and color of the bird's lungs may
foretell sickness or good fortune.

Central to shamanic belief is the idea that a sacred liv-

ing spirit inhabits all of the natural world, even the stones.
Shamans undergo intense physical trials to gain an under-
standing of this force, an understanding that is said to en-
able them to discern the future. As one modern Siberian
Chukchee shaman has said: "On the steep bank of a river,

there exists life. A voice is there and speaks aloud. I saw^ the

master of the voice and spoke with him. He subjugated him-

self tome and sacrificed to me. He came yesterday and an-
swered my questions. The small gray bird with the blue
breast comes to me and sings shaman songs in the hollow
of the bough, calls her spirits, and practices shamanism."
As Western cultures developed and codified such
techniques, divination became more formal. The early
Greeks and Romans, for instance, assumed that almost ev-

ery natural event was a sign from the gods. Hence any un-
usual happening, from a hailstorm to the birth of a de-
formed calf was deemed an urgent message from on high.
To be sure, there was frequent evidence of the fallibil-

ity of divination. In one notable example, the Athenian gen-

eral Nicias was seeking in 413 BC to capture Syracuse in a

sea battle, only to be thwarted by the city's brave defenders.
On the night the Greek ships were poised to retreat, the full
moon that would have guided them home was extinguished
by an eclipse. The sailors panicked. Nicias summoned a di-
viner, but since his usual seer had recently died, he had to

rely on an unseasoned substitute who explained the eclipse

as a directive from the gods to delay the retreat for twenty-
seven days, or one cycle of the moon. Accepting his judg-
ment, the Athenians remained, only to be crushed by the
vengeful Sj^racusans. Twenty-seven thousand soldiers died,
and the remaining 13,000 ended their lives in slavery. Nicias

was killed and his body displayed on the city wall.

In ancient Rome, divination split into several distinct

functions. Chief among these was augury. Regarded at the
time as a profound science, augury was the study of eclips-
es as well as of thunder, the behavior of birds and animals,
and other natural signs, called auspices. Augurs sought di-

vine approval for the decisions and actions of society's

 A comet is said to have warned Montezuma of impending
danger shortly before the coming ofHemdn Cortes in 1519, as depicted in this
sixteenth-century illustration. Called smoking stars by the Aztecs, such
celestial fireworks were considered the gravest of portents, often seen as omens of doom.

were the most portentous Hence, northwestern lightning, this emblem, the rooster ate his way around llu- circle, the

meaning especially bad news, was greatly feared. Occa- order of the lettered segments from which it took the grain

sionally, though, the message was more direct. A bolt is spelled out the answers to augurs' questions.

said to have struck a statue of Caesar Augustus, actually Perhaps the most elaborate form of classical divina
melting the first letter of the word Caesar Since the letter C tion was the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals

wishes Called haruspicy, this practice

was the Roman numeral for 100, his augurs predicted that for signs of the gods'

he would live only 100 more days -as he supposedly did came to the Greeks and Romans from either the F.truscans
In another form of Roman augury, alcctryomancers or the earlier cultures of Babylonia and Assyria Its underly-

kept ihcir eyes on common roosters These augurs drew a ing theory was that when an animal usually a sheep or an
segments with a ox was it was absorbed by the gcxJ to which
it
circle in the dirt and divided it into pie let - sacrificed,

tcr of the alphabet in each one After they scattered feed on had been offered, creating a direct channel to the deity By

34
 opening the carcass, the haruspex presumed to peek inside
the god's mind and watch the future being created.
Their assumptions may have been dubious, but if
44 Way§oi Looking Ahead nothing else, ancient haruspices learned anatomy. In Baby-
Over the centuries an astonishing variety lonian and Etruscan ruins, archaeologists have discovered
of natural objects and occurrences have
remarkably accurate models of livers, covered v^^ith inscrip-
been used as means of divining the future.
The sampling below provides an overviews tions pertaining to gods and the heavens. Apparently, ha-
of some of the most common -and more ruspices were particularly interested in the processus pyra-
curious— modes of prophecy. midalis, the liver's pyramid-shaped projection. A large one
Aeromancy— by the observation of Myomancy— by the sounds, actions,
was taken as a sign of good tidings, but a cleft one meant
atmospheric phenomena or sudden appearance of rats or
disruptions ahead. Indeed, several days before March 15, 44
Alphitomancy-by the swallowing of mice.
a specially baked barley loaf. Nephelomancy— by the movement BC, Spurinna Vestricius, Julius Caesar's haruspex, discov-
Axinomancy— by a stone balanced and shape of clouds.
on a red-hot ax. Oenomancy— by the color, appear- ered that the liver of a sacrificed bull had no processus py-
Austromancy— by the study of ance, and taste of wines.
winds. Omphalomancy— by contemplation ramidalis at all and warned his patron to watch out for his
Botanomancy-by the burning of of one's own navel.
life. Caesar ignored this timely advice and died as predicted
briar or vervain branches. Oneiromancy— by the interpretation
Cephalomancy— by boiling a don- of dreams and night visions. on the infamous Ides of March, of twenty-three dagger
key's head, Onychomancy— by the reflection of
Ceromancy— by the observation of sunlight on fingernails. wounds inflicted by a group of his closest associates.
the shapes formed by dripping melt- Ophiomancy— by the study of ser-
ed wax into water. pents
In time, haruspices succeeded augurs as the leading
Chalcomancy-by interpreting the Ovomancy— by observing the shapes
official government diviners, but eventually both practices
tones made by striking copper or formed by dropping egg whites into
brass bowls. water degenerated into superstition, commercialism, and outright
Chresmomancy— by the utterances Phyllorhodomancy-by the sounds
of a person in a frenzy. of rose leaves clapped against the fraud. In one instance, a Greek haruspex named Soudinos,
Cromniomancy— by observing the hands.
growth of specially prepared onions. Podomancy— by study of the soles of
to encourage an army that was going into battle, inked the
Daphnomancy— by the sound of the feet
phrase "victory of the king" in reverse on his palm. When
burning laurel leaves Scapulomancy— by the markings on
Felidomancy— by the behavior and the shoulder bone of an animal. he lifted the liver out of its carcass, this war cry was "mirac-
actions of cats. Sciomancy— by the size, shape, and
Floromancy-by the study of flowers changing appearance of shadows of ulously" on the organ, spurring the soldiers to battle.
or plants. the dead
Gelomancy-by the interpretation of Selenomancy— by the phases and Whether they were indeed victorious is not recorded.
hysterical laughter. appearances of the moon.
Gyromancy— by the mutterings of Sideromancy— by the shapes formed
those exhausted by wild dancing. by dropping dry straw onto a hot Outside the centers of Mediterranean culture, less-civilized
Halomancy— by casting salt into fire
Hippomancy— by observmg the gait Splanchomancy-by examining the peoples practiced their own forms of divination In stark
of horses during ceremonial proces- entrails of sacrificial victims.
sions. Sycomancy— by the drying of fig
contrast to the Greeks and Romans, who generally conduct-
Ichthyomancy-by the examination leaves.
ed their elaborate rituals in glistening marble temples, the
of fish, living or dead. Transataumancy— by events seen or
Lithomancy— by the reflection of heard accidentally. Druids of northern Europe celebrated their mysteries deep
candlelight in precious stones Tyromancy— by the coagulation of
Lychnomancy-by watching flames of cheese in the primeval forests. In the darkling shade of spreading
three candles forming a triangle Uromancy— by inspection of urine.
Macharomancy— by swords, dag- Xylomancy— by interpreting the ap- oaks, novices were initiated into Druidical orders by tute-
gers, and knives pearance of fallen tree branches or
lage that lasted as long as twenty years.
Margaritomancy— by the action of observing the positions of burning
a charmed pearl in a covered pot logs. The Druids were the spiritual leaders of the Celts, a
Metopomancy or Metoposcopy— Zoomancy— by reports of imaginary
by the lines on a person's forehead animals, such as sea monsters. people who, before the Roman conquests, could be found in
Spain, France, Germany, Britain, and as far east as Poland
and Turkey. Celts often claimed an inherited characteristic

35
 Diviniiig among the Do^on

Sixty miles south of the river Niger, in one

of the most parched and inhospitable
regions of the earth, a West African tribe
called the Dogon has endured for more
than four centuries, largely untouched by
the passage of time As many as 300
small Dogon villages range across a
ninety-mile stretch of rocky terrain,
which is flanked to the west by
towering sandstone cliffs and to the east
by a vast, sandy plain
The Dogon have not only survived but
prospered in this challenging region,
developing a culture uniquely suited to
the burning landscape that surrounds
them But they take no personal credit for
their accomplishments, however great or
small For when hundreds of lives depend
on methods of planting and harvest or the
health of one small child is in question,
the Dogon rely on ancient methods of
divination to render the critical decisions
affecting their tribe
Their belief in prophetic powers is
evident at the festive open-air markets
held every fifth day-the final day of the
Dogon week There, village fortune-tellers

sitalongside purveyors of meats and

spices, ready to dispense wisdom For a
few coins, they will shake a handful of
cowne shells into a straw basket and read
the customer's future in the patterns.
Matters of graver import arc left to the
magical powers of the sand fox The
small, sandy-colored animals that freely
roam the surrounding desert are thought
Ama, the
to be the earthly emissaries of
supreme Dogon god To open a channel
to Ama, divmcrs etch symbols and
patterns into the sands outside their
villages, then scatter peanuts to lure the
foxes By careful reading of the creatures'
trails over the sand drawings, the Dogon

find the answers and insights that have

sustained Ihcm for generations

A nogon loilunc m(^ pliuiilly iituUt the spirited

tcllci
htihhiib <>/ nuirkct the lutuic with <i toss of his
iia\; rctulv to /otctcll
lowric shells (Inset), the smallest detail Is iiitkal to a
lareful rending. Including whether a shell lands face up or face down.

36
they called an-da-shealladh, "the two sights," but its ma-
ture exercise was a privilege reserved tor Druids.

L_^^v'
What little we know of this select class comes largely

from classical authors. Druids formed a Celtic priesthood,

responsible for passing along traditional lore, administering
justice, overseeing religious ceremonies, and performing
divinations But theRomans looked upon the priests as
primitive and abhorrent, particularly when they discovered

that Druidical methods of divination included human sacri

fice In peacetime, the Druids sacrificed pairs of white bulls,
but when at war, they dispatched captured enemies or
criminals The hapless "offerings" were confined within gi-

gantic wicker sculptures, which were then burned As the

flames mounted, the priests would calmly practice their py
romancy and anthropomancy, readmg the future in the
smoke and flames and In the screams of their victims.
As the Romans conquered more of the Celtic domain,
they tried to wipe out such practices. Later, Christian mis-
sionaries continued the effort, even ordering the wholesale
slaughter of wrens, birds prized by the Celts because their
twittcrmgs were thought to contain prophecies
ut the old ways may not have been completely
crushed by the military might of the Romans and
the weight of Christianity Some believe the most
famous of all magicians. Merlin of the King Arthur
legend, may have been a Druid who practiced as
Idtc- AD 500 Even today, members of an English cult

claiming Druid ancestry perform ancient rituals during the

summer solstice at Stonehenge, erroneously thought by
some to have been built by Druids as a ceremonial center

Druids and augurs may no longer play an important role In

society, but their divlnalory advice lives on, especially in

folk belicis about the significance of weather, plant, and an

imal omens Four-leaf clovers continue to represent good
luck, and a siork flying over a house is still supposed by
some to priKlaim an imminent pregnancy
Ancient le^' nds recount how thosewho ignored the
wisdom of animals did so at their peril On the eve of a sea

38
 On a Mexico City street comer, Lucerito the Trained
Canary selects at random a card that will reveal the fortune of a passerby
who has paid a few pesos to the bird's owner.

39
battle with the Carthaginians harbinger was taken quite

Claudius Pulcher, a head- seriously in the eighteenth

strong Roman naval com- century. As the Englishman

mander, chose to ignore a Duncan Campbell wrote

rather pointed animal omen art of reading coffee grounds, demonstrated by these
The scornfully in 1732, "How
Frenchwomen In 1909, is similar to that of reading tea leaves. The
The sacred chickens on his sediment Is the key; ancient Romans read the dregs of wine. many people have 1 seen in

ship stopped eating. "Throw the most terrible palpitations,

the damn chickens into the sea!" he shouted. "If they won't for months together, expecting every hour the approach of

eat, let them drink!" The Roman sailors followed their lead- some calamity, only by a little worm which breeds in an old
er's bidding and were badly beaten by the Carthaginians. wainscot, and, endeavoring to eat its way out, makes a

movement
"

Long after formalized augury died out, the behavior of noise like the of a watch

birds mterested omen watchers In England, for instance, Ideas about the supposed wisdom of plants have also

ravens still have special significance A family of them has persisted into modern times Many people, for example, still

occupied the Tower of London for centuries, and it is gen- believe that laurel thrown on a fire portends good if it

erally supposed that if they ever fly off, the royal family will crackles and evil if it burns silently-a notion that may be
die out By the same token, it is said that Britain's dominion rooted in the days of the Roman Empire, when there was a

over the fortress of Gibraltar will end if the native popula laurel grove in the capital composed of trees planted by

tion of Barbary apes deserts the rocky peninsula each emperor as he ascended to the throne But in AD 68,

Many people still believe animals to be prescient and the last year of Emperor Nero's life, the entire grove with

their actions full of divmatory significance Such beliefs may ered and died, heralding the demise of the line of Caesars
be fostered by the fact that many animals have far greater The use of plants in divination was formalized in the
powers of sight, hearing, and smell than humans do Dogs, mid eighteenth century when the Frenchman Rinoir Mon-
for example, are supposed to be able to predict the death of taire, a professor at the University of Lyons, devised a brief

their masters, but perhaps they are merely detecting subtle ly popular system known as the Floral Oracle His clients

chemical changes in the body, it may be that the supposed chose fiowers from a large bouquet, their selections sup
psychic power of these loyal pets is nothing more than a posedly showing underlying characters and future careers
keen sense of smell The thistle, not surprisingly, denoted a surly temperament,

Even insects are said to have powers of foresight The while a scarlet geranium, for more obscure reasons, re-

(1 illcd deathwalch beetle was once be vealed stupidity The subject who picked an apple blossom
li' iih m the home it infested This alleged would become a lawyer, a lily pointed toward politics.

40
 Among the most sought-after forms of divination are And many Americans still believe that when the woolly ca-

those that predict the weather. Even in the technologically terpillar's brown band is wide, a mild winter lies ahead.
advanced twentieth century, accurate weather prediction is In the words of one weather researcher, most such be-
important; in previous eras, more affected by the whims of liefs "crumple by the weight of their own demerit" when
nature, it was a vital skill. Forecasters of old scrutinized ev- tested. But not all of them are inaccurate. Unlike other
erything from the behavior of heavenly bodies to the appe- forms of divinafion, which presuppose a certain degree of
tites of fleas for clues to the next day's rain or shine. blind faith, the objective validity of some of these natural

On occasion, such predictions threw whole societies indicators has been examined by scientists. Biologists claim

into turmoil. In one such case, an almanac published in that birds do in fact fly closer to the ground before a storm,
1499 by one Johannes Stoffler predicted that a planetary just as folklore has it. It seems they find the low-pressure air

convergence on February 2, 1524, would cause a European preceding a storm uncomfortable and seek lower altitudes
reenactment of Noah's flood. As the date approached, as where the pressure is more to their liking.

many as 137 pamphlets on the coming disaster were in cir- Indeed, the raw materials of meteorology- tempera-
culation. The people of Toulouse, France, built and stocked ture, humidity, air pressure, and wind speed-can all be dis-

enormous arks. The margrave of Brandenburg, Germany, cerned by keen observers of nature without complicated in-

collected a number of fellow citizens and retreated to the struments. Mare's tails (wispy cloud trails) usually precede

hilltop of Kreuzberg, near Berlin-only to climb down again a warm front, while cold fronts are often signaled by a
after it became clear that no flood would occur. mackerel sky (bunches of puffy, altocumulus clouds).
For all of the technology and human energy devoted And Jesus' declaration to the Pharisees, "When it is

to it, modern meteorology is still a young and uncertain sci- evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red," is

ence. The first barometer, built by Galileo's student Evange- still valid. Actually, the red referred to in many sayings

lista Torricelli in the seventeenth century, could indicate is closer to pink, for pink sunsets signal dry weather ahead,

weather trends for just a day or two in advance, and even the color being caused by sunlight passing through dust.

today's meteorologists, equipped with many more- The light of a blood-red sunset shines through water vapor,
sophisticated instruments, will admit that the soundness of a sign of wet weather to come.
their forecasts diminishes to zero for predictions made ecognizing that such sayings are often accurate,
more than five to ten days in advance. scientists have augmented their earthquake re-

Given the gap between the desire for perfect weather search with serious studies of folklore, including
forecasts and the means to achieve them, it is no surprise the observation of abnormal animal behavior and
that weather folklore has survived through the ages. One other changes in nature as a means of early

time-honored method relies on a calendar of predicfions quake detection. In China, for example, where earthquakes

based on saints' days. According to this system, if there is a are frequent and often devastating, the government has en-
frost on Saint Sulpicius's day (January 17), it will be a fine listed as many as 100,000 amateur earthquake watchers,

spring, whereas if Saint Vincent's day (January 22) is sunny, who monitor warning signs such as shifting water levels.

the following season will be good for wine crops. Also sur- That such traditional signs can be valid indicators of
viving are hundreds of folk sayings based on the behavior of impending seismic upheavals was amply shown in early

virtually every common animal. "When cockroaches fly, 1975, when seismologists measuring vibrations within the

rain will come," claims one adage. "Sharks swim out to sea earth found evidence that a major quake would strike near

when a wave of cold weather approaches," says another. the port city of Yingkow. At about the same time, local citi-
zens began to witness nature's own indicators: Wells bub-

bled, rats and mice staggered around in the open as if

drugged, and snakes emerged from their winter holes to
freeze to death on the surface. On February 4-as anoma-
lous animal behavior increased along with seismic activi-
ty-the citizens of Yingkow were evacuated. That evening,
a monstrous earthquake demolished the city.

As tempting as may be to ascribe psychic powers to

it

animals, more mundane explanations may serve. Under

certain atmospheric conditions, for example, human beings

can hear particularly loud sounds from 600 miles away. An

animal with much better hearing than humans may well

sense the sound waves of breaking earthquakes while they

are still rumbling deep below the earths crust.

Most people living in earthquake zones would surely feel

more confident relying for their warnings on the work of

scientists rather than on the antic behavior of snakes, rats,

and mice; reliance on natural omens to predict the weather

has also waned. At the same time, however, divination
through observing natural occurrences has evolved into
more symbolic forms, involving the supposedly psychic
powers of the human mind.

technique is known as lasseography, or more

humbly, lea leaf reading The practice is thought to
have evolved from the more venerable geomancy—
divination through the patterns of shifting sand or
pebbles cast on the ground. Along with tea drinking
itself, the art may have been born in ancient China,
but the modern world came to know through the it

tea loving British Today, Ireland is said to boast the

best contemporary tea readers, and even some Irish

Catholic priests have their tea leaves read on occa-

sion-though all in a spirit of fun
II il)c United States, tasseography is often practiced in the
ubiquitous Gypsy tearooms of larger cities, where a hostess

provides an indifferent meal and a cup of tea before per-

forming a reading These shamelessly commercial cstab
lishmcnts have given tea leaf reading a tawdry reputation
For example, the reputed psychic Eileen Garrett, who re

mained skeptical about most forms of fortune-telling, re-

counted in one of her books the talc of a lonely country

schoolteacher who came to New York in the early part of
Rearing horses, panicked pigs and fowl, and leaping psh may be several times and turn it upside down into its saucer. Wait a
harbingers of an earthquake, according to four scenes taken from a
modem Chinese educational poster (opposite). Scientists there take few moments for the liquid to drain out, then lift the cup,
heed of these and other natural omens, such as irregularities in well turn it over, and examine the pattern of leaves that should
water (above), to help anticipate and prepare for major tremors.
be clinging to the interior.

this century and had her tea leaves read. During the sitting, Look for the shapes of familiar images in the scattered

the reader picked up clues that her client held a secret pas- leaves. Said to portend future events, the more obvious
sion for her happily married local minister. Playing on the ones include an airplane (an imminent journey), an angel
teacher's hidden desires, the reader hinted that the leaves (good tidings), a beehive (prosperity), and a mountain (ei-

indicated the minister's wife was engaged in an extramari- ther an obstacle or great ambition). Some of the more ob-
tal affair. This information apparently goaded the teacher scure images are opera glasses (a quarrel), a kangaroo (do-

into sending anonymous warning notes to the minister, mestic harmony), a saucepan (anxiety), and a steeple (a

thereby causing a great scandal. Eventually she was driven setback). Mice or rats mean danger or bad financial news,

to confess what she had done and was forced to leave both which grows worse with the length of their tails.

her job and her community. In addition to displaying such portents, McKinnie be-
To be sure, would-be subjects of a tasseography ses- lieves, the distribution of the leaves within the cup says
sion can avoid the risk of being thus manipulated by read- something about the seeker's personality. Leaves spread
ing their own tea leaves. In a recent book on the subject, evenly all around the cup denote an outgoing optimist; one
seasoned leaf reader Ian McKinnie-who practices his art in large clump at the bottom indicates a stick-in-the-mud.
Santa Rosa, California-explained the technique. He recom- McKinnie claims much success in his tasseographical

mends starting with the right sort of tea: English breakfast- career. In one case, he says, the leaves enabled him to pre-

loose tea, not tea bags. (In a pinch, coffee grounds can be dict that a high-school friend of his daughter would become
substituted for tea leaves.) Brew the tea and pour it with a night attendant, marry her current boyfriend, and move to
some of the leaves into a plain bone-china cup. After drink- Australia -all three of which she eventually did.

ing all but the last half-teaspoonful, swirl the cup around Because its perceived omens are so subjective, tas-

43
 In 1 935 a vision In the sacred lake o/Lhamo Latso
reportedly guided a Tibetan council to their new spiritual ruler; the fourteenth
Dalai Lama (right) was only two years old at the time.
seography is most often— and perhaps revealed on the surface of the water.
most appropriately— treated as enter- Despite— or perhaps because of-
tainment rather than a serious attempt scrying's widespread acceptance in an-
at divination. As a dubious Eileen Gar- cient times, early Christian leaders
rett once put it: "Have you ever really were dead set against it. Saint Patrick
looked at wet tea leaves? ... 1 must declared that any Christians who be-
confess that to my jaundiced eye, they lieved demons could be seen in mirrors

reveal very little .... What astute juris- would be expelled from the Church un-
diction is to decide w^hether that wiggly til they repented. Even so, the Middle
line of leaves is a snake, the symbol of Ages continued to foster scrying of all

evil, or a serpentine line, the symbol of fortune? ... To get sorts, and scryers used every aid from fingernails to swords.
any picture out of them at all requires a most abundantly Roger Bacon, the thirteenth-century British scholar

fertile imagination." and mystic, was reported to possess a glass "of excellent

'^'^^ ossibly the most pervasive form of natural divina- nature, that any man might beholde any thing that he de-

^ ^m '•'°'^

presumes
'^ known
to
as scrying,
plumb
in which a practitioner
the depths of hidden knowl-
sired to see, within the

him." (Some historians

compass of
now
fifty miles round about
believe that this legend may
edge by concentrating on a smooth, clear, or re- have grown out of Bacon's studies of optics.) L^ter in his

flective surface. Derived from the old word descry, life, however, Bacon was imprisoned for some of his occult
meaning to catch sight of, scrying takes many forms. An- practices, as well as for his attacks on established theolo-
cient Greeks practiced hydromancy, or scrying in the waters gians and scholars of the time. And in 1467, when one Wil-
of a spring, such as the one in front of the goddess Deme- liam Byg of Yorkshire confessed that he had used a crystal
ter's sanctuary. To see the fate of a sick person, hydroman- in order to find his neighbors' stolen property, he was
cers lowered a mirror on a string to the water's surface, forced to march to the Cathedral of Saint Peter at York, re-

letting it graze the water. When they pulled the mirror back cant, and burn his books.

up and looked at it, they supposedly would see the image of Virtually every kind of smooth or reflective object has
the person as either dead or living. been used for scrying, including the simple stone of Coin-
Gastromancy was another form of scrying. According neach Odhar, the Brahan Seer. Others have claimed to use

to the sixth-century philosopher Damascius, gastromancers the back of a watch, a door lock, an eggshell, and soap bub-
"filled certain round glasses with fair water, about which bles. One contemporary scryer says he has employed a
they placed lighted torches, then invoked the question to be blank television screen, a radiator, the outside of a black
solved. At length, the demon answered by reflections from coffee cup, and even his own highly polished shoes.
the water representing what should come to pass." For sheer potency, however, no scrying tool outdoes
In ancient India, warriors often practiced cylicomancy, the alleged powers of the familiar yet enigmatic crystal ball.

peering into a vessel of water before heading into battle, if And no crystal gazer has cut a more dramatic swath
they saw their reflections, they knew they would return. Ta- through history than the Englishman John Dee— mathema-
hitians claimed to use cylicomancy to track down robbers tician, philosopher, and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I.

After digging a hole in the earthen floor of a burglarized The son of a minor palace official in the court of Henry
house, the cylicomancer would fill the space with water, Viii, Dee was an exceptional student who entered Cam-
pray to a deity, and wait for the image of the culprit to be bridge University when he was fifteen. Although he claimed

45
to study a full eighteen hours a day, Dee once took time out the great angel, Uriel." The spirit reportedly handed Dee a
to build an intricate prop for a school play: a high flying crystal "most bright, most clear and glorious, of the bigness

beetle that carried the hero of a Greek drama up to the ceil- of an egg" and informed him that by gazing at it he could

ing The audience was reputedly so terrified by the specta- communicate with otherworldly spirits, lohn Dee was en-

cle that a number of them jumped up during the perform- raptured by this prospect, but in spite of the angels prom-

ance shouting, "Sorcerer!" ise, he had little luck at scrying with this "shew-stone."

ee excelled at Cambridge and was named Under The scientist resorted to employing others to do the actual
reader (junior faculty member) before taking his scrying, conversing directly with the spirits, while he kept

degree After graduating he traveled to the Conti- scrupulous notes

nent to continue his studies, achieving overnight Unfortunately Dees scryers were less scrupulous than

fame in Paris at the age of twenty-three, when he he. The one with him the longest was Edward Kelley. A
delivered a series of lectures on the recently exhumed classic Renaissance scoundrel, Kelley was an erstwhile

works of the Greek mathematician Euclid. Like other classi- lawyer who had already had his ears cropped for counter-

cal sciences, mathematics had languished in Europe during feiting before he met Dee. He also stood accused of necro-
the Middle Ages, and it continued to possess an air of magic mancy-the practice of using dead bodies for divination.

and forbidden knowledge in the sixteenth century Dee's Kelley was unquestionably a charlatan, but his at-
lectures caused a sensation, and thousands of students tempts at scrying with Dee may well have been honest -at

packed the lecture hall and scaled the outside walls in order least at the beginning. Gazing into the glass, he reported to

to listen to them Dee that "in the middle of the stone seemeth to stand a little

After returning to England in 1551, Dee met the future round thing like a spark of fire, and it increaseth, and it seem-
Queen Elizabeth while she was being held under house ar- eth to be as a globe of twenty inches diameter, or there

rest by Queen Mary. The two developed a friendship that about." In this glowing central sphere, Kelley claimed to
lasted for the rest of their lives. As queen, Elizabeth gave raise a host of spiritual beings who attempted, among other

Dee money and eventually a royal assignment as warden of things, to teachDee "Enochian," the language spoken by
Christ's College in Manchester More importantly, she pro- angels and the inhabitants of the Garden of Eden In fact.
tected him from those who accused him of witchcraft She Dee's alleged Enochian records are elaborate enough to
even set the date for her coronation in 1558 according to his have convinced some credulous readers that they repre
astrological calculations sentcd a genuine pre Hebraic language But at least one re-

Dee's house in Mortlake, near Ijandon, was for many searcher has suggested that Enochian was a code Dee used
years a major center of science in England. Dee salvaged to transmit messages from overseas to Queen Elizabeth in
many ancient scientific tomes that had been scattered when his alleged capacity as a founding member of the English

Roman Catholic churches and monasteries were ransacked secret service

during the Reformation, and his own library of more than Dees avid interest in crystallomancy seems to have
4,000 books may have been the largest of its kind in Europe been merely part of his driving intellectual quest to under
at the time stand the secrets of the natural world To his restless mind,
In the year 1581 however, John Dec's
, life swerved on there was no distinction between magic and science
to an entirely new path He later wrote of how, as he knelt knowledge was knowledge, and who belter than angels to

in prayer late one autumn evening, "there suddenly glowed provide it' The sly Kelley, on the other hand, was more in

d dazzling light, in the midst of which, in all his glory, stood tercsted in acquiring instant wealth through alchemy, espe

46
 Catherine de Medids watches in wonder as, in this idealized
1887 engraving, the famed prophet Nostradamus causes the royal destinies of her sons to
appear in a mirror. The Queen of France regularly consulted
the seer, who probably censored his forecasts to suit her expectations.

cially by way of the long-sought secret of transforming base hoped to learn the secret of alchemy. When Kelley failed to
metal into gold. In pursuit of both ideals, Dee and Kelley provide it, he was thrown into prison on charges of sorcery
eventually made their way to Poland in 1 583 at the request and fraud. In 1 593 he tried to escape by climbing down from
of Count Albert Laski, who hoped they would help him mas- a high window, but his improvised ladder of bedsheets gave
ter the alchemical sciences. way under his considerable bulk, and he fell, breaking many
By this time, Edward Kelley seemed to have Dee firmly bones. He died the next day.
under his control, but one day he finally took things too far. Dee's fortunes were not much better. His patron Eliza-
On April 18, 1587, he announced that the crystal had or- beth died in 1603, He tried two other scryers, both dishon-
dered the pair to share their wives. So dependent was Dee est, and finally ended up, in the words of the biographer
on Kelley that he and his wife actually signed an agreernent John Aubrey, as a beaten old man with "a long beard as
to do so. Whether the pact was ever consummated is un- white as milke, tall and slender, who wore a gowne with
clear, but soon afterward the Dees returned -without Kel- hanging sleeves." He earned a pittance telling fortunes and
ley -to England. even sold his beloved books, one by one, in order to eat.

The irrepressible Kelley then moved on to Prague at Dee died in 1608, his dreams of sublime knowledge long
the invitation of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, who also since dashed. He did, however, gain a measure of immortal-
The smofy-quartz globe at left was one of
a number of crystal balls used by the
sixteenth-centuty English scientist and
astrologer John Dee. Dee relied on others,
most notably the unscrupulous Edward
Kelley, to do his viewing. It was Kelley who
allegedly saw a vision instructing Dee to
prepare a wax talisman upon which to rest
his crystal ball (left, bottom); carved into the
wax were a cross and other sacred markings
apparently intended to ward off evil spirits.

ity: Some believe he may have served as

the model for Shakespeare's Prospero,
the learned sorcerer of The Tempest.
Among all the means of scrying,
crystallomancy has continued to hold
center stage. And like so many other
forms of the occult, it flourished in the
late-nineteenth-century heyday of spiri-
tualism. One more colorful crystal
of the
gazers of that era was Nell St. John Mon-
tague, an Englishwoman whose autobi-
ography. Revelations of a Society Clairvoy-
ante, shows a flair for the thrilling tale.
Montague was born in India not
long before the turn of the century, the
daughter of Major General C. B. Lucie-

Smith. Her favorite childhood toy, she

wrote, was a crystal ball given to her by
her Indian nurse. One day when she was
about five years old, Montague related,
she was gazing when it sud-
into the ball

denly seemed to move and become shapeless. "In its room. "Then to show the truth of her words she ap-
place," according to Montague, "came a thick black mist proached the bed. As she did so, a loud cry broke from the
which seemed to spread, enveloping all the space before sentry's lips, and with wonderful courage he pushed her
me. Then slowly in the blackness 1 saw reflected the interior aside and sprang forward, his bayonet uplifted to strike the
of my mother's bedroom, and my eyes became focused up- cobra which had suddenly darted out, and reared up with
on the blue embroidered dressing-gown laid on the bed inflated hood."
ready for her to put on. . . . My mother was approaching the rom then on, according to Montague, her parents
bed, her hands outstretched to pick the garment up, when, believed firmly in her powers, and she went on to a
almost paralysed with horror, I saw something uncoil itself lifetime of successful scrying in Europe. Once, she
from amongst the soft silkfolds. A wild shriek broke from claimed, while giving a reading for a naval officer,
me, and I dropped the ball, as the concealed cobra darted she peered into her crystal and saw several blood-
out and reared to strike." spattered women, their clothes ripped from their bodies.

The terrifled young girl ran for comfort to her mother, Fearing that her client was or would be a murderer, she
who assumed that her child's screams resulted from a nonetheless told him of her vision. About a year later, he
nightmare. Hoping to ease her fears, Mrs. Lucie-Smith sum- wrote to inform her that the vision had come true, that the

moned a sentry, and the three went to the bedroom to in- women were in fact earthquake victims from Messina, Italy,

vestigate. As Montague told the story, her mother told her taken aboard his vessel in a rescue effort. On another occa-
to look and assure herself that there was no snake in the sion, an Englishwoman living in India wrote and asked for a
reading, enclosing a letter from her young son. Montague and unwanted intluences. It must also be spotless and un-

placed the letter against her crystal ball and saw an image scratched so that imperfections will not distract the scryer.

of three boys being mistreated by a "vile-looking" clergy- One age-old cleaning technique calls for boiling it in a five-

man. Informed of the vision, the woman expressed some to-one mixture of water and brandy for fifteen minutes and

surprise, noting that her son, a student at an English board- then drying it with a chamois cloth. For a few days before

ing school, had described in his letters the warm, loving scrying, says another author, one should also purify one's

care he was receiving. Not long afterward, according to thoughts through positive thinking, one's body through fre-

Montagues account, she herself discovered the boarding quent baths, and one's insides by a judicious diet.

school -conveniently located next door to a good friend of A dimly lit room is ideal for the reading. The orb
hers-and boy from the clutches of the abusive
liberated the should be surrounded by dark, heavy cloth -such as vel-

headmaster. Montague continued her readings until she vet -to cutdown on distracting reflections, and it should be
was killed in a Worid War II London air raid -presumably viewed from about a foot away. Some scryers recommend
having failed to foresee her violent end. passing one's hands over the ball to increase its power and

Nell Montague and other scryers of her era inspired sensitivity Others suggest trying to look at the crystal and

many amateurs, who were further encouraged when the re- through it at the same time in order to temporarily short-

nowned English psychic researcher Frederic W, H Myers circuit normal eyesight and induce so-called inner vision.

one twenty people had Within about five minutes, if the scryer is successful,
estimated in the late 1800s that in

scrying abilities And a number of books published at the the ball will supposedly become opaque and milky, as if

time drew on traditional sources to describe the proper clouds are passing through it. When the clouds disperse,

techniques for those who wished to try crystal gazing. images may form. They might appear as a single static im-
he tract Crysial Gazing and Clairvoyance, published age, in a series like a slide show, or as a full blown movie-

in 1896 by John Melville, prescribed an elaborate like presentation

scrying ritual that required equally elaborate para- If no images are forthcoming, one might be able to

phernalia-including an ivory or ebony stand for read portents in the clouds alone. According to Melville,

the ball, inlaid with magic words in raised golden whose interpretations are still widely accepted, white ones

letters In proper Victorian fashion, Melville insisted that the mean yes or good tidings, while black are, of course, bad

scryer must consecrate all of the implements and repeat a news Bright colors like red and yellow signal unpleasant
long and pious Christian invocation He also issued a stern surprises, while blue and green poriend coming joy.

warning to any scryer with evil intentions: "When he or she The solid images that appear in a crystal ball are said

uses the crystal . . il will react upon the seer sooner or later to be more difficult to interpret objectively, because they
" each person Thus an airplane
with temble effect have different meanings for

Modern day scryers are less formal and less fearful could mean either an impending journey or an unconscious
than Melville, but their recommendations for successful desire to get away from an uncomfortable situation

scrying are still complex According to one author, the ball Most scryers emphasize that the ball acts not as a tele-

should be round or oval and about four inches in diameter scope into the unknown but as a means of tbcusing their
A natural crystal Is preferred, although glass is less expen- attention and sharpening innate ability. As Miss Angus, a

sive and perfectly acceptable scryer of the late 1800s, explained, "The moment the vision

Ideally, the orb should be kept in the dark and always comes the hall seems to disappear, so it is dilTicult for me to

in the same place, to avoid extreme temperature changes say if my pictures arc actually seen in the crystal'

50
 While occultists would argue that the crystal some- nifying a change in employment) might indicate that the

how helps its users harness paranormal powers, psycholog- questioner is thinking of starting a business

ical theory offers another explanation for scrying, suggest- Diviners such as Ursula Markham can rarely provide

a form of retrieving and projecting knowledge solid evidence that their techniques actually work, in the
ing that it is

buried in the subconscious. The following experience, relat- final analysis, the efficacy of her stone readings and of tea-

ed by the English psychical researcher and scryer Ada leaf readings and scrying must rely on faith: A questioner

Goodrich Freer, seems to support this notion. "The crystal who believes that a certain form of divination works will be

had nothing more attractive to show me than the combina- inclined to find evidence that it has. And as Eileen Garrett, a

tion 7694," she wrote of one of her sessions. "1 laid aside woman who claimed remarkable psychic abilities, once

the crystal and took up my banking-book, which 1 had cer- suggested, many diviners and other psychic readers are, if

tainly not seen for some months, and found, to my surprise, nothing else, at least willing to take the time to listen to

that the number on the cover was 7694." their clients, something that physicians, the clergy, and

In a somewhat similar vein, a number of children and even professional counselors frequently do not do.
some adults exhibit a capacity called eidetic imagery-the evertheless she sounded a skeptical, cautionary

ability to stare at an object or scene and then mentally note: "Modern man, like his primitive ancestors,"

project it onto a wall or other suitable screen. This could she wrote, "still pays homage to the soothsayer

account for the fact that in ancient cultures young children who can offer a reassuring word and a bright fu

were often used as scryers. The images they saw in the mir- ture And am
I afraid that that is about all that most

water may have been projections of images in crystal gazers can supply, whether the bright future is there
ror or the

their memories or imaginations. or not. The lights are low, the price is high; the atmo-

In recent years, crystals and other stones have gained sphere is dim and the future is bright But that future de
"
a considerable reputation as mystical objects, allegedly use- pends on what you do and not on the da/zling crystal
ful for healing and meditation as well as divination. Ursula On the other hand, the time honored tradition of inter
Markham, a British medium, developed her own system of preting natural signs -observing the behavior of birds or

'gemology, employing many semiprecious stones instead the shape of clouds-can in fact yield scientifically valid in-

of a single crystal orb formation Few today would deny that animals, plants, and

For divination, Markham suggests collecting a wide the atmosphere itself form an interwoven ecological entity,

variety of stones, at least forty These include labradorite, of which one part may give clues to the whole And the
signifying a place overseas, iron pyrite, or fools gold, signi ancients, most of whom lived closer to the land than mod
lying mistrust or deception; purple agate, emblem of emo- em people, may have learned much about nature that we
tional sensitivity, green jasper, for unrequited love, and per retain only as quaint nuggets of folklore
haps most important, aquamarine, warning of a cool, In any case, we still exhibit a strong appetite for divi

logical client who doubts the validity of crystal readings nation of many sorts We may no longer inspect animal en

For her readings. Markham sits opposite the question trails for clues to what lies ahead, but many of us slill atleiul

er with her collection of stones In a velvet tray between crystal readings, stroll into Gypsy tearooms, or hang on ev
them The questioner picks out nine stones, and Markham ery word of the long range weather forecast Uke all mor
divines thrir portent according to the choice and the order tals since the emergence of humankind, we fret about the

in which Ihcy were chosen For example, a tiger's eye future and yearn for signs of hope, for g(X)d things to come
(meaning independence) followed by a turritella agate (sig- and for bad things to slay away

52
 PorfcnfsinfhePalm

i, or thousands of years, in diverse

cultures, people have believed that an individual's destiny is pre-
viewed in the hands, that every palm, from the time of birth, holds
in its ov\^nunique network of mounts and valleys, lines and mark-
ings, the key to life's potential. It is also said that as the person
matures, significant events in his or her life will be reflected in the
palm. But these markers of the past and guideposts to the future
are usually indecipherable to all but a few— those who can suppos-
edly divine the course of someone's life through palm reading.
Palmistry has changed little over time. Its proponents claim
that it enables people to understand themselves better. It may also
reveal inherent strengths and weaknesses in character— useful
knowledge when facing life's challenges— and provide clues as to
how one's nature can affect health, career, and relationships. But
most of all, many palmists contend, hand analysis enables people
to make choices that will bring them pleasure and self-fulfillment.
In a reading, palmists usually compare the subject's right and
lefthands. The lines and overall form of the so-called passive hand
are thought to reflect one's innate potential, while those of the
dominant hand— typically the one used for writing— are said to re-
veal choices the individual has made and what may lie ahead. A
thorough palmist generally discerns from the hand's shape and
markings a likely life pattern, a set of tendencies, or particular
events that may occur. Some of the features from which palmists
gather information are examined on the next pages.

53
 ObscivingflieHand
personality analysis is based on the appear- rectangular or square, with either long or short fingers. Fin-
In palmistry,

Among the various factors taken gers are considered long if the middle finger (called the Sat-
ance of the entire hand.
hand urn finger in palmistry) is at least as long as the palm itself,
into account in this overview, the basic form of the is

particularly important. and short if that finger falls short of the palm's length.

Hands are often classified as one of four types, named Other factors that contribute to the hand's appearance

by some practitioners of the art to correspond to the tradi- are the shapes of the fingertips and the placement and flex'

elements of nature-air, earth, water, and fire. ibility of the thumb (opposite page). To analyze the shape of
tional four

The classifications are based on the shape of the palm and your own hand, trace its outline on paper, then compare the

the length of the fingers in relation to it. Palms are typically drawing to those shown here.

THE AIR HAND is characterized by

long fingers and a square palm etched
with many fine lines. People with air hands
tend to be expressive, emotionally stable,
and intellectually curious. They may gravi-
tate toward professions involving commu-
nication, such as writing, education, or
public relations

THE EARTH HAND, signified by a

deeply lined square palm and short fin-

gers, may refiect a serious, practical per-

son who delights in physical activity

These individuals tend to enjoy manual
occupations, such as carpentry, farming,
and working with machinery.

rf
r
THE WATER HAND, with its long fin-

gers cxtendmg from a finely lined rectan-

gular palm, often reveals a sensitive, cre-

ative, quiet personality. Studious or
relatively low-pressure occupations -such
as research, office work, or retail sales-
may appeal to these Individuals.
/
THE FIRE HAND, recognized by its
shorl fingers and rectangular palm filled
with clear lines, denotes an energetic, im-
petuous person People who have fire
hands seem drawn to professions that in-
volve challenge, risk, and creativity, such
as medicine, law enforcement, or the arts

64
> r
 -

A Variety Of BngcTflps
The shape of an individual's fingertips, joint and then flare to a wide tip

palmists maintain, provides further are known as spatulate. Individuals

insight into his or her character. There with spatulate fingertips are usually
are four distinct fingertip shapes considered to be independent,
conic, round, square, and spatulate. energetic, and enthusiastic; they love
Conic fingertips, which taper off action everywhere in their lives, even
almost to a point, imply a sensitive seeking it in the books and other
and impulsive nature, as well as a love materials they read. These generally
of art and beauty. The individual may down-to-earth personalities often
also be highly intuitive, relying more make true and loyal friends.

on that gift than on powers of reason. Palmists observe that some fingertip

A well-balanced disposition is shapes are typically associated with

usually denoted by round fingertips. certain hand types. Individuals with

This individual adapts easily to change, water hands, for example, frequently
is receptive to new ideas, and reacts to possess conic fingertips, while square
situations with equal measures of fingertips are commonly found on
mental and emotional reasoning. individuals with air hands.
People with square fingertips tend to A mixture of one or more fingertip
thrive on order and and to
regularity shapes on an individual's hand is
express themselves clearly and with also common. These so-called mixed
confidence. They desire security and hands suggest a person who is
stability for themselves as well as for versatile, adapts quite easily to new
their loved ones. situations, and may excel in a variety

Fingertips that are narrow at the first of occupations.

>
—— _

Vhc Revealing Thumb

The thumb is regarded by some palm-
ists as the key to personality. It is

thought to reveal so much, in fact, that

some Hindu palmists study only the
thumb when analyzing an individual's
character. Most practitioners of palm-
istry, however, insist on weighing the
1 \ thumb's length, placement,
and flexibility in relation to
the entire hand.
In general, the
thumb reveals an
individual's ener-

gy level and strength

of will. A long
thumb, reaching
past the knuckle
of the index, or
Jupiter, finger, may indicate a
forceful personality and an abun-
dance of energy. Someone with a short
thumb may lack self-confidence and
have little ability to complete projects.
The thumb's significance is also
affected by its placement on the hand.
 MOUNT OF JUPITER. At the base of
Minding Oic Mounts the index linger, themount of Jupiter re-
veals an individuals degree of self-
The most thorough readings by professional palmists may confidence, social sense, and leadership
ability. If the mount is well developed,
Include an analysis of the palm's mounts, the fleshy pads
healthy measures of assertiveness and
found at the base of the thumb and each finger and on the
ambition are indicated, as well as an even
outer edges of the palm. The larger the mount and the more temper, generosity, and self-assurance.
directly it is centered under the corresponding finger, the An unusually strong mount may tip the

supposed influence on the personality. Promi- scales toward vanity, narcissism, and an
greater its
overbearing attitude However, if the
nent bulges are considered strong or highly developed
prominent mount is modified by factors in
mounts, while those that are flat or only slightly raised are the lines and fingers, the individual may
judged normal or well developed. A depression in the palm simply exhibit strong leadership skills. An
weak mount. underdeveloped mount may suggest a
instead of a fleshy pad constitutes a
poor self-image, lack of respect for author-
itv, and a tendencv toward idleness

MOUNT OF SATURN. Found at the

base of the middle, or Saturn, finger, this
mount governs the introspective aspect of
the personality. A well-developed Saturn
mount reveals an independent nature, that
of a person who enjoys solitude as well as
the company of others. Self-awareness
and emotional balance are indicated, as
are fidelity and prudence.
A highly developed mount may indicate
an unhealthy tendency toward self-
absorption And lack of a Saturn mount
may denote indecisiveness, a pessimistic
tendency, and a poor sense of humor.

MOUNT OF APOLLO. This mount, lo-

cated at the base ol the Apollo, or ring, fin-

ger, is said to govern all forms of creativity.

A well-developed mount implies strong ar-
tistic abilities and a love of beauty These
talents may not apply solely to the fine arts
but may also include culinary expertise or
other forms of expression A prominent
Apollo mount may signify a tendency to-

ward extravagance and materialism as

well as vanity and self-indulgence Low
physical energy, a lack of aesthetic values,
and a disregard for creative pursuits may
stem from a weak Apollo mount.

MOUNT OF MERCURY. Communica-

tion IS ruled by the mount of Mercury, at
the base of the pinkie A well -developed
mount implies d talent lor self-expression
and a A large mount has
lively disposition

no negative connotations, but an underdc

vclopcd one may mean a lack of business
acumen and difllculty communicating A
mount with short, straight lines may de-
note a canng, compassionate nature

66
 LOWER MOUNT OF MARS. This MOUNT OF VENUS. A f]eshy ball at
fleshy area located just inside the thumb the base of the thumb, the mount of Venus
joint is considered a barometer of the indi- is considered bysome to be the seat of ba-
vidual's assertive nature and ability to sic emotions. This mount is said to indi-
overcome obstacles. A normal mount indi- cate physical and sexual energy, an appre-
cates courage and aggressiveness; an ciation of beauty and the arts, and the
overdeveloped mount may indicate a hot ability to loveand be loved.
temper as well as an abundance of sexual A firm and rounded mount of Venus
passion. A weak lower mount of suggests compassion, sincerity, warmth,
Mars suggests a quiet, and vitality, as well as a love of the out-
passive nature and ti- doors. An overdeveloped mount, especial-
midity in the face ly one with reddish skin color, reveals
of challenge. physical energy and sexual passion, and a
healthy appetite for food and drink. An in-

dividual with a small or weak Venus

mount may suffer delicate health, a lack of
exuberance and intensity, and perhaps a
lack of sensitivity. Frequently, palmists
say, a strong love relationship can cause
this mount to increase in size.

UPPER MOUNT OF MARS. Located MOUNT OF LUNA. A well-developed

justbeneath the Mercury mount, the upper mount of Luna, located opposite the Venus
mount of Mars reportedly measures an in- mount and just above the wrist, suggests a
dividual's determination and resistance. A balance between imagination and reality
firm, well-formed mount reveals courage, and a love of peace and harmony. The
self-reliance, and a somewhat stubborn more fully developed the mount, the great-
nature. An extremely large mount might er the individual's gift of intuition and
indicate inflexibility and, perhaps, a ten- imagination and the stronger the nurturing
dency toward violence or cruelty. A weak instincts; for some, restlessness is also im-
mount may reflect a lack of assertiveness, plied. A weak Luna mount may suggest a
the sign of an individual who is easily ma- steadfastly realistic personality who sel-

nipulated by others. dom indulges in fantasy.

57
 HEAD LINE. The head line, reflecting in-
Looking affile Lines and potential, usually
tellectual capacity
begins below the Jupiter mount and
palm traverses the palm. An analytical nature is
The complex network of lines discernible in every is
typifiedby a straight head line, while a
allegedly capable of steering each of us along life's course.
downward-sloping line suggests creativity.
Palmists analyze these lines not only to reflect the develop- A forked end indicates a balance between .

individual's character traits as he or she matures imagination and realism.

ment of an
Average intelligence and good reason-
but also to reveal insights into the future. And armed with
ing powers are symbolized by a head line
this knowledge, the believers say, a person can actually af-
stretching at least two-thirds of the way
fect future events. The lines of the palm are constantly across the palm A longer line is said to re-

grow and new ones veal keen insight and a range of intellectu-
changing: Old lines may fade or clearer
al interests. A wide gap between the head
may appear, sometimes in a matter of weeks. By modifying
and life lines at their origin may reflect im-
behavior and changing attitudes, palmists maintain, we can pulsivity and impatience; the closer the
change our lines-and thus our lives-to achieve our pre- lines, the more tentative the person.

destined potential.

HEART LINE. An ideal heart line, indi-

cating a warm and demonstrative nature,
begins at the hand's outer edge, beneath
the Mercury finger It traverses the palm
near the base of the finger mounts, curving
upward slightly before ending between the
and Saturn mounts
Jupiter
An upward curve implies a physical or
instinctual sexuality, while a straight heart
line suggests that romantic imagery is im-
portant in love Two or three branches at
the line's end are thought to indicate a bal-
ance between emotions, realism, and
physical passion
A wide space between the heart and
head lines reflects extroversion and an un-
conventional outlook on life; a narrow
space might imply some lack of self-
confidence, difficulty expressing feelings,
and a secretive nature If the heart line is
longer than the head line, the person could
be ruled more by emotions than reason.
A chainlike heart line may signal a per-
son who falls in love easily but fears com-
mitment. Romantic upsets are suggested
by short diagonal lines crossing the heart
line, small islands -points where the line

splits in two, then merges once more-cs-

pccially near the Jupiter mount, could im-
ply significant romantic disappointments,
such as divorce

RELATIONSHIP LINES. On the outer Lines denoting current or past relation-

edge of the hand, between Ihc heart line ships are usually indelibly etched in the
and the base of the Mercury finger, one or palm, but those signaling future ones may
more short, horizontal lines may be found change periodically A may become
line

Called relationship or marnagc lines, they clearer to show deeper feelings, or new
supposedly indicate Important commit lines may appear To estimate the age at
mcnts The lines can signify deep friend which a relationship may occur, note the
ships as well as intimate relationships The line's position between the heart line and
stronger the line. It is said, the more po- the base of the Mercury finger, a point
tential for the union. about midway may mean age thirty five

68
 .

LIFE LINE. An indicator of disposition, the individual is said to be domestic,

physical energy, and well-being, the life drawn to the comforts of home. A line

line usually originates between the curving toward the mount of Luna sug-
~^v mounts of Jupiter and lower Mars and fol- gests a restless personality, one who loves
lows the curve of the mount of Venus. A adventure and travel.

broad arc around the Venus mount is The life line itself, if deep and clear, de-

thought to indicate a warm and emotional- notes a strong physical constitution, good
ly responsive nature; a shallow arc, cutting health, and vitality. Any islands may signal
into the mount, suggests an aloof, periods of ill health or indecision. Breaks
inhibited, or unresponsive in- in the line are sometimes interpreted as an
dividual. If the life line illness or accident or as a change in the
ends curving toward individual's life-style.
the Venus mount, While the length of the life line has often
been used to predict a time of death, repu-
table palmists believe such predictions are
virtually impossible— and irresponsible -to
make. The line shows tendencies, they
say, not facts, and the length of the life line
is no guarantee against life's uncertainties.

;;.j^^j^^dAi^^Bfflfijjij^^' ^

FATE LINE. Also known as the career or tics, for example -or the potential may ex- porary obstacle in the path. An additional

destiny line, this line reveals an indivi- ist for a number of careers and possible re- vertical line running close to the fate line
dual's level of satisfaction with a profes- location. If the line arises from the mount may suggest a second career or strong
sion or other chosen task. Ideally, the fate of Venus, the family may play a part in the avocational interest.
line begins just above the wrist and moves individual's profession. A person will remain active throughout
upward toward the mount of Saturn. Gen- The more content an individual is with life, it is thought, if he or she possesses a

erally, the higher in the palm the fate line his or her chosen path, the clearer the fate long fate line. If the line comes to a stop at

begins, the later in life the person will find line may weak, fragmented line may
be; a the heart line, however, the individual's
his or her true vocation. reveal a person who feels restless or unful- ambition could be thwarted by emotions; if
If the fate line originates in the mount of filled. Breaks in the fate line are interpret- the line ends at the head line, his or her

Luna, it portends a career that depends on ed as a hiatus in one's career or a change success may be stymied by some sort of

the decisions of other people-as in poli- of direction, and islands may reveal a tem- intellectual blunder.
 SENSITIVITY IN AN AIR HAND. The
A Sampling oi Readings palm print of this twenty-six-year-old
woman reveals a sensuous nature. The
Palmistry is an art acquired through study and patience, and heart line is very long, indicating a person
skillful observation is essential to a responsible reading. who is and humane. She tends to
sensitive

will carefully
fail in may be guided more
love easily and
During a hand analysis, a reputable palmist
by her heart than her head in relationships
examine the various features of the fingers and hands dis- with others. Lines at the base of the Mer-
cussed on the previous pages. He or she will also observe cury finger indicate three important rela-

the dozens of other markings of the palm, since even the tionships, one probably at an earlier age
and two others that may lie in the future.
most subtle striation may be imbued with special meaning.
These could also be close friendships.
Each element is usually described separately, then dis- A high level of physical and emotional
cussed in the context of the entire hand. energy is indicated by the firm, large
Although most palmists agree on the significance of mount of Venus. The life line is also fairly
strong but has some overlappings; this
the palms major markings, interpretations may vary some-
could signal a need to pay more attention
what from one reader to another. The palm prints of two to health. The life line touches the head

men and two women, along with brief readings based on line at its origin, implying a high-strung
nature. This is compounded by the large
the most prominent features-all prepared by professional
number of fine lines in the palm, suggest-
palmist Nathaniel Altman- appear on the following pages.
ing a sensitivity to stress.
A balance between imagination and re-

alism is indicated by the split at the end of

the head line, and the downward slope of
one branch toward the mount of Luna sug-
gests good instinctual ability The Luna
mount is well developed, reinforcing both
the imaginative and the intuitive traits.
Several career lines are visible in the
palm This could indicate literally more
than one career, or a very important hobby
or volunteer work in addition to a profes-
sion. The long fingers, typical of an
air hand, show an ability to focus

on details; the Jupiter finger is

slightly longer than the Apollo,
suggesting a take-charge personal-

i ity

long, a
tion,
Although the Mercury finger

it
mark of good communica-
is slightly twisted, signaling
is

aneed to be more direct with others.

The thumb is rather rigid, showing
a tendency to be stubborn but also
responsible and reliable.

.^^
" w
A SIMPLE DOWN-TO-EARTH mount of Luna, and a strong upper mount sonality, particularly in the younger years.
HAND. The square palm and short fin- of Mars suggests a lot of resistance but al- The head and of aver-
line, strong, clear,

gers of this earth hand suggest that this so a good deal of courage. The lower Mars age length, shows a good ability to assess
twenty-eight-year-old loves the outdoors mount is prominent, too, reflecting asser- situations and a strong sense of purpose.
and is physically oriented. The round fin- tiveness and, possibly, a short temper. The life line has no major breaks or is-
gertips signal a fairly even disposition, but The major lines of the hand are deep and lands, suggesting good health and vitality.

the thumb is rather stiff, so he may tend to well defined, and there is a lack of small, A particularly clear fate line indicates in-
be stubborn. A long and straight Mercury spidery lines. This suggests a simplified volvement in one career for a long time.
finger indicates that he is a good commu- way of viewing things— a clear and direct The split in the line above the head line is
nicator, while a Jupiter finger that is short- approach, narrow in scope, rather than an a sign of dual careers— and indeed, in this
er than the Apollo finger may mean a lack all-encompassing philosophical view— and case, the young man is an automobile me-
of self-esteem. a lesser degree of sensitivity. But these chanic who also sells automotive parts.
The mount of Venus, at the base of the characteristics are modified, in part, by a Just below the mount of Mercury is a
thumb, is large and well developed, signi- long heart which reveals a generous,
line, fairly long relationship line, reflecting his

fying an abundance of physical energy and loving nature. The small branches at the happy marriage. below that line, bare-
Just
passion. A good measure of instinct and a beginning of the line, under the Mercury ly visible in this hand print, is a line from
protective nature are revealed in the large finger, refiect some sensitivity in the per- an earlier union, which ended in divorce.

61
 health then The line forms a wide arc
AN ARTIST'S WATER HAND. The ative intellect. Good imagination and in-

and rectangular palm of stinct are suggested by a prominent Luna around the mount of Venus, reflecting a
long, ihin fingers
this woman, a thirty-fivc-ycar-old artist, mount, and those traits are strengthened warm and sensual nature Near the life
and by a skin ridge pattern that appears to con- line's end, a branch moving toward the
reveal the patience, attention to detail,
Intellectual nature typical of a water hand. nect the two branches at the end of the mount of Luna implies restlessness This
finger tapers to a point at the head line Instinctual abilities arc also seen coincides with the short horizontal lines at
The Mercury
and a love of art in thesmall diagonal lines moving up from the palm s outer edge, indicating the po-
tip, reflecting sensitivity
the Luna mount toward the center of the tential lor travel
and beauty It is also very long and
straight, indlcatmg good communication, palm A good measure of self reliance is The heart line, which ends between the
indicated by the space between the head lupiterand Saturn fingers, suggests a gen-
a trait that is underscored by a wcll-
mount and life lines, but there is also a tendency erous, sympathetic spirit, but also a good
dc'vc!' r-.'

Tl ironx and forked at its to be impulsive balance between reason and emotions.
'
It: (• between realism The life line itself is fairly long, but some The heart line is somewhat chained, re-

'I "s downward slope islands appear about the lime of middle vealing sensitivity, emotional intensity,
ivi ri-vcals a cre- age; this suggests a need to be mindful of and a vulnerability to hurt

62
A DYNAMIC FIRE HAND. The inde emotionally responsive individual. By flected in a very long head line. An excep-
pendent, energetic nature of the fire hand curving toward the mount, this line also and good cre-
tionally vivid imagination
is in the palm of this fifty-year-old
evident suggests a penchant for the comforts of ative abilities are suggested by the
writerand editor. The wide angle that is home. Those traits are reinforced by a very downward slope of the line, toward the
formed between his thumb and index fin- long heart line-again, the sign of a sensi- mount of Luna. This indicator is balanced
ger reveals self-reliance and optimism, tive,generous personality. The heart line by the thumb's square which signals
tip,

and the thumb itself is very flexible, sug-
gesting that the man has a generous na-
ture. The mount of Venus, which indicates
physical and emotional exuberance, pas-
sion, and the ability to love, is quite well
developed. The skin of the palm has a red-
dish color, which adds to the energy level
ends under the mount of Jupiter, implying
this individual tends to be idealistic and
romantic. Since the line drops to touch the
head line, strong conflicts may emerge be-
tween the head and heart. A very long re-
lationship is suggested by the length of the
horizontal line at the base of the Mercury
orderliness and organization. The Mercury
finger is extremely long and straight,
which signifies honesty and forthrightness
in communication. And a large Luna
mount, marked with upward-moving diag-
onal lines, indicates intuitiveness and
some psychic ability.

in general. Moreover, the life line is long finger. A shorter line beneath it may signal Uncertainty about early career direction
and clear, another indicator of vitality and a previous bond, probably occurring in the is suggested by a somewhat weak fate
a strong constitution. man's early twenties. line.However, a new, clearer line takes
Thelife line moves in a broad arc around A wide range of intellectual interests and over, revealing a straighter course and
the mount of Venus, revealing a warm. mental and emotional flexibility are re- professional satisfaction.
 CHAPTER 3

Body Languages

amuel Clemens was a troubled man as he made his way along the fashion-
able London street in the early 1890s. The source of his unease was not
readily apparent. He was one of America's leading men of letters,
world

famous as a writer, humorist, and social commentator. His appearance at a

podium was enough to bring an audience to delighted attention while they
awaited his next barbed comment about their Victorian foibles. Although

nearly sixty years old, he enjoyed the vigorous health that had
W/i he was
still

sustained a strenuous and varied as a printer, roustabout, river pilot, and

p/ life

general hell-raiser.
Yet despite Clemens was depressed. For one thing, he was just
all this,

starting to feel his age, ashe approached the last decade of his appointed
three-score and ten years. And he was keenly aware that he had been
forced to leave his native land and live in Europe in order to economize.
Sam Clemens- Mark Twain -was, in fact, headed for financial ruin.

This master storyteller had proved once more that he was no business-

man. The publishing firm of Charles L. Webster & Company, which he had

founded and backed financially, was fioundering. Another venture, into the

manufacture of typesetting machinery, was going badly as well, taking thou-

sands more of his dollars.

At last Clemens found the Bond Street address he had been kxiking

for, and as he squinted at the small brass address plate by the door, his

thoughts were no doubt edged with irony. Here he was, one of the world's
foremost skeptics and debunkers, about to engage the services of the
world's foremost reader of palms.
"Cheiro," read the brass plate. "Hours 116" 11 was the understated

announcement of a man who claimed nearly miraculous success in predict-

ing the fates and fortunes of his well known and wealthy clients.
The con-
sulting rooms inside were more consistent with the reputation -ornately

furnished with oriental rugs, lush tapestries, and elaborate draperies. Exotic
plants sprouted Uovn tables and stands amid a collection of heavy, dark,

Victorian chairs A sphinxlike statue crouched in a corner

Samuel Clemens was greeted by a powerful, handsome man in his
twenti^, whose Irish accent lent a friendly lilt to his confi- tors' book: "Cheiro has exposed my character to me with
dent voice. With little time wasted on preliminaries, Cheiro humiliating accuracy. I ought not to confess this accuracy;
grasped his visitor's hands, looked at the palms, and began still I am moved to do it."

an insightful analysis of the famous American's character The writer's financial fortunes did indeed change. A
as well as a detailed cataloging of important events and series of European lectures yielded the cash he needed, and
dates in his life. royalty agreements with publishers gave him a secure in-

Clemens was impressed, and while it is unclear what, come for the rest of his life, although he had already done
if anything, Cheiro said about his future, the author was fas- his best writing. Some of those royalties were to come from
cinated and perplexed by the notion that the palmist might sales of a book-The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson-m
have it within his power to foresee what was to come. "The which the plot involved the uniqueness of fingerprints.

past may leave its mark, admit," Clemens said, "and char-
I

acter may be told even down to its finest shades of expres- For all his mordant skepticism, Samuel Clemens apparently
sion; all that might believe— but how the future may be
1 was not immune to the persistent human impulse to find
foreshadowed, is what I cannot understand." quick answers to two of the most enduring questions that
It was all in the hand, said Cheiro: The hand revealed beset the thinking individual: Who am I? What will I be-
a person's subconscious knowledge of future actions. As come? Uncertain of their own impulses, confronting an un-
confirmation, he showed the writer the hand prints of a known future, humans have always struggled to find the
mother and daughter whose lives, he said, had been re- keys to the inner psyche and the distant moment.
markably parallel; illness and marriage at the same ages, In every era there have been seers who claim success
thesame number of children, and even widowhood at the in this struggle. They may use as their keys the innards of
same time of life. Their hand prints were almost identical. birds, the glimmer of crystal, or pure meditation. But many
Clemens was enthralled by the palm reader. "He practitioners insist that the nature and destiny of humans
took notes of the various hands showed him," 1 can be read in their own flesh and bone. It once was
Cheiro wrote later, "and we examined with a ----—
^^^ thought, for example, that a person's fate
microscope the lines in the tips of the fingers ^t\ could be determined by studying his or her
of the mother and this one daughter, whose face — considered the closest and most
fate had been so nearly the same and we expressive adjunct of the mind. Other
found that even the circles in the fin analysts devised a system for interpret-
gertips and thumbs also agreed." ing the meaning of the shape of the
As he paid his fee, Clemens
already felt his own fortune— and
his mood— changing. "The one hu-
morous point in the situation,"

Cheiro quoted him as saying, "is

that came here expecting to lose
I

money by my foolishness, but have I

gained a plot for a story on which I

shall certainly get back my money."

Then he wrote in the palmist's visi-
skull-which, after all, encloses and thus, in a sense, de- To physicians of that period, the face was the barom-

fines the mind. eter of health. Hippocrates, the father of medicine and au-
These techniques wielded enormous influence for a thor of the oath that still epitomizes the ethics of the medi-

time, and they have left an enduring imprint on the way we cal profession, used facial readings in order to diagnose the

assess character: People are still described as having ailments of his patients.
ippocrates also developed a variant of physiogno-
"strong jaws,"
But other approaches,
"weak chins," or "intelligent foreheads."
still linked to the human body but
f^K
^ my called moleoscopy, the reading of body moles
with a touch more of mystery and the occult, have proved //M"^^ to assess a subject's personality and future pros-

longer lived. Among these is the technique that so intrigued pects. According to Hippocrates' elaborate sys-
Samuel Clemens-the art of gleaning information from the tem, a mole between the elbow and wrist, for ex-

lines etched on the palm of the hand. ample, revealed a cheerful and placid disposition, while one
We live in a skeptical age, a time when it is far more on the left shoulder betrayed a quarrelsome and unruly na-
fashionable to ridicule a palmist than consult one. Yet, like ture. A mole on the left thigh foretold many sorrows in life,

our forebears, we cannot escape the urge to seek a Rosetta such as poverty, unfaithful friends, and imprisonment. But a
stone that will reveal what we are and where we are going. mole on the right thigh indicated success early in life.

We laugh at the phrenologists' maps of the head but eagerly The art of reading moles attracted adherents for many
read books that purport to interpret body language. We may centuries after Hippocrates' death. In 1670, an Englishman

have relegated the palmists to small cottages or storefronts named Richard Saunders published a book that covered his

in the questionable parts of town, but we occasionally invite studies of the subject, which had revealed to him relation-

graphologists- those who profess to know the secret impli- ships between moles on the face and those on the body.
cations of an individual's handwriting-into corporate Little was heard about the subject thereafter, however, al-

boardrooms. Sam Clemens would surely make fun of all though the reading of the human face enjoyed something of
this, but he would understand. a renaissance with the dawn, in the mid-eighteenth centu-

ry, of the Age of Enlightenment.

Ancient Greece, that citadel of rationality, was fascinated by This rebirth was hardly welcome in every quarter, in

the notion that physical features might bespeak the inner 1743, for example, the British Parliament declared phys-

self As Greek scholars sought to comprehend human na- iognomists to be rogues and vagabonds and provided that
ture, they reasoned that since facial expressions revealed they be publicly whipped or jailed. At times, though, physi-

something of what a person was thinking, detailed analysis ognomy-even of a very amateurish kind-could produce

of facial features ought to yield details of a person's charac- startling results, it was recorded, for example, that in 1770,

ter This practice came to be known as physiognomy. As an thirteen-year-old William Blake -later to be a renowned po-
addendum to his exhaustive History of Animals, the philoso- et and artist-went with his father to visit an engraver. As
pher Aristotle wrote that truths about a person can be de- they left the shop, the youth announced, "1 don't like that

duced by observing his or her resemblance to certain ani- man" When his surprised father asked for a reason, the

mals Those with small foreheads are likely to be ignorant, younger Blake replied, "His face looks as if he will be hang-
he said, since they resemble pigs; people with large, doglike ed" Twelve years later, the man was convicted of forging
foreheads, on the other hand, would tend to be flatterers in bank notes, and he was eventually hanged. L^ter, the story

this scheme of things, craftiness would be indicated by a red was recounted less to illustrate Blake's prophetic genius
complexion reminiscent of the supposedly sly fox. than to confirm the persistent belief that an individual's

Writer and humortst Samuel dement wa% down on his Im k and i;ru crlnln
about thr future when he visited renowned palmist Cheiro In the eaily IH'Xys.
Cheiro Is not known to have seen a thanne of fortune In his tllenl's palm pilnt (right),
but Clemens praised Cheiro In the guest bottk, signing his pen name, Mark l^valn.

66
face, pfoperly scrutinized, would reveal the essence of known, / We had been happy, PARADISE our own; / EVE
character and future prospects. would have seen the crafl;, which lurk'd within, / Perceiv'd
The reputation of this divination method was given a the DEVIL . . . / Then this our earth MILLENIUM had
boost in 1 775 with the appearance of the first installment of been, / Free from all death, from misery and sin."

Essays on Physiognomy, by Johann Kaspar Lavater, a pastor Others were not quite so certain as Bartlett. Lavater
and poet in Zurich. Lavater's book surpassed by a large had many critics, among them several who published in the
margin all earlier efforts to publicize the practice. For one Gentleman's Magazine satirical letters mocking his compar-
thing, the quality of the printing was superb, and the book isons of human and animal faces. To be sure, some of La-
included scores of finely drawn portraits of the famous and vater's writings strayed far beyond the boundaries of scien-
powerful of the time. Even more important, however, was fific investigation and invited satire. One example of this
the seemingly rigorous nature of Lavater's approach. He at- tendency was his extravagant ex-
tempted to do for physiognomy what his contemporary Ca-
rolus Linnaeus had done for botany— produce a system of
classification that would lead to the formulation of hypothe-
ses and eventually to scientific laws.
Take, for example, the case of the nose. "A beautiful
nose denotes an extraordinary character," wrote Lavater.
"It should have a length equal to that of the forehead. At the
top there should be a gentle indenting. The button or end of
the nose should be neither hard nor fleshy. Viewed in pro-

file the bottom of the nose should not have been more than
one-third of its length."
To be sure, Lavater acknowledged that it was possible
for a person to rise above the character deficiencies dictat-

ed by a defective nose. He conceded, for example, that Soc-

rates was a great man who nevertheless had an ugly nose.
And the aristocratic arched noses of such figures as Jona-
than Swift, Cesare Borgia, and Titian, while hardly perfect in

Lavater's eyes, indicated a compensatory capacity for com-

mand and action found only
in the "extraordinary" person.
On every front during the
Age of Enlightenment, the secrets
of nature were falling to scientific

investigation, and Lavater's preten-

sions to science seemed to bode well for

this venerable branch of knowledge. In

1810, the American poet Joseph Bartlett ef-

fused: "Had but LAVATER'S science then been

Ui^^
I siiiilv of moles, or molcosiopy, as tin Insluhl Into ihtiractcr and
he
the /mure peakedlate In the IbOOs with the piihlkatlon of a treatise
by I nglishnuin Rkharil Satinilers. lie huliiiletl the two engraxings
shown heie one showing the ploiemenl oj moles most frequently
found on the body (left), and the othet suggesting their position ort the
face and neik may parallel the oihlts of telcstlal bodies (above).
position on the subject of the mouth: "This part of the body L^vater died in 1801, but his cherished physiognomy
is so sacred to me that 1 scarcely dare speak of it. What a lived on. For more than a hundred years after his death, his

subject of admiration! The mouth is the interpreter and or- book was regularly reprinted in Germany, France, the Unit-

gan of the mind and of the heart. . . . The woman whose ed States, Holland, Switzerland, and England, going
eyes have awakened our love inspires us with enthusiasm, through a total of 151 editions in many languages. Nonethe-
exalts us, throws us into intellectual ecstasy; but she whose less, the would-be science steadily declined in popularity.

mouth fascinates us twines us round, binds us, belongs to People increasingly perceived it as subjective, imprecise,

us already, at least in the irresponsible world of desires. The and threadbare. At the same time, however, a new system
eye is the azure heaven to which none may attain; the for interpreting clues to human character and destiny

mouth is the earth with its perfumes, its ardours, and was gaining in influence.

the profound sensuality of its points."

Nor vv^as L^vater alone in his excesses. One later en- As a German schoolboy in the 1760s, Franz Joseph Gall

thusiast named Simms examined faces for the quality of concluded that boys with good memories also shared an-
what he called elevativeness. He advised those in whom he other trait-bulging eyes. Exploring this concept further, he
detected this trait that they would have the desire "to raise found support for such a connection among the notions of
your body, mount a horse, climb trees, ascend church stee- physiognomy current at the time, and he went on to make
ples, rise in a balloon and hope to go up, when done with additional observations of his fellow students-and then to

this earthly form." The facial sign indicative of such lofty study medicine in Vienna.
goals, Simms solemnized, was "a nose that stands well out But while he was learning the secrets of anatomy and
and up at the point." disease, the question continued to plague him: What ac-

Despite the often farfetched ideas of its proponents counted for the differing abilities and propensities of differ-

and the resultant blasts of its critics, physiognomy contin- ent people? He reasoned that such things were the province
ued to be widely regarded as valid. Employers consulted La- of the brain, and that different portions of the brain must

vater's book before hiring servants; some people ventured handle different capabilities and aspects of personality.
into the streets only after donning a mask to prevent stran- all decided that there were thirty-seven such
gers from detecting their true character. functions, each of which must be controlled by a
A steady procession of the great and famous sought corresponding area— or, as he put it, "organ" -of
Lavater's assessment of their true nature and their likely the brain. If only one could read the topography of

fate. Emperor Joseph 11 of the Holy Roman Empire consulted the brain. Gall thought, one could read a person's
him in 1777, and later visitors included the Grand Duke of character and determine his strengths and weaknesses.
Russia and Prince Edward of England, as well as many men Size would be the controlling factor, he believed; the larger
of science and the arts. a particular organ of the brain, the better developed would
By all accounts, L^vater was a good, generous, and be the traits governed by that organ. And surely the size of
uncommonly kind man. The full title of his book was Essays the brain would affect the dimensions and shape of the
on Physiognomy: Designed to Promote the Knowledge and the skull containing it.

Love of Mankind. Humanity, he reasoned, was inwardly He subjected his hypothesis to extensive testing. Visit-

beautiful by reason of God's creation; the face must there- ing insane asylums, prisons, and schools. Gall interviewed

fore be the outward evidence of that beauty, if one could people and measured their heads, looking for a connection
only know what to look for. between the skull shape and certain character traits, in ad-

69
 Hie Face a$ a Mirror of Fa(e

physiognomy- the
of reading, the physiognomist is guided Blemishes or disfigurement in this
The ancient art
and fate through by a chart (opposite) that indicates each particular area of the face suggests
divining of character
analyzing the face -has enjoyed position on the face by number. that the person may have a reduced
The major physiognomical positions ability to achieve desired goals
periods of intense popularity through-
are those extending down the center The face-reader interprets informa-
out history and across the globe But
nowhere has it been elevated to a of the face and those relating to the tion from each facial position in turn,
higher level of importance than among eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, and weighing and correlating the examina-
ears. The area between the eyebrows, tion results before coming to any
the Chinese
example, indicates an individual's definite conclusions While physiogno-
While modem physiognomy is for

essentially a folk practice, the Chinese ability to attain an important post or a my is certainly far from being an exact
have studied and refined it to such a level of social prominence. A wide science, the practice has withstood the
space between the brows signals great test of time in Chinese culture, and the
degree and over so many centuries
and enormous intellectual physiognomist's findings are thought-
that it is considered an adjunct of vitality

medicine They believe that clues to power, as does a raised, fleshy bump fully rendered and accepted with

the state of ones emotional and marked with deep vertical lines. genuine respect
physical health are to be found in the
shape and placement of the facial

features as well as the texture and

coloring of the skin Further, physiog-
nomists assert that the facial structure
reveals personality traits and signals
past events and ones yet to occur in

the individuals life.

Chinese face-readers are exhaustive

ly trained in ancient texts on the
subject, including portions of the /

Ching, and many are apprenticed to

elderly practitioners of the art They
learn to interpret each facial sign
according to prescribed rules First the
physiognomists observe the basic
shape of the face, then they scrutinize
the features for balance and propor-
tion No matter what size or form the
features lake, unity in the face
indicates balance And a balanced face
suggests a strong character as well as
a promising future
From these initial observations, the
physiognomist goes on to examine the
face in depth Physiognomy is based
on a complex system of more than on<
hundred facial "positions" or areas,
each thought to reveal an aspect of Hong Kong physiognomist Liang *tong/cng examines the face of one
of the dozen or more clients he sees each day. The 74 year old Uang
personality or late The positions arc
and about one hundred other fortune tellers occupy booths loiated
first examined independently, and
near the Wong lal Sin lemple, a popular place of worship.
then they arc considered in relation to
one another Durmg the course of a

70
fU ^
 A page from a 1 777 treatise on physiognomy (opposite) by Benedictine monk
Antoine Joseph Pemety illustrates the author's contention that long noses suggest heightened
sexuality. He also believed that a prominent and fleshy chin signifies
"solid judgment, a man of good counsel, liberal, decent and with a good appetite."

dition, he performed many autopsies in an attempt to con- dence of Benevolence, Veneration, Firmness, Hope,
firm his belief that the contours of the cranium conform to Wonder, Ideality, Acquisitiveness, and -above and forward
the enclosed brain Citizens of Vienna began to stipulate in of the temples-Ludicrousness. Destructiveness, it was
their wills that their heads be protected from the saws and known, lurked just above the ears; Order at the outside bor-

scalpels of Dr Gall der of the eyelids; Self-esteem at the crown of the head;

Finally, in 1 796, Gall was satisfied that the facts sup- Firmness behind
ported his hypothesis and that it could now be accepted as Gall included evil in his mapping of the brains organs; he

a theory and used in diagnosis. He began a series even designated one of them Murder. But Spurz-
of lectures on the subject of what he called or heim came to believe that the brain was
ganoiogy, later to be better known as phre fundamentally good -and could be made
nology, from the Greek for "science of better. Organology ought not to be con-
the mind." As a result of his exposi- tent with merely identifying traits o(

tions, he soon had large numbers of character, he thought, but should

supporters -among them a colleague, work to improve them, and thus to

Dr Johann Kaspar Spurzheim, who improve the overall fortunes of the

became a dedicated assistant-and populace and society at large Gall

also a good many detractors. Gall's did not agree, and in 1813 the col-

admirers paid him the compliment leagues went their separate ways.

of comparing him favorably with Gall remaining in Europe while

the trailblazing physiognomist Jo Spurzheim having determined to

hann Lavater The Austrian govern- change the name of the new science
ment, by contrast, decreed that Gall's rom organology to the more elegant
lectures were "subversive of religion phrenology- went on to proselytize in

and morals "

and ordered them lingiand and America
stopped As so often happens in such His own tenacity and the yeoman
cases, though, the ban merely intensi support of the Scottish phrenologist
fied interest in the work After a suc- George Combe helped Spurzheim over
For Swiss clergyman Johann Lavater, who come the indifference and hostil
cessful tour of Europe, Gall and Spurz- attempted to raise physiognomy to the level of
initial

heim moved to Paris, where they a science, the practice afjlmtcd the link ity that greeted his message in the Bril
"between the external and internal man. "
continued to spread the gospel of orga- ish Isles The next two decades, indeed,
nology among a Paris intelligentsia that saw the founding of at least twelve
was hungry to hear about this latest source of insights into phrenological societies in Britain and also paved the way
human character for a wave of enthusiasm in the United Stales Medical pro-

By (hen, people throughout the continent were mem fessors from Harvard University and Bowdt)in College had
orizing the locations of what Gall identified as the organs of encouraged study of the new science in America aller hear-

Amalaiiveness, the ability to love, Philoprogenitiveness, or ing Gall and Spurzheim lecture in F.urope, by 1822, physi-
parental love; Conslructlveness, an inclination to build. In cians and academics in l'hil,n.i(lphia h.id lormed the Central
habit ivcnoss, a preference for a permanent residence Guid Phrenological Society
cd by CjjII. ;hcy also probed themselves and others for evi Ten years later, when loh.inn Spur/heim set out on an

72
 Dr. Mei1on'§ Facial Pitscripflons

By the turn of the century, popular up with a profile of the aptitudes and prescriptions, the managers also
interest in physiognomy had begun to abilities necessary to excel in some learned to recognize a number of
wane in both the US and Europe. But 1,500 occupations. In addition, he job-specific attributes. For example,

for Dr Holmes Whittier Merton, face devised a system by which others the prescription for an effective sales

reading was becoming the basis of a could learn to recognize the signs of manager (below), which illustrated a

life's work that would affect the lives those talents in potential employees. 1953 Fortune magazine article on
and livelihoods of countless others In 1918 the Merton Institute for Mertonian face reading, pinpointed the
Mertons interest in physiognomy Vocational Guidance opened in New areas that supposedly govern such
had begun when he was a young man York City. There, personnel managers traits as enthusiasm, confidence,

He was particularly intrigued by the of some of the country's leading firmness, and judgment.

relationship between character, as corporations were trained to analyze The Merton Institute nourished until
revealed by facial features, and the more than a hundred distinct facial the death of its founder in 1948

type of occupation a person seemed features These signs were rated in a Mertons
Thereafter, interest in

best suited for He spent twelve years variety of ways -by the firmness of the methods taded, but those schooled in
observing hundreds of workers in nesh, the distance between certain his system of vocational physiognomy

many fields After analysing their facial points, the prominence of an area, or undoubtedly continued to call upon it
topography and evaluating their levels its shape-as in the tip of the nose for years afterward when interviewing

of satisfaction and success, he came Using Mertons so-called facial prospective employees.

Vocabulary

Protection

^
''\

&
 -

American tour, enthusiasm for the man and his work had livered no fewer than 158 lectures in the eastern United

reached a feverish pitch. According to the Boston Medical States, and he analyzed the heads and personalities of hun-
and Surgical Journal, his lectures were attended by "our dreds of people -among them President Martin Van Buren
most distinguished physicians, lawyers, and divines, and and Daniel Webster. Educator Horace Mann called phrenol-
citizens best known for their scientific and literary attain- ogy "the guide of philosophy and the handmaid of Chris-
ments." No less a luminary than the essayist Ralph Waldo tianity." Rembrandt Peale did a portrait of Combe.
Emerson hailed the phrenologist as one of the greatest But as in Europe, phrenology encountered some
minds in the world. strenuous opposition. John Quincy Adams- congressman,
When Spurzheim died suddenly former president, and promoter of the
in Boston in 1832, the city treated him Smithsonian Institution -wondered in

as a fallen hero. A public autopsy was print how two phrenologists could look

performed on his body, preceded by a each other in the face without laugh-
lecture on his teachings. It was noted ing. Oliver Wendell Holmes, a writer
with some wonder-but little real sur- and professor of anatomy at Harvard,

prise-that Spurzheim's brain weighed called phrenology a pseudoscience in

fifty-seven ounces, 20 percent more which "all positive evidence, or such as

than the average of forty-eight ounces. favors its doctrines, is admitted, and all

(Franz Joseph Gall had died four years negative evidence, or such as tells

earlier; his brain had weighed in at a against it, is excluded."

scanty forty-two ounces.) Even supporters warned that the field

Artists sketched the late phreno- was an inviting one for charlatans. The
logist's body as it lay in state. Members American Monthly Review of Boston, in

of the Boston Medical Society marched a generally supportive article, cau-

in his funeral procession, while the tioned that "shallow and self-sufficient

Handel and Haydn Society sang an pretenders . . . will eagerly snatch at

"Ode to Spurzheim," written for the phrenology as opening a royal road,

occasion by the Reverend John Pier- Phrenology founder Franz Joseph
easy and short, into the very depths of

pont and concluding thus: "Nature's Gall espoused the belief that personality metaphysics and morals."
was revealed in the contours of the skull.
priest, how true and fervent / Was thy But phrenology's doubters were

worship at her shrine! / Friend of in the minority. Crowds of 500 people

man, -of GOD the servant, / Advocate of truths divine, and more attended Combe's lectures, despite the fact that

/ Taught and charmed as by no other, / We have been, and he was by all accounts an uninspiring orator. Most dissent-
hoped to be; / But while waiting round thee. Brother, / For ing voices were drowned out in a general surge of delight

thy light- 'tis dark with thee!" That same day the Boston with this new way to reveal a person's innermost secrets

Phrenological Society was formed, soon to be followed by and possible fate.

some fifty other societies located around the country. And the intriguing science continued to gain influen-

George Combe, the Scottish lawyer and disciple of tial converts. In 1833, for example, students at Amherst Col-

Spurzheim, eagerly took up the torch of the phrenological lege arranged a formal debate on the merits of phrenology.
movement in America. Between 1838 and 1840, Combe de- A bright, enthusiastic young man named Alonzo Gray took

75
 Hie Fowlcn' Phrenological Empire
If there was a first family of "imported from ancient
American phrenology, the battlefields" were available by
Fowlers of New York were mail order, as were those of
undoubtedly it Young Orson and animals.
"rare races'"

Fowler first became enamoured The Fowlers did far more

of the new 'science" as a than supply itinerant phrenolo-
student at Amherst College in gists with the tools of their

1832, and his enthusiasm for trade; by 1842, they were

phrenology proved contagious. instructing them as well.
Afler graduation, Orson and his Students came from as far as
younger brother Lxirenzo Europe and New Zealand for a
spread their message through- nine-month course of study
out the country. In schoolhous- under a faculty mostly named
es, churches, and town halls, Fowler. One grateful alumnus
the Fowler brothers expounded claimed that his diploma from
the principles of phrenology the American Institute of
and performed examinations Phrenology immediately
for only pennies per head elevated him by fifty percent in
Success came quickly to the the estimation of those to
Fowlers In 1836 they opened a whom he lectured.
New York office from which Thus the Fowlers built an
they operated a publishing empire based on the phrenolo-
house and phrenology gy fad Their business contin-
museum They distributed their ued to develop, entering the
own essays on the subject as twentieth century under the
well as thosepenned by others leadership of yet another
and founded the monthly indefatigable Fowler, Lorenzo's
Amcncan Phrenological Journal. daughter Jessie. Only the
The journal, whose cover bore combined forces of the Great
the motto Know Thyself (right), carried were also examined by a phrenologist, Depression and lessies death in 1932
news of phrenology and physiology, who palpated the "organs" of the skull ended the clan's century-long push to
and It also covered other subjects, for a small fee. Each subject then "phrenologize our nation,""
including science, agriculture, and received a chart on which a number
home education from one to seven, signifying size or The Fowler & Wells phrenologtcal bust
Soon Orson's sister Charlotte and degree of development, appeared next which defined more than forty
(right),
"organs" of the brain, was used to teach
her husband, Samuel Wells, joined the to an organs supposed function
aspiring phrenologists. It was also sold to
burgeoning family business One of The charts represented yet another traveling practitioners, along with the
Charlotte's tasks was to escort visitors branch of the Fowlers' business Their charts tfar right) that were a part of a
through the Phrenological Cabinet, as success on the lecture circuit had reading. Phrenologists recorded each
museum was known On organ's sire on the chart and listed
t!.c display spawned many followers and created a
functions to be cultivated or restrained.
were thousands of cranial reproduc ready market for books, charts, and
Expanded versions of the chart offered
tiims of persons both living and dead. busts And lor those seeking a bit more advice on nutrition, bathing, and
Iron, ..I! v.,U' life MoSt VisllOFS
, ,| realism in their props, human skulls I treatment of minor ailments.

76
 ^
•

Orcanic Quality la.

Health k?,/ ... ...4^..

Digestion ^, ...

Circulation 5,..

Activity .(a, ...

Excitability (C,.

Size of Brain. 3,

Amativeness fc.

Conjugality Ic...

^^
Parental Love
I

Friendship Y,.

Inhabitiveness 3

Continuity i ...

Vitativeness U.

Combativeness i/

Dcitructiveness u"

Alimentiveness b
Acquisitiveness 1/

Secretiveness..7.

Caution li. ...

Approbativeness j.

Sell- Esteem '?..'+

Firmness 4/. •
Conscientiousness

Hope *»'
.<ir
'
...

Spirituality ^...

Veneration 5i,.

Benevolence -O.

Constructiveness U?

Idealit\ ip. ...

Sublimity If ....

Imitation V ....

Mirth sT.. ...

idividualitv J.

'orni K",

Lze..:s'

eight b
clour le

der 6'... ...

Calculation 3i..

.oc.ility .^i . ...

;ventiL'»lity ^.,

imc ip,.7, ...

line •?

aiiguage t',...

'aus;ilit\ **,...

omparison T.

luman Nature (ft

L'reeableness (»
 "

The staff of Fowler & Wells pose in 1880

outside their new offices at 753 Broad-
way in New York her zeal to
City. In
increase the phrenologists' business,
Charlotte Fowler Wells had relocated the
company "near various lines of horse
cars and stations on the elevated roads.

accredited as a physician and the tlrst woman to teach

medicine. Charlotte's husband, Samuel Roberts Wells, con-

tributed his business and managerial skills to the

talented family
Together, the Fowlers created a typically American or-
ganizational machine devoted to the propagation, practice,
and development of phrenology as a means to a better way
of life. They were tireless speakers and writers on a number
of other subjects as well; the causes they embraced includ-

ed temperance, educational reform, vegetarianism, wom-

en's rights, and the abolition of slavery. The family pressed
for westward expansion and helped sponsor the Kansas ab-
olitionist settlements of one of their followers, the firebrand
John Brown.
The Fowlers derided the educational practices of their
day, in which children were required to memorize passages
from classical literature. Instead, they advocated giving
children plenty of physical and mental exercise during
the afTirmalive, Henry Ward Beecher, who would become shorter school days, then allowing them time to learn in

one of the century's most famous preachers and abolition- their own creative ways. According to the Fowlers, the in-

ists (and whose sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, would write sane and the handicapped should not be isolated and con-
Uncle Tom's Cabin), was opposed. signed to the human scrap heap; instead, they should be

The debate did not work out as planned. Beecher, who examined to see which of their faculties were still strong, so

was already known as a formidable speaker, delivered a they could be trained to use their talents for the good of

brilliant defense of phrenology rather than the expected themselves and society
nnging denunciation. He and another student and phrenni •!^a s a matter of fact, no aspect of nineteenth century
ogy enthusiast, Orson Fowler, joined forces thereafter, with ^^ Americanwas considered off limits to the
life

Beecher preaching the merits of the practice to fellow stu- f ^ phrenologists Theirs, they felt, was a science that

dents and anyone else who would listen, and Fowler giving \]h^Sm touched on every dimension of human existence.
individual readings for two cents each M^/ Still, not all their reforms were welcomed by the
A(\er graduation, Beecher took up the ministry, as he American public During an age of Victorian prudery, Lo-
had planned Meanwhile, Fowler concentrated on phrcnol renzo won no plaudits for his ironic call for sex education:

ogy, enlisting the support of his younger brother, lx)renzo, "Is it not absurd for any one to advance the opinion that it is

and sister, Charlotte It was a remarkable family, in remark too delicate a subject' If it be really too delicate to discuss the

able limes Orson was a true visionary, American style, who principles necessary to be known and observed before one

knew what he wanted to do and how to do it Lorenzo was is qualified to enter upon the duties incumbent upon this

a master salesman Charlotte was a champion of women's change of condition then it will most certainly be entirely

rights They were scxjn )oincd by lx)renzo's wife, l.ydia Fol loo delicate to get married, and absolutely shocking to

woman m
"

gcr, who w.is only the second the nation to be become parents
 Evfen architecture became a part of the Fowler move- or crossroads in America that was not affected by their
ment, and another fad— that of the octagonal house— was teachings. As many Europeans of a generation eadier had
conceived. Having become convinced for some reason that insisted on a physiognomical examination of prospective
eight-sided dwellings were more beneficial than conven- employees, Americans now asked for an applicant's phren-
tional four-sided ones, Orson, in 1848, wrote a book enti- ological chart. The Fowlers' American Phrenological Journal
tled A Home for All: Or a New Cheap, Convenient and Superior became one of the largest magazines in the country, with a
Mode of Building. He put theory into practice by building a circulation of more than 50,000. In addition to information
magnificent, if unusual, octagonal house in Fishkill, New and advice on a variety of topics, subscribers of the maga-
York, fifty miles north of New York City. This dwelling be- zine were treated to phrenological readings of the famous
came known as Fowler's Folly, but Orson's book went and infamous, often based on a photograph rather than an
through at least seven printings in nine years, and more actual sitting. In fact, many were prompted to use this cor-
than a thousand octagonal houses were built in the United respondence character analysis to check up on their friends,
States during that time. relatives, and co-workers, and worried parents sent in pho-
The family firm, Fowler &. Wells, controlled a publish- tographs of prospective sons-in-law to find out about their
ing empire that included several journals and periodicals, a true intentions.
large mail-order business, and even a popular phrenologi- One such long-distance subject of a phrenological ex-
cal museum in New York City. Most of the time, these en- amination was Lizzie Borden, whose widely reported trial

deavors produced substantial income, in for the ax murder of her parents in Fall

addition to the large sums each Fowler When Orson Fowler set out to build River, Massachusetts, in 1892, captured
his octagonal house in 1850,
earned lecturing. he was undaunted by his lack of train- the public imagination. After she was ac-
In the mid-nineteenth century it
ing— a well-developed "organ of cused of the crime. Nelson Sizer, the
ConstructTveness" meant he was phren
would have been difficult to find a town ologicalfy suited for the task. president of the American Institute of
 -

A Pod's Reading
By 849 thirty-year-old Walt Whitman
1

had plied various trades, traveled

extensively, and was writing the words
that would break new ground In
American poetry. Yet he was unsure of
himself, seeking direction and an
affirmation of purpose, when he
ventured into the office of Fowler &
Wells for a phrenological reading.
As a newspaper editor, Whitman had
reviewed books on phrenology and
declared that It "has at last gained a
position, and a firm one, among the
sciences" Convinced that his destiny
would be revealed. Whitman paid
Lorenzo Fowler three dollars to
palpate the bumps on his head.
The analysis described an Indepen-
dent thinker who had "a good
command of language" and would
'

"choose to fight with tongue and pen

Godly Phrenology
Whitman published the results of his
ALiieTranslonned
reading several times In later years,
perhaps as proof that he was living up Clara Barton s cnLOuntci with
Throughout his life, Henn,' Ward
to his phrenological potential The phrenology changed her life The
Beecher, renowned nineteenth-century
chart appeared in his controversial youngest of five children. Barton grew
orator, author, and Congregational
of contro- book of poems Leaves of Crass, which up on a prosperous farm in Oxford,
minister, was an advocate
was first published In 1855 and Massachusetts She was a painfully shy
versialcauses From his pulpit m
distributed by Fowler & Wells. In the who, she later recalled, "would do
girl,
Brooklyn's Plymouth Church, where he
preface, Whitman credited the role without the most needed article rather
presided for forty years from 1847 until
phrenology had played in shaping his than ask for It Instead of overcoming
"

his death in 1887, the fiery Beecher

life and work. Phrenologists "are not
her bashfulness as she grew older, she
championed abolition, women's
poets, he wrote, "but they are the became even more timid and was
suffrage, the theory of evolution, and "

lawgivers of poets
""
plagued by loneliness.
the principles of phrenology.
Fortunately for Clara, In 1836
Beecher was initially introduced to
Lorenzo Fowler came to lecture in
phrenology in 832 by Amherst
1

Oxibrd and boarded with her family for

College classmate Orson Fowler. Af\er
nearly a month During that time
some study of the practice, Beecher
Claras mother spoke at length with
enthusiasticallyembraced the fledgling
Fowler about her daughter, and the
"science," belicvmg it would bring him
fi(^een-year-old girl submitted to a
closer to God The young man felt that
phrenological examination As Clara
an expansive knowledge of the natural
later wrote. Fowler predicted her
world and its workings would
"sensitive nature will always remain
strengthen his faith and that phrenolo-
She will never assert herself for
gy would lead the way to a new
herself she will sulTer wrong first
conception of the laws of nature
but for others she will be perlcctly
Beecher also believed that phrenolo
fearless His prescription tor Clara
"

gy made it possible for the individual

was "throw responsibility upon her
to
to alter in the hope of perfecting his "

She has all the qualities of a teacher

or her menial capacity, and the
I
Clara Barton lollowed that advice
minister remained devoted to the
She successfully taught school lor
practice for the rest of his life
almost twenty years and fought to
Phrenology, he maintained, "brings
establish the first free public school in
p, ,. ...I 1. t».- statesman, the lawyer,
the state of New lersey She went on
til. iiul the minister of Chrrsl
to nurse wounded Union soldiers
in ! I
-nt efforts to benefit
during the Civil War and to organize
society, and gives them a new power
intellect and the will
"
the American National Red Cross.
over the

60
Phrencflogy, was sent her photograph for review without Warner of County Wicklow, known sim-
Ireland, but better
being told the identity of the sitter. His "analysis and criti- ply as Cheiro, a professional name taken from the Greek
cism," published later in the Chicago Evening News, includ- word for hand. Corporals snapped to attention and ushered
ed the observation that "the face indicates power . . . and the young man into the imposing presence of the British
the tendency to be thorough and severe." Lizzie Borden general. And then, just as the American writer Samuel Clem-
was ultimately acquitted, but to this day many people re- ens had done only a year or two before, Kitchener offered
main unconvinced of her innocence. Could her tempera- his palm for a reading.

ment, as divined from the shape of her head, have allowed That the commander of the British Empire's military
her to kill so brutally her mother and father? forces in Egypt should consult such a person was not at all

By the time Lizzie Borden's analysis made headlines, unusual in the London of the 1890s. Palmistry had a wide
phrenology was long past its prime. During the" second half following. And for those who linked lineage and respect-
of the century, people who sought to plumb the recesses of ability, it could claim long bloodlines indeed. Little is known
the human condition were more interested in Charles Dar- about its origins (ancient adepts kept their knowledge se-
win's work on evolution, Paul Broca's brain .esearch, and cret from the uninitiated), but palm reading was certainly
as the century drew to a close, Sigmund Freud's new ideas practiced in India almost 4,000 years ago and was a re-

about psychology. spected art from China to Greece by the fourth century BC.
In such glittering company, phrenology looked shop- Aristotle, Hippocrates, Plato, and Galen are all reported to
worn. Orson Fowler moved to Boston, where he continued have been practitioners of palmistry; they referred to the

to lecture until his death in 1 887; Lorenzo and Lydia went to technique as chiromancy.
London, where Lorenzo remained with his phrenologist ^1 -^ anuscripts on the subject of reading palms began
daughter after Lydia's death in 1879; he died a week after
^^^^ to appear in Europe in the fourteenth century,

returning co the United States in 1896. What he had taught ^ ^ Ht and in 1475 a German writer, Johann Hortlich,

for so many was virtually forgotten. Americans and

years published the first textbook on the art: Die Kunst
Europeans were now more interested in a different guide- Chiromantie. But for a long time there was no La-
post to the depths of their personality and the far reaches vater to attempt to reconcile palmistry' with the scientific
of their future. method; while other disciplines of various stripes were be-
ing reorganized and reinterpreted in terms of the new way
On a bright July day in 1894, a young Irishman strode con- of understanding the world, palmistry remained shrouded
fidently through the corridors of the British War Office. He in secrecy and superstition.
had been summoned there by General Horatio Herbert Finally, in 1889, a group of practitioners founded the
Kitchener, whose victories in Egypt and the Sudan had al- English Chirological Society for the purpose of "firstly, rais-

ready won public admiration and, from officialdom, a few ing the study of the hand to the level of scientific research;

frowns that may have been tinged with jealousy. Although secondly, for promoting the study of Palmistry in all its

Kitchener's name would soon become nearly synonymous branches; thirdly, as a safeguard to the public against char-
with the golden age of the British Empire, his high reputa- latans and imposters." At just about the same time, Cheiro
tion was by no means assured on this day. arrived in London, after what was-according to his own
In fact, concern about his future may well have account-a long and exotic journey.

prompted Kitchener to summon the twenty-seven-year-old The flamboyant Cheiro was hardly the person to adapt
self-styled Count Louis le Warner de Hamon-born William palmistry to the modern, scientific age, nor would he create
 book about palmistry that had been written on human skin.
the equivalent of the Fowlers' phrenological empire. But
with his dark good looks and extravagant showmanship-a After relating a series of other adventures-including read-

and alliance with the ing about a murder in Britain and solving it while touring
continually cultivated air of mystery
the monuments of ancient Egypt -Warner told how he re-
occult-he seemed to personify the enduring appeal of the
turned to London, took the name of Cheiro, and opened for
art of palmistry.

heiro's odyssey began, he said, when he was forced business at 108 New Bond Street.

^^^^
''fjm
« to leave school after his father

Lacking a complete education but amply equipped

fell on hard times. Happily, Cheiro's
well-connected Arthur Balfour,
first client

who
was the influential
later would become
and

^"^j^ Warner
with intelligence and ambition, young William
followed in the footsteps of many a hard-
president of the Society for Psychical Research and prime
minister of England. Balfour was apparently impressed.
London. was Thereafter, the noble and notable flocked to see the charis-
pressed Irishman before him: He headed for It

matic palmist. And a remarkable succession of seemingly

on the train from Liverpool to London, as he told it later in

of many fateful coinci- accurate predictions bolstered the confidence placed in him
his book Confessions, that the first

by his clients Indeed, when Cheiro informed the shah of

dences occurred
palmistr/ Persia that an attempt would be made on his life during an
Warner, who had long been interested in

upcoming visit to the Paris Exposition of 1900, the warning

and the was reading an English translation of Die
occult,

Kunst Chiromantie when his companion in the compartment was taken so seriously that security was reportedly tight-
ened and an assassination attempt was foiled within a short
commented that this was "an odd kind of study." Warner
defended and explained palmistry with such fervor that the time after the prediction.

skeptic allowed him to perform a reading. Peering closely at Some readings, though, were played out over a longer

his companions palm, Warner discovered "a well marked time span. In 1894, for example, Cheiro told General Kitch-
ener he would achieve his greatest success in 1914; in that
line of fate that would cause him to stand out as a leader
. . .

above the common herd of humanity." But the line stopped, year Kitchener was made an earl and was named as En-
"rest for you; another Na gland's secretary of state for war. But during the same inter-
meaning, as Warner explained it,

Helena." view, Cheiro warned Kitchener not to travel by sea in his

poleon sent to St.

66th year -and year of 1916, a mission to the

The cause of the sudden retirement, Warner remem- in that fateful

woman At this, the subject couri of Czar Nicholas impelled the general to board the
bered predicting, would be a II

man HMS Hcimpshire The vessel sank after striking a German

laughed, dismissing the prophecy by saying, "A with
women." According to Cheiro's later mine otT the Orkney Islands, costing the lives o( Kitchener
my life has no time for

account, the man was Chades Stewart Parnell, at the time and many others.

an outspoken proponent of Irish home rule Several years Among Cheiro's other influential clients -in addition

afterward, Parnells political career was destroyed and his to Samuel Clemens were King Leopold of Belgium; Ed-
cause crippled when he was named a corespondent in a ward VII, Queen Alexandra, and Edward Vlll of England;
American president Grover Cleveland; explorer Sir Ernest
divorce suit.

Warner stayed in London only briefly, then traveled to Shackleton; and Oscar Wilde, whom the palmist supposedly

India, where he was befriended by a Hindu priest who of warned that unless he reformed his ways, he would be ru-

fercd to help him develop his gift for palmistry This educa ined Seven years later,Wilde was convicted and impris-

tion, as Warner recounted it, involved fasting, inducing oned for his notorious homosexual practices

trances, seeking out mystical experiences, and studying a Despite the demands of seeing as many as six thou-

62
 The introduction in 1907 of the
Lavety Electric Automatic
Phrenometer—a metal device,
resembling a lampshade, that
mechanically measured cranial
bumps -was an attempt to
standardize phrenology
readings. The machines later
proved tobe popular attrac-
tions in department stores and
theater lobbies.

63
 The dashing young palmist known as Cheiro performed readings for
the great and famous in his opulent London salon (below). Ac-
cording to Cheiro, the lines of his patrons' palms did not directly pro-
vide him with the answers he sought but acted as a catalyst upon
his "occult consciousness" to generate the needed information.

m im bered among his many paramours the legendary spy Mala

sand clients in one year, ehciro travncu cmchnivi ly

and Asia. In 1904 he went to Han Yet for all his self-described fame and success, Chei-
United States, France, Italy,

Russia, where, by his account, he foretold the demise of the ro's later years were marked by misfortune and depression;
a battle of wills with the said his powers began to fail him around 1930 He died
Romanoff dynasty and engaged in it is

two in l9.Ui in Mc^llywood, where he had hoped to make a movie

baleful monk Grigori Rasputin As Cheiro told it, the
about his hero, the eighteenth century Italian alchemist and
men tried unsuccessfully to hypnotize each other, and the
palmist's "last word" on the matter was the grimly accurate mountebank Caglioslro.

prediction that Rasputin would die in the Neva River of poi Cheiro's contribution to palmistry was to bring the art

son, : tnb wounds, and gunshots to the attention of the multitudes in the best possible light.

He neither innovated, as the Fowlers did in the Held of phre-

According to one account, Cheiro worked with the
British Intelligence services during World War I and num nology, nor systematized, as Lavater did in physiognomy.

84
 -

He was a brilliant publicist who stuck close to methods that half of the palm; and the Fate line, which rises from the
had been around for millennia. wrist to the middle finger (pages 53-63).
According to Cheiro and palmist tradition, the left Having made the obvious observations -the length of
hand of a right-handed person reveals inborn nature; the the Life line, for instance, and the prominence of the
right shows how that nature has been applied to the cir- Heart— the palmist goes on to consider other, less obvious
cumstances of the person's life. The reverse would be true markings. Some lines, such as Intuition, relate to the indi-

for a left-handed individual. A rounded hand with tapering vidual's character. Others, including Marriage and Health,
fingers -such as those of Sarah Bernhardt, for example are interpreted as a record of the person's past and an indi-

"must necessarily be used in some artistic emotional ca- cation of the future. Still others-the lines of Venus, Mars,
reer," as Cheiro wrote of the actress. A blunted, square- and the Sun, and especially the various mounts and the in-

shaped hand indicates a person possessing more practical dividual fingers -are scrutinized for their relationship with

or scientific talents. astrological signs.

Palmists examine the shape of the fingers and the fin- Some palmists insist that their art cannot be reduced

gernails; the prominence of the joints; the relative size of

This series of French postcards fiom the eariy twentieth century
the fingers and palm; and the size and shape of the hand's illustrates personality traitsthought to be revealed in the palm. From
mounts-the fleshy cushions at the heel of the hand and at left, a fleshy hand indicates a passion for country life; a double
Heart line suggests ideal love; well-defined lines in the palm reflect a
the base of the thumb and fingers. And, especially, palmists Utopian outlook; and a fine Life line signifies athletic prowess.
consider the length, definition, and prominence of the lines
that crisscross the hand in predictable patterns but with in-

dividual variations of detail. Of these, the major and best

known are the Life line, which circles the base of the
thumb; the Head and Heart lines, which traverse the upper
 memorizing the placement and meaning of various lines. is somehow able to provide a set of clues that, properly
to

What the palmist is really doing, they maintain, is setting up read, will untangle the complicated psyche, simplify the

a subliminal, telepathic contact that permits the plumbing

business of relating to the world, and perhaps disclose what
the future might bring.
of the subject's inner nature, worries, and potential. This
And even those who have turned their backs on the
mental contact requires conscious concentration on the
may times on seers of another sort, on people
part of both reader and subject, and it is enhanced by phys-
occult rely at

who go beyond inspecting palms and fingers and seek in-

ical contact Thus, while chatter about the various lines en-
stead to find meaning in characteristics of the pen strokes
gages the conscious mind, the holding of hands establishes
made by the hand These practitioners are called grapholo-
a physical bond and the reader's subconscious is unleashed
probe for secrets gists, analysts of handwriting -which one has described as
to
seem uncanny. Some "gestures frozen in time Many of them do their work for
^g
"

n fact, a palmist's accuracy can

palm reader's talent does hardheaded business corporations, both large and small.
^ critics feel, however, that a

not lie in any sort of psychic gift or interpretation of the Hundreds of companies in the United States have used
lines of the hand, but in the ability to respond almost handwriting analysis to screen applicants for employment
and to help make decisions about promotions In Europe
mtuitively to nonverbal clues supplied unwittmgiy by
may learnmuch from a sitter's and Israel, the practice is even more common, with many
the subject. Often, readers
example, or from some ner- companies employing full-time graphologists to reveal to
hairstyle or mode of dress, for
and convince even themselves that psychic the employer things the employee will not tell and may not
vous habit,

powers are involved. even be aware of

insist that palmists' read- A typical story was related in a business magazine by
Diehard skeptics, of course,
more than recitations of stock phrases tai- the general manager of Ohio's Phillips Supply Company.
ings are nothing
subject. This made easier, The firm's president recommended hiring an impressive
lored to flatter and begu:le a is

they claim, by the human inclination to accept broad gener- young man he had met socially Several company execu-
revelations. For example, researchers tives agreed, but the graphologist they consulted examined
alizations as amazing
a sample of the prospective employee's handwriting and re-
at one university asked students to assess the accuracy of a

character analysis purportedly written for each individual ported; "His integrity is not intact He'll steal everything that

students participating in the experiment were is not nailed down "

Phillips decided not to hire the young
In fact, all the

given the same paragraph, which read: "You are a person man, who was later reported to have stolen trade secrets

who is very normal in his attitudes, behavior and relation from another company

ships with people You get along well without effort People This and other such stories illustrate a dramatic shifl

naturally like you and you are not overly critical of them or in American attitudes toward graphology, which was long
yourself Your prevailing mood is one of optimism and regarded as little more than an amusing parlor trick During

constructive effort, and you are not troubled by periods of the nineteenth century, handwriting analysis never cap-
tured the public fancy as did phrenok^gy, although did at-
"

depression, psychosomatic illness or nervous symptoms it

The students gave it a near perfect score as a unique de tract the interest of such patrons as the writers Nalluimel

scnplion of their own personalities Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe

Most m(xlern sophisticates place little stock in paimis In fact, in November of 1841, Poe went so far as to

try- and nf>nc whatsoever in physiognomy or phrenology publish the first of three articles in the popular Gnilnims

But even so th'-rc- remains an urge to believe that the body ioilys and Gcnllcman's Mogazmc. in which he analyzed the

86
 M
Gypsy

Divination and prophecy have long The gypsies were, in fact, deeply reli- remedies for aches and pains to love
been considered the special province gious. But their beliefs and practices potions and aphrodisiacs. But it was
of gypsies, a nomadic people w^hose were heavily influenced by magic. Re- for their practice of the prophetic

folklore is replete with tales of secret garded as authorities in matters of the arts— reading tarot cards or tea leaves,
powers and magical rites. And like the occult, gypsies were often credited a crystal ball or the lines on a palm —
ancient arts they practice, the origins with supernatural talents beyond even that gypsies became best known
and ways of gypsies themselves have their own beliefs, and many eagerly Gypsy men typically worked as horse
remained shrouded in mystery, peddled their alleged powers to local traders or metalsmiths; the women
entangled in legends and traditions. townspeople. Usually just a few coins told fortunes, often in the wagons or
Gypsies are thought to have lived could purchase anything from herbal small tents in which they lived. Palm
originally in India. But reading, shown here
sometime during the and on the following
ninth century they be- pages, was the favored
gan slowly moving method. And it has re-

westward. By the early mained so today; palm-

fifleenth century, large istry shops operated by
groups of dark-skinned, «, gypsies still flourish in

exoticaily dressed peo- cities and towns all

ple, claiming to be reli- over the world. And al-

gious pilgrims from a though complaints of

country called Little unscrupulous practices
Egypt, began appearing have at times been lev-
in Europe. These eled against them, cus-
"Egyptians," or tomers keep coming to
"gypsies," as they came hear their fortunes told.

to be known, were at Nothing, seems, can

it

first welcomed by sym- dispel the romantic im-

pathetic villagers. But age of the brooding

some wandering tribes gypsy, whose dark,

soon gained reputations piercing eyes gaze in-

as petty thieves and tently into the palms-

tricksters who dis- and, perhaps, the fu-
played no obvious reli- tures— of the hopeful
gious convictions. and the curious.

87
 ^

Palm rcadint; is a practice that is

well suited to the footloose ways of

gypsies. No props are required, and
fortunes can be told quickly and from
just about any location -the back of a
wagon or In a gaudily decorated
tent, apartment, or shop.
 4

The eternal allure of the gypsy fortune

teller may stem from the ancient belief
that gypsy seers had magical powers.
These powers were thought to be
Inherited, signaled by a peculiar physical
appearance, or bestowed upon a young
girl by a water or earth spirit.
 of Prague, Schermann was reported to have had a suc-
characters of noted authors by examining their signatures. sity

Whether Poe believed he had stumbled upon a remarkable cess rate of 65 percent, a performance that self-styled psy-
chics have attempted but thus far have not been capable
and reliable method for revealing the human soul or was
merely using the signatures as a vehicle for critiquing his of duplicating.

peers will never be known. Certainly, his approach seems to In recent years, most graphologists who offer their

have lacked the vaunted exactitude of modern handwriting services to corporations have made only limited claims for
Handwriting analysis not presented as a broad
analysis. It is difficult to believe, for example, that Poe wrote their craft. is

when he described Ralph Waldo window to the future, but as a valuable tool that can help
with complete objectivity
Emerson as belonging "to a class of gentlemen with whom assess an individuals intelligence, aptitudes, and character,

we have no patience whatsoever- the mystics for mysti- and perhaps provide some clues to his or her prospective

cism's sake His MS [signature] is bad, sprawling, illegi- performance. Another thing that endears the graphologist

bleand irregular-although sufficiently bold." to business managers is that an analysis of a handwritten

Ci-g^ uropeans, however, greeted graphology far more note is cheaper, quicker, and more readily understood than

M ^ warmly than did Americans Serious studies of the a psychiatric evaluation or the results of a battery of

relationship between handwriting and character aptitude tests.

„ had been published from the seventeenth century The formation and ornamentation of individual letters,

peak when a how they are slanted, and how lightly or heavily they have
ijJl onward. These studies reached a
French pastor and graphology advocate named Jean- been applied to the page are among many supposed sign-

Hippolyte Michon persuaded the eminent psychologist posts to character examined by handwriting analysis. But

Alfred Bmet to test graphological findings Binet's research serious graphologists maintain that while these factors can

had already established the validity of tests for intelligence be clues, they are not valid indicators of personality when
and personality traits; when he published in 1906 the results considered alone; they should be confirmed and modified

of work that seemed to confirm a relationship between by other observations, such as the shape and size of the
handwriting characteristics and personality, graphology letters, the speed of writing, the general shape of lines

and paragraphs, as well as the way in which letters and

gained considerable respectability
Michon and Binet considered their crafi a science But words are connected
another branch of handwriting analysis, called psycho Like palmistry, graphology is ancient Aristotle, for ex-

graphology, was an allegedly psychic phenomenon that ample, believed that a person's soul could be defined by the

was practiced exclusively by one man, Raphael Schermann way he or she wrote, a Chinese philosopher noted much the
Born in 1879 in Krakow, Schermann was indifferent to the same thing in the eleventh century AD. But the age-old
peculiarities of an mdividuals handwriting, he did not ana practice has changed considerably with the advent of mod-
lyze the slant of the line or the slope of the letters Rather, ern times At least one enthusiast has even combined the

he would hold a handwritten letter or envelope in his hand, principles of graphology with the speed and data

close his eyes, and then describe the writer's appearance, processing capacity of a computer to produce faster and
temperament, past, and -if the spirit moved him -future presumably more accurate analyses of the psychic signals
who allegedly applied his talents on one occa embedded in handwriting And so the search for the Rosetta

N( w York City police officers solve a murder stone of character and late continues, with mysticism ap-
cd:>c, u>)i ^ .ippt-ar to have possessed remarkable talents of pealing to science for assistance in unlocking the secrets of

some sofi In I'-'.is conducted by a professor at the Univer inner space and future time

92
 Penmanship and PcrsonalUy

M lost handwriting analysts wince

when their work is compared with divination. They practice a sci-
ence and an art, they say; they are psychologists, not psychics. And
indeed, forensic graphology— used, among other things, to detect
forgery and establish authenticity of manuscripts— is widely recog-
nized as legitimate science. More questionable, however, is the
contention of many graphologists that they can deduce character
traits from a sample of script. And it nebulous area that
is in this

they share with many diviners at least one aim: Both bend their
labors toward extracting the essence of personality.
Graphologists emphasize that character reveals itself in hand-

writing by way of innumerable small clues, each one of which

must be considered in conjunction with all the others. With proper
attention to detail, they say, graphology can assess more than 300
personality characteristics, among them sociability or introversion,
egocentricity, imagination, ambition, and enthusiasm.
Nevertheless, experts warn that graphologycan yield only
clues, not certainties, about character. But the same could be said
of more David
traditional psychological yardsticks. Psychologist
Lester, who an extensive study pitting graphology against stan-
did
dard tests such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
and the Rorschach inkblot, found that graphology was just as ac-
curate as its more orthodox competition in assessing personality.
Some of the basic principles of graphology, along with an
analysis of two writing samples, appear on the following pages.
 -

DiacrenfSlanfs

^^t^^v^ti^ oyLyCy yyyi^^y^y^ a.^^'Ley

contact. The greater the slant, the greater The slope of a line of script is also said to
Most people learned as schoolchildren to
the need for approval A negative aspect of be significant. Writing that marches direct-
write according to the Palmer Method,
the forward slant is that its owner may be ly from margin to right reveals some-
left
shown above in an exerpt from the Gettys-
overly emotional, especially under stress one self-contained, even-tempered, and
burg Address This standard, devised by
A backward slant reveals a loner, an intro- goal-directed Writing rising toward the
educator Austin N Palmer in the nine-
spective person who may overcontrol end of a line purportedly suggests opti-
teenth century, is still used by handwriting
emotions. An erratic slant -letters leaning mism And a sample that
or exhilaration.
experts as a control against which other
one way, then another-connotes ver- slopes downward shows pessimism, de-
scnpts are measured first

but also moodiness and instability pression, or fatigue

No one mimics for long the tedious per- satility,

Palmer Each individ- Graphologists divide lines of script hon- Spacing between words can reveal cer-
fection prescribed by
and eliminates zontally into three zones, illustrated by the and emotional tendencies. Nar-
tain social
ual adapts, embellishes,
emerges that is as heavy lines in the sample above The pro- row spacing implies a need for social con-
until a handwnting style \

portional distribution of the letters within tact,possibly leading to a certain lack of

distinctive and specific as a fingerprint
the zones can be telling. The upper zone discrimination in choosing friends Wide
Graphologists attribute this diversity to the
governs intellect, spirituality, idealism, and spacing reflects reserve and caution, the
uniqueness of each human brain The I

imagination The middle zone pertains to writer is metaphorically distancing himself

;
brain, they say.does the wnting; the hands :

practical functions related to work and or herself from others Moderate spacing
are only the tools Therefore, each per-
j

family and social interactions The lower indicates a happy medium, a person who
!
son's wnting can be seen as a kind of psy-
zone shows attitudes about physicality, is both self-sufficient and sociable
chological logbook
To read it. experts prefer to work from sex, and matenal matters Letters appor- Another big-picture item the grapholo-
I

tioned evenly through all three zones re- gist might address is the size of the writ-
wnting that is spontaneous -not copied
Large script denotes an expansive
I

and inscnbed on unlmed paper They look 1

veal inner harmony If upper loops on such ing

first at general characteristics, including letters as / h, k. and / show outsized ego. mediumsize wnting a balanced, rea-

.
the slant of the letters, their height and height, the writer is apt lo be idealistic and sonable, and adaptable person, small writ-
j

(irr'*b th" "^lopc ol the line, and the way prone to daydream Writing dominated by ing a rationalist, possibly a scientist or ac-

J 1 the middle zone purportedly implies a self- ademic Very small writing that tends to
s in the right supposedly involved person who lives for the moment flatten into a line denotes feelings of infc-

I tow.irJ others, an '

Deep stretches into the lower zone denote vanes

rionty, while scnpt that in size indi-

nd needs human strong physical and matenal drives cates moodiness and extreme sensitivity.
 DiHeraifSfrohcs
After assessing the overall character of a one's self-assessment. An / much larger bad temper, possibly to the point of brutal-
handwriting style, the graphologist pro- than other capitals indicates self-interest ity. A light dot riding high above the i's
ceeds to the wealth of minutiae yielded by and a confident facade that may mask un- stem shows refinement and imagination.
individual letters and strokes. certainty. A small, badly shaped / bespeaks A few more of the multitudinous clues
Capital letters are said to be clues to self-consciousness and weak will. A very that a good graphologist pursues are de-
one's ego, the face one presents to the round / is self-protective and introverted, picted on this page.
world. Large, overblown capitals, for in- but an / that is large and angular shows an For all of grapholog>''s breadth and at-
stance, reveal a need for attention and ad- abrasive egotism. tention to detail, however, there are two
miration, while small ones suggest exces- / is also significant in the lower case, basic characteristics that the practice
sive modesty and a lack of self-assurance. where its dot supposedly presents innu- chronically fails to detect with any certainty:
Scroll-like, much-embellished capitals de- merable clues to character. For example, if age and sex. It seems that maturity does
note vulgarity; simple printed capitals the ; has an elongated dot, the writer is not always parallel chronology, and most
good taste. The capital personal pronoun / probably highly sensitive with an acute people have characteristics of both gen-
is a particularly important benchmark of critical sense. A thick, heavy dot indicates ders within their psychological makeup.

STARTS AND FINISHES THE LETTER T

Long approach strokes to first letters can show attachment to the On writing that slants to the left, a single long t-bar that crosses two
past. The small initial hook and long sweep into thef—sigtuflcantty, stems shows willpower, mental agility, and possible executive ability.
In the word father— show someone seeking to retrieve the past.

The t-bar that loops backward to cross the stem reveals guilt feelings,
though they might well be groundless.

Contrasting with the previous/, this one is without preamble.

When there is no approach stroke at all, the writer is probably a WAWtSTBli oss4:^./?A-'
direct, forward-looking,and effident person.
Crossing a t above the stem bespeaks goals that may be too lofty. The
bar's position left of the stem signals hesitancy or procrastination.

A t crossed low on the stem denotes a pedestrian thinker, one who

sets safe, easy goals and takes refuge in the tried and tested.
The little upward flourish on the r indicates generosity, along
with a possible interest in such matters as religion, theoretical
reasoning, or abstract thinking.

A t-bar that slants upward, like a whole line of script edging.upward,

suggests an optimistic outiook on life.

The slight inward hook on the final y is tiny, but telling. It betokens a
certain tenacity and persistence. The writer is probably also goal The abrupt downward slant of this t-bar indicates a writer who is
oriented and somewhat acquisitive. stubborn and willful and inclined to be overly critical.
 Rcvdaflons in Script

The handwriting samples shown here below was provided by a young mother
were analyzed by Gloria Weiss, a forensic and professional woman, the one on the
graphologist and graphology teacher facing page by a man who became a

based in Washington, D.C. The sample novelist after retiring from government.

[r-iyiA.^

.^/ o
:6 j^-^XA,

^^-^t^l

p^X-.'CrjQ^

tAJ^--€-

good and quiet self-confidence show

taste proposition.Weiss notes the script's
The slant and fluidity of this sample give
which are sizable,
in the capital letters,
tendency to begin large and taper down
the overall impression of spontaneity,
but also simple, direct, and unassuming. toward the end of a word This is a habit
enthusiasm, versatility, imagination,
The upward slope of the writing reveals that implies diplomacy and tact. In writing
directness,and efficiency A variability in
thatis more thready and less defined,
the sizeand shape of the writing suggests an optimistic nature. Varied interests
show in the way the writing balances these virtues might change to hypocrisy.
occasional moodiness and indicates the
fairly evenly across the three zones. But Weiss says
writer is often pressed for time.
the middle zone a little small, and However, the tapering here must be
The slightly arched t-bars denote is

concerted mental effort to control
concentration that tends to be scattered;
but on the positive side, a small flourish
to the bars bespeaks a good sense of
humor. The word spacing varies from
projections into the upper and lower
zones vary These factors suggest the
writermay have trouble with priorities
and focus as she tries to juggle the
diverse concerns in her
balanced against the ovals of the small
as and os. The ovals are clearly formed
and usually fully closed at the top,
showing honesty and directness. Weiss
concludes the writer is neither insincere
life.

means In the words conceived, liberty, and nor manipulative, but she tends to
close to comparatively wide This
temporize with the truth a bit to avoid
the wnlcr knows how to be close to
hurting other people s feelings.
people without being intrusive Innate

^^li:^ '^yZ^ %-y

 -0>>JU^^v^

iP-b-w^^ C^^

la-o-^

VVodL G^^M. V/.v^€.^

wfl—-^*^^

This writing shows a slight leftward slant, extensions are fairly equal -as those in reading suggests. The odd reversal in the
a singular regularity, and veiy straight the novelist's/s are— almost guarantees lower arm of his/shows fiexibility, and
alignment, marching left to right with that the writer has a strong sense of the rightward t-bars indicate considerable
precision and purpose. The writer is organization. Moreover, he is judicious. enthusiasm and some spontaneity.
exceptionally goal directed, Weiss says. Wide spacing between his lines betokens Despite a certain standoffishness in the
He is single-minded and tenacious in his a man who weighs and considers script's leftward slant, long final strokes

aims; once he plots a course he will not carefully before deciding or acting. on some of the letters show a degree of
deviate from it. He finishes what he starts, The upper zone dominates his script; extroversion, a reaching out toward
and he finishes on time. the lowercase /'s and b's have upward others. The simplicity of the capitals says

This general observation is confirmed extensions that soar well out of propor- the writer is no egotist. His good taste

by smaller details, such as the writer's tion to the small middle zone. Here is a precludes presumption.
formation of the small .letter/ The man of theory and intellect, more at Still, he wants and expects a lot from
lowercase/is especially important to home in the realm of ideas than with life. Where the young mother writes with
graphologists in what it reveals about practical, mundane matters. rather light pressure, the man bears down
organizational ability. According to Vl^eiss, Nevertheless, certain clues imply the on his words. This shows strong drive

a well-balanced/whose upper and lower writer is not quite as rigid as an overall and a will to achieve.

/^J"
 -

Charfing flie Four Basic Numbers

Destiny Number also influences the "personal-year cycles" -a set of reigning

_i the ancient practice of numerology, a
course a person will take to attain career patterns and influences such as asser-
person's birth chart consists of four basic
goals -whether the career involves tiveness. harmony, security, resignation,
numbers-three drawn from the name
raising a family or running a corpora- and the like. These patterns are said to be
given at birth and one from the birth date.
tion -and describes the types of people set in motion on the day a person is bom
Numerologists analyze these numbers to
discover clues about the individuals who will be encountered along the way. and continue in nine-year cycles for as
and cycles. A Numerologists believe that although the long as he or she lives. The personal-year
character, destiny, life

birth name remains the foundation of cycle explains where energy should be
personal chart reading, similar to those
nature and destiny throughout life, a focused during any given twelve-month
performed by professionals, can be done
name change can dramatically alter the period -a kind of psychic homework as-
by simply calculating these four numbers
mix of letters and numbers and thus signment for the year.
and checking the capsule descriptions on
A simple method
i

expand the person's experiences, of determining the

the following pages. Although people are
attitudes, and role in society. A woman current personal-year cycle is to go back
the usual subjects, the process can be
name and who changes her last name at marriage, to the person's last birthday and add the
applied to anything that has a
date of birth or origin -a cat, a business, for may become more adaptable
example, numbers in that date, as demonstrated
and her new circumstances
flexible in above. The patterns associated with this
a nation, or even an idea j

The first step in this intriguing exercise j

because she is taking on a new set of number will prevail from that birthday up
name into numerical numbers that will be used along with her to the next birthday, and then the cycle
is to translate the its
will move forward one number; at the
I

equivalent, using the number-letter i

birth name. Numerology points to a shift
conversion table shown on the opposite in personal numbers as a factor in such end of year nine in the cycle, the person
transformations. Similarly, movie stars begins again with year one.
page Each letter is assigned a single-digit
'.

number based on its sequential place in ^

and writers may take on new public Whatever Life Lesson Number is

The letters A through / are identities-and private personalities determined on the day of birth, that
the alphabet I

numbered one through nine, with the j

through name changes they hope will number is repeated in the person's ninth
remaining letters reduced to one of those '
provide a certain image Archibald L^ach year-and every nine years thereafter. For
through simple addition. For and Joyce Frankenburg certainly have a this reason, the birth year and the ages of
digits
different ring from Gary Grant and Jane and so on are
9, 18. 27. 36. 45. 54.
example, / as the tenth letter reduces to a
Seymour, the stage names these two important years -periods when events
one (10- 1 +0= ), and U as the twenty-
I

first letter reduces to a three (21 =2+ =3) 1 performers chose. occur that underscore the major theme of
The three birth -name numbers are Although a persons name may change a person's life and remind him again of
determined by addmg the numerical over the course of a lifetime, the birth the lessons he is here to learn

values of three different sets of letters in date is constant. And it is the sum of Once the four numbers in a personal
numbers in this date that produces the birth chart are determined, the final step
the name first, all the vowels that occur;
fourth and most important number in a is to look up their interpretations. Each of
then, all the consonants, and finally, the
total of all the letters The numerical total numerology chart the IJfe Ljesson the numerical descriptions on the follow-

of the vowels- fl. c, /, o, and u-in the Number. This number reveals the lessons ing pages begins with the numbers sup-
name is called the Soul Number This is and truths a person is meant to learn posed essence, followed by its influence

thought to reflect the person's true inner during his lifetime, it signals the essential as a personal numberone of the four
in

self, encompassing ambitions and purpose of his existence categories. If you are examining your Soul

motivations, judgment and attitudes, and The Ufe Lesson Number is obtained by Number, for example, the definition de-
writing the birth date in numbers and to- scribes your inner nature If it is your Out-
feelings The total of the consonants, on
the other hand, produces the Outer I
taling them until they reduce to a single er PersonalityNumber, the description
Personality Number, which relatef to digit. If your birth date is November 4, represents how others see you If you are

physKal appearance, health. and|Sii^. 1947, for example, you would figure your looking up your Path of Destiny Number,
"*
Impression the person makes on
"
Lesson Number by writing the date as
"fe the influence applies to your career
L^- 1947making sure to use the full course And if it is your Life Lesson Num-
through dress and behavior
The of Ihe entire birth name \f
local jhx, not the abbreviation 47 -and then ber, the definition suggests the lessons
,

known as the Path of Dc&liny Number It adding the digits until they reduce to a you need to learn. And finally, the

Indicates the sum of the individuals nine (I U4+ 9 + 4 + 7-27-2 + 7-9)

I personal-year cycle describes the prevail-
ing pattern of events and attitudes for any
I

capabilities and achievements and how The birth-date number is also the key to
I he or she others The Path of
will affect Interpreting what numerologists call year -past, present, or future.
 .

.ULkWfi^i^SHlI&i^'.

ssence of One: Activation. One is tlie a tower of inspiration in difficult times.

seed, the beginning, when the life force is You should avoid becoming arrogant,
self-compelled to move out to explore and stubborn.
selfish,

and confront newness. It is original and Personal- Year-Cycle One: This is the
individualistic because it is uninfluenced beginning of a new nine-year cycle in

by previous experience. Because it does your life. Major changes have occurred

not know that things cannot be done, it and you are still in the process of sorting
proceeds with complete faith to do them. them out physically and emotionally. You
One is the pioneer, facing the unknown feel compelled to center on yourself,

with an innocent courage. draws upon

It which may be a difficult mental transition
its own creative well to solve any if you have been trained to think of others

problems that arise. first. However, your needs should come

Personal Number One: You are an first now -the decisions you make during

extreme individualist and a self- this cycle will influence your life for the

motivator, and therefore feel comfortable next four to nine years. Even if there are
following your own ideas and instincts. people around you, you may feel isolated

Your individuality is the drive behind your and alone. Do not let this be a concern,
need for freedom and independence. You because your sense of separation allows
express leadership creatively and with you to make important decisions
Not wanting to take a
originality. uninfluenced by others. People may offer
secondary position, you handle the entire advice, but you will not take it.You feel
operation and leave the details to others. more independent, assertive, and willing
You more from experience than
learn to take chances. This is the year to
from instruction and advice, which you express your individuality, to attempt
dislike.Your ardent nature can cause those things you have only dreamed of to
swings in your emotional behavior. Yet this point. One important person,
the intensity of your focus, together with attracted by your new attitude, may come
your courage and intelligence, make you into your life.
 ce of Two: Attraction. In its indecision, and feelings of inferiority.
dynamic advancement, One is attracted to Personal-Year-C^de Two: This year
another One, and they become Two. Two requires a calm, receptive attitude on
is the gestation period where the seed your part. Because you have the ability to
from One is collected and assimilated, see opposing points of view now, you be-
and things begin to form. It is the mirror come the peacemaker or mediator. You
of illumination where knowledge comes become aware of the needs of others and
from opposites: night and day, female and are willing to settle any differences that
male Two is the principle of marriage may have arisen as a result of last year's
between two distinct entities. assertiveness. You may find it hard to
Personal Number Two: You are a dip- make decisions now, preferring to remain
lomat with a strong desire for peace and more in the background. This is a good
harmony. Since you are so strongly tuned period for partnerships because of your
in to the moods and feelings of others, sensitivity. Marriage may occur during
you collect and assimilate their ideas, this cycle. Your subconscious is very ac-
which can make it difilcult for you to tive, so you should explore and develop
make decisions. You are so sensitive that your intuitive abilities. Flashes of insight
you naturally interact with others gently and understanding will aid you in solving
while staying in the background and re- Sudden recognition is
difficult situations.

maining unobtrusive. The subtle forces of possible for some

nature stir you deeply; music and other
soothing art forms fulfill your deep sense
of rhythm and harmony. You have an ex-
pansive imagination that creates a magic
mirror in which you can see every detail.
Your cooperative and patient nature,
along with your sincerity and your ability
to see both sides of things, makes you
perfect partner. Avoid oversensitivity.
work you are
act or
presently doing or perhaps have long for-
gotten. Legal dealings, sales agreements,
legacies, and claims may occur now. It is
a curious year, when life flows along qui-
etly-until sudden, exciting events occur
thatcan require overnight decisions. Your
motto this year should be: Expect the un-
the expected. And listen to your inner self
Creative magic lies waiting to be explored.

nee of Three: Expansion. The your energies, and avoid exaggeration,

marriage of Two results in growth and
unfoldmenl in Three. The most imagina-
tive and creative of the numbers. Three is
the mother-father-child. This family unit
symbolized by the triangle, known as the
self-indulgence, and foolish optimism.
Personal-Year-Cycle Three: This is
your year of activity, expansion, travel,
is and luck. You need room to move and
express yourself, to experience life, ftee- ,

first perfect shape inmathematics- that dom, and the joy of living. You may travel
is, the first closed plane that can be to another part of this land or to another
constructed with straight lines. The country and meet people who enlarge
triangle represents the three-fold nature your idea of the worid. Some of the indi-
of divinity in most cultures. vidualsyou meet now can be important
Penonal Number Three: You are an business contactsin the future. You are

extremely expressive individual who can aware of your appearance and may in-
-'
influence others with your ability to dulge in a new wardrobe, hairstyle, or '

communicate in a flamboyant style. other beauty improvements. Since this is

Somewhere there is a stage waiting for often called a lucky cycle, your one ticket
you Whether you are speaking, writing, may win the prize. But do not over-
or acting, your bright, warm nature draws indulge. Overexpansion leads to bank-
others who bask In your enthusiasm and ruptcy. If you use good judgment, howev-
energy You are aware of your appear- er, this is a fertile cycle that could include
ance because performing depends upon the birth of a child, a creation of the .,

the impression you make on others. You mind, or an expansion of your bank ac- <

dream big, and your faith is often
-
rewarded because positive thinking
produces positive results. Because of your
expansive nature, you meet people from
different cultures and social strata.
Increasing your already broad and
all cniompassinu thinking Do not scatter
count. In the midst of this social cycle,
you be invited to parties and func-
will
tions where you suddenly become the
center of attention. People respond to you
positively, which feeds a growing feeling
of well-being within you. You have more
faith in yourself and your abilities.
 )

Bsence of Four: Security. Four talents. You should avoid stubbornness,

symbolizes the boundaries that provide overwork, and hoarding.
security for the Three. As the square, the Personal-Year-Cycle Four: The
second perfect shape in mathematics, it emphasis this year is on work, order,
suggests solid foundations and perimeters budgeting, foundations, close physical
that contain and protect. The determined relationships, the body. You have an urge
and conservative Four w/orks hard to to organize all areas of your life, so you

provide strong fences and square meals begin cleaning the attic, cellar, closets,

for the nourishment of the Three family.
Personal Number Four: You are
practical, cautious, and reliable, the salt
of the earth. You feel responsible for
building solid foundations upon which
future depends. That iswhy you respect
law and order. It also explains why your
cupboard is never bare and you have
something saved for that rainy day. You
can be depended upon to be at the job
every day and to finish any task assigned
to you; you exemplify Kahlil Gibran's line
from The Prophet, "Work is love made
visible." You take pride in your work
the garage, the office. This action is a
symbolic gesture indicative of your
subconscious need to build an orderly
and strong foundation in your life.
the Material things become important now
because they add to your sense of
security and satisfy your heightened
physical needs. You may purchase goods
or property, or decide to build or remodel.
Exercise good judgment and organize
your funds Your body is a
carefully.
physical possession, and since you may
have put on a few pounds last year, now
is the time to bring out the sweat suits,

because it is an expression of yourself. the diet book, and the bathroom scal^^*""
You are concerned with the land and Health can be a concern, so rest, eat m
need to be connected in some manner, exercise properly, and have a physical
through a garden, nature trips, or examination. This can be a money cycle,
environmental issues. Financial matters but funds that come in are in direct
are of concern to you as well; they are proportion to the amount of work you do.
another expression of the worth of your Work well and you will be rewarded.

sence of Five: Experience. Four, should remain sincere and truthful.

firmly entrenched in its home, now begins Personal- Year-Cycle Five: You are
to explore the environment. The Five restless and ready for change. Life sud-
needs freedom and independence so that denly becomes so busy that you feel as if

it can indulge its senses in the experi- you are on a merry-go-round,

ences of life. It has an insatiable curiosity meetings and parties, running e
through which it filters its encounters and answering mail and the telephone, a
ultimately makes choices that will generally being available for others
'
influence its future. suddenly need you. Communic«^on is a
Personal Number Five: You are a key word this year. Get involve ^tei d r
communicator. Impulsive and restless, people, because from these exp
you need the freedom to move freely you will gather the information^

through your life so that you can gather to make important decisions that can
experience and information to feed your affect your life for the next four years. If

curiosity. You promote ideas and like you are dissatisfied with your life, you ^^
change for the learning opportunity it pro- make changes more easily now. This ^
vides. Mental stimulation is essential for turning point. Opportunities will arise in
your well-being. Your mind moves quick- which you can find solutions to any cur-
ly, imitating and adapting to immediate rent impasses. Because your mind is so
influences so that you are able to blend in active, this is a good time to take courses
with any group. You can talk on most to satisfy your need for more experience.
subjects with ease because of your vast Your romantic desires increase, sending
experience, and you are a natural mimic, out magnetic waves that attract the oppo-
delighting others with your impish site sex. Various love interests become
actions. Versatile and adaptable, you are possible. Your nervous system is in high
the super salesperson and life of the par- gear, so avoid alcohol and drugs, and be
ty. You are efficient but dislike monotony careful of accidents. This is your year for

and routine jobs. Because you have the fun, excitement, romantic encounters, de-
power to communicate effectively, you cisions, and change.
 nee of Six: Harmony. After tasting generous, and tolerant. Be careful to
experience through its five senses, Six avoid becoming a recluse or a doormat
realizes the importance of love, compas- for others, playing the martyr.

sion, and social responsibility. The home, Personal-Year-Cyde Sfac: This is the
built in the Four, must now be filled with nesting phase where the emphasis is
love and meaningful relationships. Home on home and family. In the natural on
alsobecomes part of the community in of things, after last year's possible roman-
which law and order are established to tic encounters, marriage and the birth of
ensure social harmony. children are possible. Even if this does- -^'

Personal Number Six: You are an not apply to you, your attention shifts'
whose sense of
artistic individual the domestic front, and changes occur,
harmony may express itself in the home, such as family members moving in or
the arts, or community service. You need out, children going to school or marrying,

and show love in your home, where relatives wanting financial or emotional

family is Your sense of

all-important. support. Responsibility for the family in-
beauty may be way you
evident in the creases. Because your sense of justice is
decorate your home, or in crafls and heightened, people may tell you their

cooking. Your innate ability to go right to
the crux of the matter makes you the
counselor to whom others go for answers
to theirproblems as well as for the
nurturing compassion you provide.
profession is outside the home, you seek
to bring harmonious order world to the
through beautifying the environment,
counseling, the arts, or through the legal
system, which seeks balance in justice.
You love people and are concerned,
problems and ask your advice. Court deci-
sions that restore balance are possible.
Beauty and harmony become important in
your life, so you may redecorate your
If your home, surround yourself with works ofc—
art,and enjoy attending museums or H
ballet.Community projects can satisfy >
your social sensibilities now. And close
relationships with your partner, family,
and friends are possible if you extend love
and compassion.

Mtasence of Seven: Analysis. Now that conventional educational or spiritual in-

the physical is taken care of. Seven goes
within itself to contemplate its place in
the universe. It begins to think and to
analyze past experiences and present
situations, and it wonders what
ahead. Seven realizes that the skills
developed must be perfected in prepara-
tion for the future. Seven is physical rest
and mental work.
Personal Number Seven: You are a
thinker and an idealist who thoroughly
analyzes knowledge from many sources
before accepting any premises. Noises
and crowds disrupt your meditative na-
ture; therefore, you spend time by your-
self so your creative imagination can
roam freely seeking perfection. Your intu-
itive abilities combined with your natural-
ly analytic riature make you a prophet,
able to anticipate future needs and
events. You understand human nature
:
and are not easily fooled by external ap-
I
pearances, and thus can make others un-
easy Because of your Introspective de-
mi-.tnot^you arc a puzzle to many. As a
rule, you wfll not accept orthodox beliefs
but will search for your own-allhough
vou mav find these within the walls
stitutions. Try to listen to other ideas and
do not allow your naturally aloof manner
to alienate you from those you love.
Personal- Year-C^de Seven: It is time
"^
lies to rest. You feel more tired and less
it has than usual and want to be alone to
about where you have been, where you
are now, where you are headed. You may
spend time with one or two friends who
complement your contemplative mood.
This cycle says it is time to go within and
think. You have to maintain your every-
day routine to some extent, but do not
push your affairs aggressively- if you per-
sist in scurrying about in the outside
world, you may become ill. You can set
your material worries aside; the things
you have been worrying about for the
past six years will take care of them-
selves. Your mind is keenly alert, and you
should perfect any skills that you have;
they will be useful next year. But for now,
study, read, and take courses in philoso-
phy, religion, numerology, astrology, or
other metaphysical subjects to help you
understand your place in life. Your intui-
tions are keen, and dreams, visions, and
of telepathic experiences are all possible.
 ssence of Eight: Reward. The strength
and skills gathered in the past seven
numbers are now put to the test. Well
grounded physically, emotionally, and
mentally, the Eight reaches out into the
world to establish its authority in
positions of material power. The rewards
for its past efforts come in equal
proportion to the wisdom of past choices.
This is the karmic period where Eight
reaps what it has sown.
Personal Number Eight: You are the
executive type in whichever sphere you
move. Sensing your organizational and
managerial abilities, people automatically
look to you for leadershp. You know the
value of a dollar, so your sound fiscal
judgment can place you in positions of
financial management. By working hard
and exercising discipline and caution, you
can achieve positions of great power. You
do not rely on luck; you depend upon
your own resourcefulness and persever-
ance. You know no halfway measures;
your ambition drives you to achieve suc-
cess. responsibility and
You must accept
handle itbecause your actions have
fairly
obvious repercussions in the world
around you. As a steward of material re-
lissence of Nine: Release. After experi-
encing the world of material power in the
Eight, Nine now knows that physical
things are transitory and must be returned
to the giver. Having learned that life is
cyclical, Nine gives back freely and with-
out fear those things it has gained so that
the universe will be richer. Nine is the hu-
manitarian carrying the light of wisdom.
Personal Number Nine: You are the
humanitarian who feels compassion and
love for others regardless of social, eco-
nomic, or racial barriers. Because you un-
derstand that you are part of a greater
whole, you give generously of your time
and resources. You seek wisdom rather
than mere knowledge, desiring to make
the world a more loving place in which to
live. Because you belong to the universal
family, you know that you have to live
impersonally and let go of things when it
is time. People are drawn to you because
of your tolerance, inner wisdom, and
breadth of vision, which is often prophet-
ic. You must live your own philosophy
because you are an example for others.
The necessities of life may come easily so
that you are free to follow your humani-
tarian impulses. Avoid self-serving
sources, you must handle them wisely
and with respect. Scheming and ruthless
actions and personal advancement with-
out regard for others lead to defeat.
Personal- Year-Cycle Eight: This year
you will get what you have earned. Pur-
sue your career goals with confidence
and determination, because now you will
be noticed. If you have planned well, you
will get that promotion, raise, or recoiH
tion.Honors, awards, and legacies at^M
also possible. You are finding out how^
effective you are in the material worldj
is a year of pressure and responsibili^H
career and in finances. Depending up^|
your past actions, the reins of power ;^B
be placed in your hands -and possibj^B
large sums of money. Personal relatiOTM
ships are also intense. To fulfill the needs
of this cycle -as opposed to your Five Cy-
cle,where romantic activities were for the
purpose of experience -your relationships-
now must embody respect and equali|H|~
the physical and the spiritual, body atuH
mind. You can find wholeness here, but
whatever this cycle presents to you, an
examination of your behavior during the
past seven cycles will reveal how you ar-
rived at this point.
interests, which can only lead to a lack of
faith in life's bounty.
Personal-Year-Cycle Nine: This is the
final year in your nine-year cycle, a
cleansing period in which those things no
longer necessary in your life must be dis- :
carded to make room for a new round of ;,
experience in next year's Personal- Year-
Cycle One. Major changes occur noM^
People may leave your
change jobs or have to
you may
life,
relocate, and
V
things you have grown used to may have
to be given up. Your attitude changes dra-
matically. Use some of your energy in
charitable deeds. Give back to life some
of what you have been given so that you
can experience firsthand the joy of givinj
These acts are integral to the transi^H
process. Old friendships become esp«M
ly meaningful now; new ones can devel-
op. You may receive gifts for your past
efforts. Many goals have been accom-
plished, and you should tie up loose ends.
The past eight years have added to your
pool of wisdom. Sprinkle others with your 5
sympathy, compassion, and understand-
ing, and be open to the cleansing wash of
change. An exciting new year lies ahead,
beginning with your next birthday.
 CHAPTER 4

Symbolic Guides to Fate

ccording to a traditional Hebrew system ot" deriving divinatory numerals

from letters and words, the woman's name equaled two, identifying her as a
paragon of femininity. The consonants in her name added up to eight, indi-

cating the powerful influence in her life of money, power, and fame. The
vowels, said to be clues to the inner self, yielded the number three, suggest-

ing charm and luck, internal fire, and artistic talent. The most frequently
recurring number in her name was five, an indication of a versatile person-
ality driven by nervous energy. Next came one, the number of insatiable

ambition. But not a single six-the number of peace and tranquility-ap-

peared in her adoptive name, which was Marilyn Monroe.

In her brief and troubled life, cut short by suicide, this glamorous blond
movie star seemed to have fulfilled the destiny foretold by the age-old art of

numerology, one of several symbolic systems that have been devised to in-

terpret the present and predict the future Underlying all such systems is a
persistent belief in the orderliness of the universe; our science and our reli-

gions are built on that conviction. It is only a small further leap of faith to
believe that the same order that governs the course of the stars, the move-
ment of the clouds, and the flow of the tides extends to human affairs as
well. And if that order is all -pervasive, the reasoning goes, then surely it can
be seen in small things as well as large.
What is revealed to some by the heavens may be discerned by others
in, say, a sequence of cards or numbers, or in the fall of a set of sticks or

coins.And if the eternal order of the universe is established and complete,

as some believe, then there can be no accident or chance; the fall or se-
quence or pattern results from the contlucnce of all the forces of order at the

instant of inquiry.
All cultures have sought the ki-y to tlu- workini^s ol tin- univiMSi' The
search for the truths hkldi-n m svnibuls conlinucs today m liiicc ni.im cur

rents. Some seekers rely on the ancient Chinese method calkd the / Chin^,

which derives complex meaning not from numbers but from mnihiiuitions
of lines selected by chance Others consult the ornate pack ot cards known
as the Tarol, believing that late governs the shulfic and the deal and will
 -

reveal itself in the symbols on the cards and their relation- gy, however, is derived primarily from the work of an an-
ship with each other. Still others turn to numerology, which cient who is probably better known
Greek philosopher
assigns numbers to the letters of the alphabet and derives and more revered— among hardheaded mathematicians
from names and statements a quantity that corresponds to than he is in occult circles.
a special meaning.
No one knows for certain where or when the art of By some accounts, he won the heavyweight boxing cham-
numerology began, but references to it date back many pionship at the forty-eighth Olympian games. He studied
thousands of years. The ancient Maya were known to be- with the best minds of his native Greece, and it is likely that

lieve in the mystical significance of numbers, as were Mes- he traveled to Egypt and Babylon to plumb the mysteries of
opotamian astrologers and conjurers, who are sometimes geometry and astronomy. He achieved high honor as a
credited with originating the concept that numbers explain teacher and leader of a philosophical brotherhood in the
the structure of the universe. The Cabala— a Jewish system city of Crotona in Italy. But it is said that no thrill this mer-
of religious and mystical interpretation— maintained that chant's son had ever experienced could compare with the

God created the universe using letters and numbers for stunning revelation of the lyre.

building materials. And some enthusiasts even believe that The setting was Asia Minor, the time about 530 BC.
the Egyptian and Mexican pyramids incorporate dimensions The man, whose name would be known to students of

that were dictated not by architects or engi geometry for millennia to come, was Py-
neers but by numerologists thagoras, and his passion was
who designed the mathematics. What his in-

structures in order to vestigations into

express certain secret the tuning
knowledge. of the lyre

Early Jewish mys- might ulti-

tics used the association mately lead

between letters and to was at the

numbers to discover hid- onset not en-

den meanings in scriptur- tirely clear,
al texts. In their system of even to him. But
interpretation, called ge- Pythagoras per-
matria, words or sentences sisted, studying the

whose numbers yielded octave, inquiring in-

identical totals were to the nature of har-

deemed to be identical in mony, probably mea-

meaning or truth. The sys- suring on a special
tem that has been the most single-stringed instru-
popular in the West, and the ment called a monochord
one that provides believers what length of string pro-

with an intriguing rationale for duced which note. And in

the whole notion of numerolo- time a discovery burst upon
him that was to have a profound influence on subsequent
human thought.
Pythagoras and his followers venerated numbers with iheNysflcallhrec
all the enthusiasm and devotion reserved by their contem-
deities of the Hellenic world "Third times a charm" is among the many
poraries for the numerous
casual superstitions that have survived
Dunng a period of unprecedented inquiry into the nature of from ancient times. Godhead as well as
things, an era that would later be known as the classical hell-sign, three has been regarded as a

age, contemplating the significance of numbers was a novel magical number in widely diverse cultures
for millennia.
and pleasurable pursuit. And these exercises involved far
The classical Greeks had some 120
more than the flawless logic of mathematics. To Pythago- mythical triads, or groups of three. Some
reans, numbers also possessed an abstract, even mystical, of them were beneficent, some were not.
dimension; members of this trailblazing brotherhood were The good ones included the Three Graces,
handmaidens of Apollo, shown below in a
entranced by such notions as the elemental similarity be- But there
detail from Botticelli's Primavera.
tween, for instance, three elephants and three fleas-their were also such triads as the three snake-
identical threeness. haired Furies, goddesses of retribution,
and the three grim Fates.
o be sure, such reflections by the Pythagoreans
Norse mythology also had three Fates,
were somewhat limited by the fact that their meth- and it divided the cosmos into three dis-
od of representing numbers was literal rather than tinct parts. Even certain elements of Chris-
symbolic The number one was depicted with a sin- tianity, the Trinity and Holy Family, have

with a triangular ar- rough counterparts in ancient Egypt's

gle dot, two with a pair, three
Osiris, Isis, and Horus, as well as in the
rangement, and so on. Numbers were employed for count-
Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.
ing things, nothing else; in a sense, they were chained to In numerology, three denotes both spiri-

what was bemg enumerated. But Pythagoras with his lyre tualharmony and sexual energy, the tran-
scendent and generative forces.
and monochord was about to set them free, opening up
whole new worlds for the system of numerology as well as
for mathematics.
His catalytic finding was that musical harmony de-

pended upon the relative length-measured, of course, m

numbers-of the strings being played. When, for example,
one string was twice as long as the other, establishing a
ratio of 2:1, their notes were an octave apart and thus har
monious. Ratios of 3:2 and 4:3 yielded similarly pleasing
chords, as did multiples of those ratios. All other arrange-
ments produced ear-grating discords
The Pythagoreans were intrigued by the fact that the

harmonious ratios in music could be expressed by the num

bers one through four. Set down in the manner of the time,

in dots, the numbers could also be combined in the form of

a logical triangular pattern, called the tclractys, that fairly

106
glowed with symmetry and meaning. It looked like this:

In this seemingly simple arrangement of ten dots, the

Pythagoreans found all the ratios of musical harmony and
encountered symmetry from every angle. They discovered
enshrined in the center the number one, which they regard-
ed as an absolute, and perceived a small triangle at the
base -a mystical trinity— overarched by dots representing
the seven notes of the musical octave. The Pythagoreans
were also struck by the notion that the numbers one
through four were the most important of all numbers: Add-
ed together, they equaled ten; all other numbers could be
derived from them. Endlessly fascinated with the tetractys,
they made it a holy icon of their order.
The connection with harmony and music served to
convince Pythagoras and his followers that numbers signi-
fied far more than a mere quantitative description of things;

they were in fact the essence of things, the expression of

the fundamental laws of the universe. "Were it not for num-
ber and its nature," said the Pythagorean philosopher Philo-
laus in the fifth century BC, "nothing that exists would be
clear to anybody either in itself or in relation to other IhcSI^ificanf Seven
things. You can observe the power of number not only in Folklore has it that seventh sons of seventh
the affairs of demons and gods but in all the acts and sons have uncanny powers— one legend
thoughts of men." among many that reflect the number sev-
en's mystical connections.The legends
The ideal was harmony- not merely in music but in
may be related to human knowledge of the
the cosmos, and not only in the material worid but in the
heavens. The astronomy of antiquity knew
spiritual as well, just as numbers pointed the way to musi- only seven "planets," whose movements
cal harmony, so, properly understood, they led to cosmic were thought to bear on human destiny. As
an illumination (above) from a manuscript
and spiritual harmony-a kind of music of the universe in
of the 1300s shows, astronomers studied a
which the individual notes or phenomena vibrated at differ- solar system in which the sun, the moon.
ent rates and produced harmonies and discords according Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Satum
revolved around Earth. It was also deemed
to their ratios.
mystically noteworthy that the moon's four
As worked out by the Pythagoreans, the lessons were phases lasted some seven days each.
manifold, and each number had its various parts to play. The Bible abounds with significant sev-
ens, from Genesis's precept of a seventh-
day sabbath to the seven-headed Great
Beast of Revelation. Pythagoreans appor-
tioned life itself into ten periods of seven
years each. The ancient Assyrians divided
their gods into groups of seven, and San-
skrit lore has seven sages, seven castes,

seven worlds. The Chaldeans thought sev-

en was a holy number, and it was sacred
to two ancient sun-gods, the Greek Apollo
and the Persian Mithras.

107
The number one represented the primordial unity- omnip- harmonious by combining them. Even numbers, on the oth-
otent, whole, male, and good-separated into component er hand, signified divisiveness, evil, and femininity. Four,

parts by the creation of the physical universe. Two, the first the first of the numbers whose depiction in dots appeared to

result of that division, was regarded as quintessentially fe- enclose space, was prosaic as well as stable; in addition, it

male, divided, and bad. (Bowing to changing times, modem represented justice.

numerologists tend to downplay such sex-based classifica- Five was seen as a number in motion, with an affinity
creation was deemed to be divided into for adventure, and since it was the first combination of an
tions.) Everything in

ten pairs of opposing categories, such as good and evil, odd and even number (one being regarded as an absolute,
light and darkness, and male and female. not a number), it stood for marriage. Six was at rest in do-
None of these attributes was more important than mestic tranquility. Seven turned away from earthly matters
whether the thing was associated with an odd or an even toward introspective mysteries, while eight enjoyed the ma-

number Odd numbers, containing as they did the number terial world and all its goods. Nine stood apart and symbol-

one (which always stood out prominently in the dot ar- ized perfection of mind and spirit

rangements used to represent these numerals), were asso- How much of all this can be attributed to Pythagoras

ciated with unity, goodness, and masculinity Three, for ex- himself is uncertain, since he left no written records Myths
ample, was creative and brilliant-it made one and two about him have multiplied over the centuries; He has been

IhcOmfnoosIliMecii

So persistent is the superstition sur- For early Christian missionaries bent on which of the goddesses deserved the
rounding the number thirteen that many stamping out paganism -particularly pa- prize eventually led to the Trojan War.

hotels continue to omit a thirteenth floor. ganism rooted in a matriarchal tradi- Numerologists of antiquity had a cer-
Some local jurisdictions never designate tion -the greatest of the Norse goddesses tain contempt for thirteen because it ex-
number, and
thirteen as a street-address was especially odious, and so were her ceeded the number twelve, which was
wary hosts avoid having a dinner party day and number. associated with completion. Thirteen
consisting of thirteen guests. In fact, however, the aversion to thir- was thus the number no one needed or
It widely believed that the fear of
is teen is not confined to Christian cultures. wanted, the one that signified a breach of
thirtecn-or triskaidekaphobia-originat- Even the Norse were ambivalent: There proper limits. Ancient Romans believed
ed with the Last Supper, depicted at right Is a Norse myth about twelve gods hold- thirteen to be unlucky, as did some sects
in an Andrea del Castagno fresco. The ing a banquet and neglecting to invite in India.

traitor Judas was the insidious thirteenth Loki, god of mischief. The malicious god Nevertheless, thirteen's bad repute is

participant in that portentous Passover -the thirteenth guest-crashed the party not universal. The number is a rather
meal. It may also be that Friday the Thir- and played a trick that resulted in the propitious one in Hebrew lore, and it had
teenth deemed particularly unlucky be-
is death of one of the other deities. In a re- divine importance for certain Indian
I /-alia* rhi^st was crucified on a Friday, markably similar Greek myth, the twelve tribes of Central America. Moreover, a

urce oftriskaidekaphobia, less Olympians held a feast and did not In- few Christian numerologists were kindly
has to do clude Eris, goddess of discord. For spite, disposed to pointing out that the Trin-
^ 'vbul probably valid, it,

'
wirtt'fjljfi^rse goddess Freya, after she threw into the deities' midst a golden ity and the Ten Commandments added
vhrrni pfiiay Is named. Both Friday and apple that was inscribed For the Fairest. up to thirteen, as did Christ and his

hirteenwere sacred to her. According to legend, contention over twelve apostles.

108
cited variously as a magician, a poet, and even as creator of and the divisiveness of two with separation from God.
the Cabala. Apparently, toward the end of the philosopher's Poring over the Scriptures, numerologists found a
life, citizens of Crotona became suspicious and frightened wealth of new meanings. In the book of Revelation they dis-
of the school and its heretical teachings-not to mention its covered what they considered to be an example of their art:

growing political influence. A mob drove Pythagoras and The Beast from the Sea-the Antichrist-was given a num-
his followers away, then destroyed the school and all its ber, "six hundred threescore and six." Thenceforward, ev-
records. Another story maintains that political infighting whose name could be represented as
ery person or thing
among the various members resulted in the eventual disso- 666 would be suspected by some of being an emissary of
lution of the school. the devil. (By various applications of numerological tech-
n any event, their ideas would be revived and expand- nique, that number can be discovered in the names of the
ed by later generations of scholars. In the sixth century imperial city of Rome, the emperors Nero and Caligula, and
AD, the Roman statesman and philosopher Boethius Germany's Adolf Hitler.)

introduced Pythagorean doctrine into a world that had The Christian doctrine of theTrinity was a natural for

been transformed by Christianity, and the study of furthercommentary from numerologists. To the nineteenth-
numbers began to flourish anew. The perfection of the century French occultist Eliphas Levi, for example, it was
number one, for example, came to be associated with God, obvious why God chose the number three: "Were God only

109
 Casting Your Faic

concocted divinatory games as ave- astragali existed alongside cube dice bear-
"The die is cast," said Shakespeare's Julius man
nues through which gods could send ing the pattern they have today -the spots
Caesar as he crossed the Rubicon in the
The expression omens concerning the future. on opposite sides always totaling seven
great gamble of his career.
Among the dice, much used by the These came into use around 1400 BC.
was new, but the linkage of dice and des- first

tiny was a very ancient idea
Forerunners of dice, made of bone,
probably existed tens of thousands of
Greeks and Romans but far older, were Other dice existed in Egypt at least as
those carved from the four-sided knuckle- early as 3500 BC How they served for div-
ination lost to history, but certain gam-
bones of sheep They were called astragali. is

The decorations on their faces, though not bling uses are clear Excavations of Egyp-
years ago They were almost surely used
necessarily dots, had designated values for tian tombs have turned up loaded dice,
for gambling and quite likely for fortune-
made specifically for cheating
telling as well It appears that primitive use in gaming and augury For centuries.

Several methods of telling your fortune With that result, consult

• / /three of the dice
land outside the
with dice have evolved over the years. your answers list for the
corresponding response to
circle on your first
Unlike numerology, the / Ching, or the
cast, try again If
Tarot, they require little expertise and so your question More for-
this happens once
are easy to try at home mal methods require a little rit-

ual preparation and-according to more, the time is not auspi-

Perhaps the simplest system involves
tradition -attention to circumstances. cious, and you should abandon the exper-
questions and answers You invent the
and Sunday are said to be unaus- iment for the present
questions, depending on what you want Friday
picious for divination Cool weather is The total face value of the three dice
to know Will I be married soon' could be
considered best for dice casting, and a in one throw yields the number for a
asked, or Will I be rich' or Should I

tranquil atmosphere is essential Be abso divinatory message, such as those found

change jobs at this time'Then devise a
you throw the dice in the following list derived from tradi-
list of possible answers, numbered from
lutely silent as
Draw a circle about a foot in diameter tional sources;
four to twenty-four Some examples are:
and put on a table or some other flat Three. Unex-
Yes, definitely. Yes, if you work hard. Not it

surface. This will be your target in throw- pected good

at this time, or Only if you persist With a
particular question in mind, throw two ing,and you must take care to hit it To news, a

dice and add their numbers. Then throw have the dice fall outside the circle or on
again and add the second total to the first. the fioor is unlucky Use three dice. If all
 Fourteen. Help from a friend, a new is the one to conjure with. Thus you are
friend or admirer. dealing only with numbers one through
Fifteen. Caution— guard against tempta- six. Their meanings are as follows:
tion toward dishonesty, avoid arguments
One. Favorable aspects, but they should
and gossip.
be related to the reading as a whole.
Sixteen. Travel, a good journey.
Two. Success depends on your friends.
Seventeen. A change caused by some-
Three. Signs are excellent for success.
one from afar, a move, cheerful
Four. Disappointment and difficulties.
industriousness.
Five. Auspicious indications.
Eighteen. The luckiest number of all,
Six. Uncertainty.
boding success, wealth, advancement,
and happiness. Say, for example, you throw your three
^H ^^
^^ ^ gift,

of a lucky time.
the beginning
For more specific revelations about your
dice
six
and turn up a four on letter F, a
on E, and a two on A. The f/four
Four. Disappointment, future, a third method may yield more combination might mean health problems
unpleasantness, or bad luck; complete meanings. Divide your circle are in the offing, and therefore a medical
exercise some caution. into twelve equal parts and assign letters checkup could be advisable. The £/six
Five. A wish fulfilled, a stranger bringing to each one. Each section will pertain to a takes up the theme, indicating a degree
happiness, a new and lasting friend. particular aspect of your life, as follows: of uncertainty in your life at the moment.
Six. Financial loss, dishonest friends or Combining the two divinations, you
loved ones.
A The next year
might conclude that less than optimum
B Finances
Seven. Setbacks, unhappiness, scandal health at the present time is the cause
C Travel
or gossip; guard your secrets. of doubt and unease. But the A/lwo
Eight. Strong outside forces; blame,
D Domestic affairs
fair augurs a favorable outcome, indicating
E The present
or unfair, headed your way. that the year to come will bring good
F Health
Nine. Luck in love or in marriage, things, provided you take care to get
reconciliation, a wedding or some other
G Love and marriage
along with people
kind of festivity.
H Legal matters
Like rhost divination systems, dice cast-
I Your current emotional state
Ten. A domestic happiness; a
birth, ing permits— even encourages— you to
J Career
business promotion. read your own meanings into the fall of
K Friends
Eleven. A parting, possible illness, the cubes. And, as is generally the case
L Enemies
unhappiness for you or someone close. with augury, there is no empirical evi-
Twelve., Good news, maybe by letter or Again, use three dice. But with this sys- dence whatever to prove the dice are ac-
telephone, but get advice before replying. tem, the dice are not totaled after they are curate. Yet tales of truth-telling dice do
Thirteen. Grief and sorrow, depression thrown. Rather, the number that turns up exist, as one might expect with a divina-
and worry. on the die landing in a particular segment tory system that predates history itself
 Dominoes and Destiny
regardless of the outcome of the game. the West consist of twenty-eight rectangu-
While nowhere near as old as dice, domi-
Dominoes apparently made their way to one of them completely blank and
lar tiles,
noes are nevertheless respectably antique.
Europe by way of China, and in the West the others marked on one side with dots.
The first record of them comes from
the tiles took on their current name and a Each tile is bisected, and the halves that
twelfth-century China, where they were
more modem form. By the end of the eigh- are not blank bear dots numbering one to
probably used for divination rather than
Thus they represent all of the possible
gaming, in fact, some antiquarians believe teenth century, they were in use in Italy, six

France, and England. They probably were number combinations, ranging from dou-
dominoes evolved as an early form of dice,
named af\er a black-and-white masquer- ble blank to double six
a variety that was employed exclusively for
ade costume called the domino-popular In their occidental incarnation, domi-
occult practices.
noes have tended to be far more popular
They are widely used for fortune-
still in Europe at the time -that matched the
color combination of the common ebony- as a game than as a tool for divination.
telling in Korea and India: and in both In-
Even Western methods for telling for-
so,
dia and China there are domino games and-ivory tiles

Modern dominoes are usually made of tunes with them have evolved over the
that combine gambling and augury. Cer-
wood, ivory, or plastic. Standard sets in centuries and still persist.
tain tiles are thought to be lucky for a player,

of a close friend or patron, a sign that any Five/two. Birth, mlluence from a true
To begin your domino reading, place all
kindness will bring you esteem, a caution and patient friend, sociability and
the tiles face down and then shuffle them
toward patience and tenacity. enjoyment
Three tiles will be used for the reading,
Six/four. A quarrel, perhaps even an Five/one. A love affair or new friend,
and they may be selected in either of two
unsuccessful lawsuit possible unhappy endings for those who
ways You may pick all three at once, or
Six/three. Travel, enjoyment, a happy are in love
you may choose them one at a time,
holiday, a gift Five/blank. Sadness, the necessity of
reading the chosen domino and divining
Six/two. Good luck and improved comforting a friend in trouble but with
its message and then returning it to the

pile to be shuffled again The second

circumstances but only for those who tact and caution

are honest. Four/four. Happiness, celebration,

method offers the possibility that the
Six/one. A wedding; an end to problems, relaxation, fun
same tile could be drawn twice If this
possibly as a result of the intervention of Four/three. Happiness and success
happens, an immediate fulfillment of the
a good friend instead of expected disappointments but
message is indicated.
Six/blank. Beware of false friends, for possible domestic problems
However the tiles are drawn, only three
Moreover, their malicious gossip could cause Four/two. An unhappy change, setbacks,
may be used at a sitting it is

suffering foryou loss, possibly a theft Beware of a

you should not divine with
said that
I

Five/five. Change bringing success, deceitful acquaintance

dominoes more than once a week, lest
Four/one. Financial problems ahead, pay
I

the results lose all meaning. 1

a beneficial move, money that results
from a new idea outstanding debts
Here are the traditional meanings of the
Five/four. Financial luck, possibly Four /blank. Bad news; disappointment
various number combinations to be found 1

unexpected, but avoid making invest- in love, temporarily thwarted goals.

on a single tile:
ments time Reconcile disagreements
Six/sbc. The luckiest domino of them at this
Five/three. Calm, serenity; a guest, good Three/three. Emotional obstacles,
all, forecasting happiness, success, and
news or helpful advice given to you by jealousy, but beneficial financial indica-
prosperity in all aspects of life I

presence your boss or a visitor. tions, a wedding

Slx/flvc. Enhanced status, the
'

H »
\

i!
Three/two. Pleasant changes, but be
cautious -particularly where monetary
matters are concerned.
Three/one. The answer to your question
is no, unexpected useful news, outsiders
could cause problems.
Three/blank. Unexpected problems at
home and work.
Two/two. Success and happiness, in
spite of the efforts your enemies may be
making against you.
Two/one. Loss of money or property, but
and a happy social life.
old friends
Two/blank. Travel and new friends, but
also anxiety. Someone could cause
serious difficulties.
One/one. Pleasure, harmony, and
affection; a stranger; avoid delaying an
important decision.
One/blank. Be careful; do not let

yourself be overly trusting, even though a

stranger could bring you news that seems
topromise financial gain.
Blank/blank. Direst omens, negative
indications in all areas of life.

«
%
^
\
%
u
%
 Tibetan Buddhist lamas use prayer beads like these in a
dhnnation system called mo. Holding the instrument -called a mala-the

^
augurer
meditates and may recite a mantra. Then he divides the beads randomly.
message.
The number and position of the separated sections help reveal a divinatory

Were He two, single-digit number by assigning each letter its numerical

one, He would never be Creator or Father
value and then combining the values. The numbers in any
there would be antagonism or division in the intlnite. He is
two-digit quantity are added until the result is a single num-
therefore three for the creation by Himself and in His image
things." ber. Thus, in numerology, eight plus eight does not equal
of the infmite multitude of all

sixteen, but seven -the sum of one and six

Today's numerologists are more interested in reading char There are two generally accepted ways in which

acler and predicting the future than in musing upon theo- names are converted to numbers. The simpler and more
logical issues. Much as Pythagoras taught that number is popular method is the modern one, which assigns to the

name -or the numbers associated letters of the alphabet the numbers one through nine in re-
all, they believe that a
with it- is everything, not merely a description, but the es peating cycles The other procedure involves a chart de-

sence of the Individual Names may be identical, of course, rived from the Greek and Hebrew alphabets that assigns the
combines name with date of numbers one through eight to the letters of the alphabet, in
but when the numerologist
birth, the result is distinctive. One numerologist has calcu no particular order.

The absence of the number nine from this system is

lated that the chances of duplicating all the number pat

terns generated by such a combination are an astronomical deliberate Hebrew tradition, nine was the number that
In

10 billion to one represented God, whose name was sacred and unutterable;

In modern practice, a person's name is reduced to a it could not be used for such purposes as numerology. Cu-
 the mysterious, numerology would seem to have little in

common with science, apart from working chiefly in the

language of numbers. Yet certain parallels between the two

can be discerned.
In science, numbers have often been used in an al-

most divinatory way. So it was with the researches of the

nineteenth-century Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.
When Mendeleev ranked the known chemical elements
according to their identifying numbers— their atomic
weights — he noted that strong and distinct patterns
emerged. Not only did all known elements fit neatly into
this periodic table, as it is now called, but gaps in the table

indicated to Mendeleev the existence of elements that had

not even been guessed at.

riously enough, in the peculiar way numerologists arrive at Mendeleev had discovered a kind of harmony, based
their sums, nine is invisible: Adding it to a string of numbers on numbers, that no doubt would have pleased Pythagoras
does not have any effect on the numerological total. But greatly. Later scientists predicted the existence of planets

many modern practitioners claim that omitting nine means and subatomic particles by applying mathematical princi-

missing some interim results and failing to identity certain ples, and today's theorists sometimes speak in terms of par-
patterns that served as the very foundation of the Pythago- allel universes and multiple dimensions— concepts that can
rean system of numerology. sound no less mystical than many of the pronouncements
This sum of all the letters in a person's name reveals of numerologists.
to the numerologist the qualities and traits the subject has What science and the mystical analyses of numerolo-

developed most fully. Other numbers, derived from the birth gy share, underlying their manipulations of numbers, is a

date as well as from the vowels and consonants in the commitment to the notion of order in the universe. Indeed,

name, are said to yield clues to personality, character, and all humanity seems compelled to seek out the nature and
destiny (pages 98-103). consequences of that order. While Western thought has
People turn to numerology for advice and guidance in progressed on somewhat mechanical lines, however,
all manner of things, most of them having to do with their stressing mathematics and the so-called hard sciences, the
personal lives. A person might, for example, consult the thinkers of the Orient have generally preferred a subtler ap-

charts to find out whether a potential mate is compatible or proach, a way of looking at things that has led to what sure-
to determine whether a job change or a move to a new city ly must be the world's most complex system for using sym-

would prove advantageous. Of course, no objective evi- bols to probe the unknown.
dence has proved that such counsel is valid, and it is also

highly likely that the Pythagoreans and other early numer- In 1962 a British author and scholar named John Blofeld, for

ologists, who viewed numbers as guideposts to cosmic years a resident of the Orient, turned to this venerable tech-
truths, would consider these common applications of their nique of divination in hopes of foreseeing the outcome of a
art to be quite frivolous. long-simmering border dispute between India and China.
With its emphasis on the occult, the subjective, and Toward the end of that year, swarms of Chinese soldiers

115
 method of tossing three coins to arrive at a series of six
suddenly and surprisingly advanced down from Tibet pler

whose ill-equipped forces were routed in the numbers. Guided by the precepts of the Book of Changes, he
against India,
unable went on to convert the numbers into a sequence of straight
firstclashes along the Tibetan border. Its allies were
assistance, and India stood shocked and vir- and broken lines.
to offer timely
The result was a column of six short lines arranged
tually defenseless in the path of the attackers
vertically into a configuration called a hexagram. There are
m Bangkok, Thailand, where he was living at the time,

growing dismay sixty-four such hexagrams possible in the / Chmg. and each
Blofeld read the daily newspaper reports in
had the subject of an enigmatic essay.
and apprehension. During his years in China, Blofeld is

Chmg, or Book of Changes. But the diviner's task does not stop there. Each of the
become familiar with the fabled /

summation of the wisdom of the Orient, pur- hexagram's component trigrams, or three-line groups, has
This cryptic
an identity that also must be considered, in conjunction
portedly the oldest book in the world, was intended as a
he decid- with the subtleties of the relationships between the two tri-
diviner's tool, and Blofeld possessed a translation;
question of grams. Moreover, if the hexagram contains what the infi-
ed to use it in seeking an answer to the urgent
nitelycomplex Book of Changes designates as moving lines,
what would happen to India

unlikely that Blofeld performed the traditional cer-

then a second hexagram, one containing the opposite of the
It is

Chmg. beginning with the lengthy moving lines, must be drawn and taken into account along
emony in consulting the /

yarrow stalks with the first.

sorting and re-sorting of bunches of dried
the sim- The figure produced by Blofeld's number conversion
Since he was from the West, he probably employed
was Hexagram 48, which contains two
moving lines; his requisite second figure
was Hexagram 63. He proceeded to med-
itate on the appropriate texts in the /

Ching. "Hexagram 48 signifies a well," he

wrote years later. "My knowledge of the

Indo-Tibetan borderland, where the

mighty Himalayas slope sharply down to

the flat dead plain of North India, led me

promptly to equate India with the well
and to think of the Chinese as looking
down into it from above.
"Of the two component trigrams,
one has bland' or mild' among its mean-
ings, while the other means 'water'. Tak-

ing water, the contents of the well, to

be the people of India, 1 found it easy

to think of bland or -mild as represent-

ing their declared policy of non-violence
and neutrality."

Amid the epigrammatic sentences

A Chinese fortune teller sorts yarrow

.tulks to be Ki.sf /Of on / C/i/ny titigiiry.
lie uses flfh sliilks, one of them <i
does not Pifure in the reading.
sptire ihtit
I he yartow melhoil Is
hifihlv iotnplex
pteterreil b\ traditional I ChIng oracles.
 simpler than the sorting ofyarrow stalks
(opposite), a more modem I Ching
system uses three coins. Any coins will
do, but these traditional Chinese
bronze disks are considered ideal.

of the commentaries, Blofeld found other thoughts that

seemed to relate to his question. Of the first hexagram, he
read that the well "suffers no increase or decrease" and
that those who dipped into it would find their rope too short

and see their pitcher broken.

One of the moving lines indicated lack of success, a

Ume to "give up," while the other suggested that there were
definite advantages to be gained by giving up before being
forced to do so. And the main commentary for the second expensive, only the rich could afford to have such readings
hexagram, which Blofeld believed represented the Chinese, performed. Some historians speculate that the / Ching
stated in part, "It is clear that good fortune will accompany gained acceptance and grew in popularity because it was a
the start; but ultimately, affairs will be halted amidst disor- cheap and accessible alternative.
der because the way peters out." According to one legend, the Book of Changes was
Thus Blofeld derived from his reading of the / Ching an written by the Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi, who is said to have

answer that contradicted the Thai newspaper reports that lived perhaps 4,500 years ago. Some accounts hold that Fu
portrayed an India about to be overrun by an overwhelm- Hsi divined the symbols from patterns he found in nature,

ingly superior force. Blofeld now told his friends that China while others claim the trigrams were revealed to him on the
would halt its incursion before descending to the plain. Sev- back of a sacred tortoise.

eral weeks later, the prophecy was confirmed when China Another story has it that a military commander named
agreed to an end to the hostilities. Wen Weng wrote the explanatory texts, or commentaries,
n assessing the situation in India, Blofeld had drawn for each trigram and hexagram while serving a prison term
upon a compendium of knowledge that has long been in about 1000 BC. Wen later became king, and after his

revered. Its origins are mythic, its language laconic, its death, his son, the duke of Chou, added commentaries on
divinatory symbols deceptively simple. The web of re- the individual lines and the meaning of each position within
lationships that is created by the pairing of various tri- the trigrams and hexagrams.
grams and hexagrams is in fact so complicated and abstract In later years, other commentaries were added, in-

that it may defy mortal comprehension. Toward the end of cluding several by Confucius. Most scholars seem to agree

his life, the Chinese philosopher Confucius remarked that if that the / Ching was first widely used-by priests, as an aid
he could live another fifty years, he would spend the time to divining the future -between 1000 and 500 BC, during
studying the / Ching. the Bronze Age in China. But the practice did not acquire its

philosophical overtones until the third century AD, when a

Little is known for certain about how the Book of Changes Chinese sage named Wang Pi declared that the / Ching
came into being, but for some reason it gradually replaced should be used not merely for fortune-telling but also for

oracle bone divination in ancient China. In this older meth- seeking wisdom and spiritual harmony.
od, priests inscribed symbols on a polished tortoise shell or The West knew virtually nothing about the Book of
the carefully prepared shoulder blade of an ox, then applied Changes until the British scholar James Legge translated it

heat to the shell or bone until it cracked. The diviners found into English in 1882. Unfortunately, Western knowledge of
the answer to the question being asked in the patterns the ancient Chinese languages was limited at the time, and
formed by the cracks. Since tortoises were rare and oxen the translation suffered accordingly. In the early 1920s a

117
 /roni a
ttu i,nlhi,.il lii:l rmprtxi ../ , himi. Ill II-.I. ilr.ms ;;is,.if,i(/,m
tortolic in this ihlrtccnth century Chinese palntlnn on silk. Legend
says
the emperor derived the cl/iht basic trigrams of the I Ching (lower
left In the painting) from studying lines
on the tortoise's shell.

118
Gerrrian scholar and missionary named Richard Wilhelm, the universe— and Yang, the positive, male, strong force.
who lived for many years in Beijing, translated the / Ching All such combinations, hence all things in creation,
into German. Wilhelm's translation received a great deal of are in a state of endless change, with first one and then the
attention, partly because of the introduction written by the other influence dominating. The purpose of the / Ching cer-
noted Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who had been experi- emony is to identify the Yin and Yang influences at play in

menting with the / Ching. Although numerous translations the individual or situation being asked about. The objective
have since followed, Wilhelm's version is still considered to of the commentaries is to show the way toward harmony
be one of the best. with the great, rhythmic tides of cyclical change that under-
Consulting the Book of Changes in the old way re- lie the universe as well as everything that happens in it. The
quired complete attention and a lengthy ritual. An inquirer / Ching does not make flat predictions; it suggests possibil-
would not have asked the question personally, as Blofeld ities. Then it speculates cryptically on how a "superior

did, but would have sought out an experienced diviner. Ac-

cording to the earliest accounts of the method, dating to a
few centuries before Christ, practitioners would first light

incense, then retrieve the revered book from its storage

place— which was supposed to be at least shoulder-height
above the floor.

Removing the book from its protective wrapping-silk

was the preferred material -the diviner would place it on a

table and sit to the south of it. In a container within reach
would be fifty dried stalks of the milfoil plant, which is more
commonly known as yarrow. Interpretation could begin on-
ly after a painstaking procedure involving sorting and re
sorting the stalks in order to arrive at numbers denoting
the nature of each line of the hexagram. Since the
sixth century or so, however, fiipping coins has been
considered to be an acceptable alternative to sorting
yarrow sticks. Each toss of three coins yields a num-
ber designating the type of line that goes into the
hexagram next.

There are two basic kinds of lines in the / Ching

system of divination-Yin lines, consisting of two
dashes, and solid Yang lines-representing the two
fundamental, eternally contesting forces of the uni-
verse. According to the precepts of a philosophy that

arose not long after the dawn of Chinese civilization

(and that infuses such successors as Taoism and Con-
fucianism), everything in existence is thought to be a com-
bination of Yin-the negative, female, weak component of

Tortoise breastplates preceded

yarrow stalks in I Ching
divination. Cracks in this Shang
dynasty shell were read by the
oracle Bin, who inscribed on it
his name and that of the
inquirer, one Chu Hua, along
with the date and the question.
Chu Hua sought guidance on
whether to harm an enemy, X.
AWoildofYinandYan^
In theWest, fortune-telling has generally
implied no volition and therefore no
morality A certain immutable fate is
foretold, and there is no question of the
choices that one might make in order to
fulfill its promise or minimize its pitfalls.

But divination with the / Chmg, or Book

of Changes, is different To the question.
What will befall me' it adds. What am I to

do about it' Response is possible, so

moral choices are to be made Thus
divination takes on moral weight;
fortune-telling becomes philosophy.
Arguably, a difference between Eastern
and Western mainstream thought
explains the extra dimension of the /
Ching To some degree, the occidental
mind has tended to see creation as a
finished act, fixed and static Past,

present, and future cannot be changed

What is. is What be
will be, will

But at the core of traditional Chinese

philosophy is the notion of a universe in
flux, a continuing, eternal creative
act. What is. is becoming What may be.

may be The future is not fact but

potential, and anyone who seeks to know
the future is obliged also to seek the
proper way to shape it.

The symbol of this central thought of

on
shifting potentials is depicted at right
an antique Chinese door plaque once
used to ward off devils At the center of a
circle bearing the / Chings eight basic
trigrams is the dual embryo of the Yin-
Yang-dark and light, female and male,
earth and heaven, corporeal and
spiritual -apparent opposites that are in

fact complementary, different phases of

an essential unity
Each is necessary to the other, and as
the circles inside each embryo indicate,
each bears within it the seed of the other
Contending, yet in harmony, the two
parts forever How into one another in
stalely cosmic rhythm
As a moral system, the / Chmg teaches
how to align oneself with the rhythm It
elucidates fate as continually changing
tendencies and possibilities that mandate
moral altitudes and actions if they arc to
be realized to one's benefit
 \ANG means that it is advantageous to
see him. The third line shows the man
in the process of gaining more fame and
authority. His energies are equal to his
station, but in his rise there is the
ever-present danger that ambition will
outstrip integrity. He must be very
Western prophecies are often straightfor- cautious if he is to remain without blame.
ward; the prophecies of the / Ching, in In the fourth line of the hexagram, the
contrast, are always oblique. They are questioner reaches a transition point
couched in symbols that, in turn, are where he must make a choice between a thered. / Hidden lines.
wrapped in parables. It is the task of the great role in the world, or withdrawal One is able to remain
questioner to adapt the parables to the and solitude for the purpose of self- I
persevering. If by

circumstances of his or her own life. development. The man

worldwideattains chance you are in the
The bases of / Ching divination are influence, as well as the sphere of heaven service of a king, seek
columns called
sixty-four vertical, six-line itself, in the fifth line. Simply to see him is not works, but bring to
hexagram.s. The Yin-Yang principle that to be blessed. But in the sixth and final completion. / A tied-up
underlies the system is expressed by the line, exalted heights have removed the sack. No blame, no
two kinds of lines composing the man from his fellows. He learns that great praise. / A yellow lower
hexagrams-the solid Yang line and the ambition can presage failure. garment brings supreme
broken Yin. The Yang denotes heaven, The oracular judgment that is given to good fortune. / Dragons
light, primal force, maleness, energy, someone who receives this hexagram is, fight in the meadow. Their
aggression, strength, spirit. "The Creative works sublime success, / blood is black and yellow."
Hexagrams are read from bottom to top. Furthering through perseverance." It The first line evokes the
Allhave numbers and names. The first, means that the inquirer will be the inevitability of death, but it also
which is made up of six Yang lines (above), is recipient of success from the very depths reminds that proper precautions can
called Ch 'ien, the Creative. According to the of the universe, provided he perseveres impede decay. A mathematical
IChing as translated by Richard Wilhelm in doing what is right. metaphor for earth (the square) and the
and Gary F. Baynes, the presence of Ch'ien creative principle (the straight) emerges in

in a reading yields the following message: the second line. It denotes the unerring
"Hidden dragon. Do not act. / Dragon logic of creation, whose greatness lies in

appearing in the field. It furthers one to its capacity to tolerate all creatures
see the great man. / All day long the equally. Humans should follow the
superior man is creatively active. example that nature sets.
At nightfall his mind is still be- The third line advises that the wise man
set with cares. Danger. No should eschew fame and conceal his
blame. /Wavering flight over talents while they mature. The fourth

the depths. No blame. / True to the notion of eternal flux, the six counsels restraint and solitude, lest one
Flying dragon in the Yang lines of Ch'ien are changing even as invite harm from strong enemies. In the

heavens. It one
furthers they appear. The hexagram is metamor- fifth line, yellow symbolizes the earth and

to see the greatman. / phosing into its complementary opposite, genuine, trustworthy things, while the
Arrogant dragon will K'un, the Receptive. lower garment stands for noble reserve.
have cause to repent." K'un, the second hexagram of the / The message here is that true refinement
Chinese lore, the
In Ching, is made up of six Yin lines (above). relies on discretion and restraint. The

dragon is the tradi- Yin represents the universe's primal black and yellow blood in the last line
tionalsymbol of dy- feminine power-dark, yielding, passive- reveals unnatural contention between
namic force. Thus the the Receptive that completes the Creative. heaven and earth, which is damaging
hexagram's first line is The two are equally important, but the to both parties.
said to mean a great Receptive is a power for good only as K'un's advice is that one's task is not to

man who, although he long as it accepts its subordinate place in lead but to achieve as a subordinate.
is as yet unrecognized by the cosmic hierarchy. Yang is heavenly Accept guidance and attune oneself to
the world at large, stays and spiritual, Yin earthy and sensual. one's fate, using as a guide the balance
true to himself Unswayed Each one requires the other, but only one and symmetry of nature.
by worldly success or fail- can be primary. Critics of the / Ching make the argu-
ure, he awaits his time. In the K'un's oracular message is: "When the ment that it is possible to read practically
second line, he enters his des- hoarfrost is underfoot, solid ice is not far any meaning into its cryptic hexagrams.
tined field and begins to distin- off. / Straight, square, great. Without Proponents, however, say that this
guish himself His great influence purpose, yet nothing remains unfur- inherent ambiguity is also its strength.

121
man' might affect circumstances in his favor by wise and as those addressed by Blofeld and lung. Detractors say the

ethical conduct.
answers are hopelessly obscure and generalized, couched
in flowery language with little objective meaning. And the
But a modem-age believer need not refer only to the
ancient, mystical concepts of Yin and Yang for explanations
critics point to direct contradictions among the various

translations from the ancient Chinese. But as so often ev-

of the / ChingS workings Psychologist Carl Jung, who wrote
is

Ching in his introduction to Wil- ident when it comes to the occult, none of this criticism de-
so enthusiastically of the /

helm's classic translation, provided a theory that underpins ters those who believe. Princeton University Press reports

that version of the Book of Changes (the Wilhelm transla-

the time-honored Chinese system in another way.
its

tion) is its all-time best seller.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Jung developed his theo-
ry of the collective unconscious, a universal psyche that he
Among many believers in the power of symbols to provide
believed to be a repository for certain images -or arche-
Ching rivaled by another popu-
types, as he referred to them -that are common to all hu-
guides to the future, the / is

that these primordial images lar system, the Tarot. It is perhaps not so ancient as the /
man thought. He believed
human circumstances according to Ching, but is almost as complex.
have the power to affect it

a principle he called synchronicity-the coincidence of

In using the Tarot, a would-be diviner consults a deck

events that are similar but have no apparent cause-and- of seventy-eight elaborately illustrated cards of enduring

effect relationship
popularity and tantalizing mystery. Unlike practitioners of
numerology and the Ching. Tarot readers do not rely on
Jung cited as an example the time one of his patients,
/

numbers or images that have been selected for the situa-

a young woman, described a dream she had had about a
golden scarab, a beetle that is also an important symbol in tion; instead, meaning is derived from the particular ar-

ancient Egyptian mythology. She had not finished talking rangement of the cards.
Interpreting the cards is no simple matter Those
when a beetle almost identical to the scarab flew in the
window. The event had a powerful effect on her therapy
and was ascribed by Jung to synchronicity.

Similarly, Jung regarded the / Ching hexagrams and

the elemental concepts they represent, such as birth, death,
fire, and water, to be closely related to the universal images
of the collective unconscious. The relationship between the
hexagrams and real events, like the relationship between
the dream scarab and the real one, was governed by syn-

chronicity. To put his ideas to the test, Jung experimented

with the Book of Changes -"sWiing for hours on the ground,
the / Ching beside me," he wrote, asking questions and
frequently receiving "undeniably remarkable, meaning-
"
ful connections
As in the case with numerology, modern consultation
of the / Ching, while widespread, tends toward the frivolous
Requests for advice about career paths and love relation
ships are far more frequent than are such larger questions
wishing to learn the art are advised to spend long periods foretold by the mysterious cards. One such tale concerns
meditating on the individual cards of the deck and on their Henry Cuffe, the sixteenth-century author, scholar, and sec-
multiplicity of interrelationships. According to one authority retary to England's Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex.

on the subject, such study helps to build a bridge of intuition According to some accounts, when he wanted to learn

between the reader's unconscious mind and the symbolism about his future, he consulted a reader of the Tarot, and
found in the cards. when told that the cards predicted he would suffer an un-
A good deal of ritual is involved as well. When not natural death, he demanded details. The reader responded
using their Tarot decks, dedicated diviners keep them by telling him to draw three cards from the Tarot deck and
wrapped in a square of purple or black silk and placed in a to place them on the table, face down. Then if Cuffe still

covered wooden box. For optimal results, the box should be wanted more information, all he had to do was turn the
out of sight and facing eastward -which is thought to be the cards over, one after another.
direction of enlightenment. Moreover, the deck should nev- he first card depicted a man in the custody of
er be handled by the idly curious or the mocking, for it is guards. The second portrayed a scene of judgment
said the Tarot responds to such people with unpleasant, if in a tribunal. The third bore the images of a gallows
not dire, predictions. and hangman. Cuffe apparently found the last card
In current practice -little changed from older ways- amusing, for he reportedly laughed out loud.
the reader usually begins by having the inquirer select a Whether he saw a joke or an irony, no one knows. But on
card from the deck's so-called Major Arcana-made up of March 13, 1601 Cuffe
, was found guilty of helping the earl of
twenty-two cards bearing strange and ominous images Essex plot against Queen Elizabeth Later that same day,
I.

such as a magician gesturing oddly with his arm or a skele- he was taken to the gallows and hanged.
ton wielding a scythe. The card selected, called the signifi- Like so many tales of the mysterious and occult, the

cator, influences the entire reading. account of Cuffe's consultation with a Tarot reader may
Next the inquirer shuffles the remaining cards-often, well be apocryphal. As a matter of fact, the cards may not
but not always, including the fifty-six cards that make up have been used for divination until a considerable time after

the part of the deck known as the Minor Arcana— and cuts Cuffe was put to death. Nevertheless, such stories about
them. After retrieving the deck, the reader lays out a specific the eerie accuracy of the predictions of the Tarot cards,

number of cards in a traditional pattern for study. particularly in connection with unusual death, have circu-

One common layout, called the Celtic cross, has the lated for centuries.

top card from the deck placed atop the significator, the next No one knows for certain the beginnings of the Tarot,
card laid lengthwise across the first, and then four more or for that matter those of standard playing cards-which
cards placed above, below, and to the right and left of the are also used in cartomancy, or divining the future with

first group. Together, these cards define the inquirer's situ- cards. Playing cards are believed to have originated in Chi-

ation and the forces acting upon him or her. Four more na or Korea sometime in the tenth or eleventh century AD,

cards are then turned over and placed in a column to the perhaps evolving from the first paper money, whose de-
right of the central group of cards. These final four contain signs seem to be similar to those on some of the cards.
the divinatory message, which the reader delivers after Within a few hundred years, theymade their way to Europe.
careful consideration of the supposed significance of each A German monk writing in a Swiss monastery in 1377 re-
card (pages 146-149). ferred to a new game that "came to us this year" -the first

Stories abound about those whose fates have been known reference to playing cards in the West.

The eminent psychologist Carl Jung lent

legitimacy to both the Tarot and the I
Ching. He believed both systems activated
Images existing in all unconscious minds.
He also thought the two systems of
divination could help elucidate certain
coincidences in life that seem to defy the
ordinary course of cause and effect.

123
 This fifteenth-century painting of
the Fool is from one of the earliest Tarots.
Its style is Venetian, its artist unknown.

Tarot cards do not appear in recorded histor>' until the

mid-fifteenth centurs', when a hand-painted Tarot pack was
presented to the young duke of Milan Although no mention
was made of where the cards came from, it is clear that they
were not considered new at the time. This observation has

caused some to speculate that Italy is the true home of the

Tarot, a conclusion strengthened by the fact that two

medieval Italian card decks-tarrochi and minchiate- are
strikingly similar to the Tarot, in their numbered cards as
well as in their trumps
In recent times, various researchers have attempted
to trace the Tarot etymologically, examining various lan-
guages for word clues. Some have claimed that the Tarot

comes from the ancient Hindustani taru, for "pack of

cards," while others have said it comes from tarotee. a

French word supposedly referring to a design on the back ot

the cards. It has also been proposed that the Tarot got
its name from the first place where it is known to have

appeared -the northern Italian region near the Taro River.

As for the original purpose of the cards, there is evidence

that they may have descended from a perfectly mundane

medieval instructional card game that used elaborate pic

ture cards for memory training. No one knows, however

and those with an interest in the occult are attracted !.

some much more exotic possibilities

Some have proposed that the Tarot originated with

the Gnostics, a heretical Christian sect that flourished in thi

second century and virtually died out in the third century,

but whose ideas survived long afterward The Gnostics-

who look their name from the Greek word gnosis, for

knowledge '-believed that material things were the cre-

ation of the devil and that the human soul, or Godhead, was
imprisoned in the body and could be liberated only through

a processor enlightenment Taken in sequence, the cards of

the Tarots Major Arcana have been interpreted as a repre-
sentation of the major principles of Gnosticism, beginning
with the Fool card as a symbol of human ignorance of the
divine power within, and ending with spiritual ascension in

to the heavens of the World card.

 This World trump was part of a
Tarot owned by the Visconti-Sforza family,
Renaissance rulers of Milan.

Whatever their origins, Tarot cards incorporate imag-

es that have resonated down through the ages. Christian,
Islamic, Norse, and Celtic ideas can be found in them. The
Judgment card, for example, suggests the biblical Apoca-
lypse, while the Tower Struck by Lightning card can be seen
as reminiscent of the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of
thunder. Indeed, such are the universality of the symbols
that practitioners always seem able to find in them whatev-
er they want to see.
The Tarot remained relatively popular throughout the
Renaissance. And then, in the eighteenth century, scholars
became fascinated with the putative wisdom of the ancient
Egyptians. The hieroglyphs had yet to be deciphered, and
speculation about their meaning was unrestrained. It was
perhaps inevitable that someone would propose links be-
tween the Tarot and Egypt, thus spurring new interest in the

colorful cards.

In 1781 Antoine Court de Gebelin, French author and

theologian, took note of the odd-looking deck of cards
some friends were playing with. Examining the exotic cards
of the Tarot with increasing fascination, he immediately
declared them to be of Egyptian origin. The four suits of the
Minor Arcana, de Gebelin said, represented the four classes

of Egyptian society. The name for the deck he believed to

be a combination of two Egyptian words: Tar, or

"roadway," and Ro, or "king"-hence, the "Royal Road."
Considering the prevailing ideas of the time, the theory
seemed to be perfectly plausible.
Not long after de Gebelin published his work, a Pari-

sian by the name of Alliette, a wigmaker turned fortune-

teller, enlarged upon the Egyptian connection. Using the
pseudonym Etteilla— his own name spelled backwards-AI-
liette claimed that the Major Arcana was the work of seven-
teen magi in service to Hermes Trismegistus, or Thoth, the
Egyptian god of wisdom and magic. Thoth had wished that
all his secret knowledge be written down on leaves of gold
The magi encoded the knowledge into pictures and
then assembled them into a complete book whose original

name, Alliette claimed, was the Book of Thoth. Although Al-

125
 /
/
 Occultist Aleister Crowley delighted in wearing dramatic mystical garb.
In this1910 photograph, his headdress symbolizes the Egyptian god Horus; his upturned
thumbs represent the horns of the Greek god Pan and denote creative energy.

liette's method of Tarot reading spread rapidly and was Tarot was a synthesis of everything humankind could ever
widely accepted, later occultists would ridicule the French hope to learn.

fortune-teller for the fanciful notions he espoused concern- Despite a complete lack of confirming evidence-no
ing the origins of the cards. factual connection between the Cabala and the Tarot has
thers, however, updated the Egyptian theme, the- ever been established -Eliphas Levi's interpretation gained
orizing that the cards originated in Egypt during adherents among occultists throughout Europe. For almost
the Crusades, when Christian armies made their twenty years after he passed away in 1875, his home city

way eastward from Europe, laying waste to the of Paris remained a major center of occult activity, fre-
countryside and besieging cities in hopes of quented by the likes of poet, magician, and drug user Stan-
wresting control of the Holy Land from the infidels. Egyp- islas de Guaita and his friend Gerard Encausse, who was
tian priests, determined to preserve their libraries of occult better known as Papus. The two men were heavily influ-
lore, allegedly seized on a desperate stratagem. They trans- enced by Levi, especially Papus, who described the Tarot as
lated their secret wisdom into images and symbols, in- "the book of the primitive Revelation of ancient civiliza-

scribed them on playing cards, and then gave the deck to a tions, the most ancient book in the world" and suggested
passing gambler who, being accomplished in deceit, would that it "condenses in a few very simple laws the whole of
doubtlessly elude the enemy. It is believed that the ancient acquired knowledge."
knowledge survived, as a result accessible in future gener- Levi's influence spread to England as well. In London
ations to those who were wise enough to decipher the sym- in 1888, S. L. MacGregor Mathers founded an occultist soci-
bols of the Tarot. ety called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose
By the mid-nineteenth century, interest in the Egyp- numerous members included the poet W. B. Yeats and au-
tians had waned somewhat among students of the arcane. thor Bram Stoker, who would achieve immortality of a sort
But fascination with the Hebrew Cabala was growing, and with his best-selling Gothic novel, Dracula.
the remarkably adaptable Tarot cards were soon applied to The Golden Dawn expanded Levi's theories into a
yet another system of belief comprehensive system that studied and taught the Tarot as
in 1856, the Frenchman Eliphas Levi produced a work an integral part of several other occult practices such as rit-

in which he traced each of the Tarofs four suits to one of ual magic, alchemy, and numerology. Mathers presided
the four letters in YHWH, the unutterable name for God over the society until its members expelled him in 1900 for

in the Old Testament. Combining this system with a sprink- his autocratic leadership. When he made his exit, he called
ling of numerology, he derived additional significance down curses upon them.
from the fact that there are twenty-two cards in the Tarot's At least one member of the Golden Dawn, a historian
Major Arcana just as there are twenty-two letters in the of the occult named Arthur Edward Waite, was more of a
Hebrew alphabet. realist than his colleagues, dismissing most ruminations on
The letter aleph, for example, was the first in the al- the Tarot's mysterious origins as sheer fantasy. "The chief
phabet and also stood for the number one. As Levi wrote, point regarding the history of the Tarot cards," he wrote, "is
aleph was associated with being, mind, man, God, and "the that such history does not exist." But while dismissing the
unity mother of numbers." He claimed that all of these were cards' use in divining as "fortune-telling rubbish," he did

symbolized in the card of the Juggler, whose posture resem- believe that they might well be the carriers of some ancient
bled aleph's shape. Similarly, he implied that just as the lore. He wrote a book connecting the four symbols of the
Cabala comprised secret knowledge of the whole world, the Holy Grail legend-cup, lance, dish, and sword-to the Ta-

127
128
 Gypsy fortune-tellers ply their trade with a decic of ordinary playing cards in a
nineteenth-century painting by Aiexie Venetsianov. These cards are probably even older than
the Tarot cards, having arrived in Europe in the eleventh century. No one knows
their precise origin, but they have a long history in divination.

rot's four suits. He also designed one of tine more famous targets for ridicule. Even some of the more serious-minded
Tarot packs (pages 142-143). practitioners find themselves on the defensive in light of

By far the most controversial member of the Hermetic certain recent research.
Order of the Golden Dawn was the irrepressible Aleister For example, in a group experiment conducted jointly
Crowley, a practitioner of demonology as well as various in North Carolina and England in 1983, volunteers par-
kinds of ritual magic. An imposing figure who was frequent- ticipated in separate Tarot readings without being informed

ly photographed wearing exotic headdresses, Crowley was about the detailed character analyses derived through the
once dubbed by the English press "the wickedest man in cards. L^ter, the subjects were asked to pick their own an-
the world." He relished the title. Among his many other cu- alysis from among those of the entire group. Most volun-
rious beliefs, Crowley was convinced that he was the rein- teers were unable to determine which of the readings per-
carnation of Eliphas Levi. tained to them.
Crowley was born in England in 1 875 to an extremely Other tests have indicated that a reading or consulta-
religious and strict family. As a child he rebelled against his tion is almost totally unimpressive unless there is direct,

parents' Christianity, eagerly accepting his distraught moth- face-to-face contact between inquirer and diviner. This is

er's accusation that he was the Great Beast, or 666, the usually taken as evidence that the subject is affected not by
Antichrist foretold in the book of Revelation. Aleister Crow- the efficacy of the symbols or the method being used but by
ley declared a personal war against Christianity, and he the dramatic talents of the diviner.
insisted that such had been his true mission throughout ^=^ ympathizers dismiss such criticism. It misses the
several reincarnations. ^^ point, they say, that the subconscious link between
In his early twenties, he claimed to have experienced inquirer and diviner is essential to enlightenment. In
^^^i
the presence of a terrifying mystical power, and thereafter ^m this view, the method— shuffling cards, sorting
he devoted himself to the study of the occult. He traveled ^a^' sticks, adding numbers, drawing hexagrams, and
throughout the world seducing both men and women, oc- the like— should be regarded as an aid to meditation and
casionally persuading his lovers to play the role of his favor- communion, not as a simplistic key to ready answers. A re-

ite character-the biblical Scarlet Woman, the so-called lated viewpoint holds that the Tarot, for example, is every
Mother of Harlots. bit as legitimate as the widely accepted Rorschach test, in

In 1944, three years before his death, Crowley pub- which subjects are asked to comment on what they see in
lished a guide to his mystical theories of the Tarot in a small various inkblots. The Tarot, and perhaps the / Ching as well,
limited edition of a work called The Book ofThoth. In it, he can be said to substitute symbolic images for amorphous
emphasized the erotic imagery of the Major Arcana -not an blots, freeing the subject's mind to make those associations
entirely new interpretation, though no one before him had and connections that are most meaningful.
been quite so explicit. Other occultists had regarded the But in the end, such debate seems to have little effect

sword and scales held by the woman in the Justice card as on these remarkably tenacious systems of divination. Nei-
male sex symbols, but Crowley, always alert to erotic possi- ther social disapproval nor religious condemnation has
bilities, renamed the card "Woman Satisfied." been able to deter their adherents in the past and seems
Those who reject the Tarot and the other forms of unlikely to do so in the future. To those who believe, these

symbolic divination often point to such extravagances as systems offer a glimpse of cosmic order, a point of contact
Crowley's and rest their case. And indeed many of the dev- with the deepest workings of the universe. Why should they

otees of numerology, the / Ching, and the like offer tempting give up such a gift'

129
 Hie Magic of flielarol

w 'ith the complex, controversial,

gen-
abstruse Tarot, certainties are elusive. Nevertheless,
it is
and
erally agreed among believers that the cards have a dual signifi-
cance: They are at once mystical and divinatory.
twenty-
Their supposed occult nature rests primarily with the
two cards of the Major Arcana, or Trumps Major. These are regard-
ignorance to
ed widely as allegories for the soul's journey from
enlightenment, or the human sojourn through life, or as mystical

keys to the secrets of the universe and the place of

humans there-
thousands who believe in its power, the Tarot also evalu-
in. For
the future. Both
ates the past, elucidates the present, and predicts
the Major Arcana and the fifty-six-card Minor
Arcana-which is

divided into suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and

Pentacles-are
Some say the cards tap the psychic
used in divinatory readings.
awareness of the reader, the inquirer, or both. Others contend the

cards carry their own meanings, intrinsic and absolute.

But what meanings^ Hundreds of different Tarots are used to-
day, and interpretations of cards may vary from
deck to deck and
for that
from reader to reader. Each reader-and each inquirer,
own imprint to the cards. Moreover, per-
matter- brings his or her
can be altered by the cards' positions relative to
ceived meanings
each other and by whether a card falls upright or inverted.
On the
following fifteen pages are the seventy-eight cards of the
Major
Minor Arcana, drawn from representative decks, along with
and
some of the cards' purported mystical and prophetic meanings.
THE FOOL
 Hie Renaissance Tarot
ward aspects, social and material reality, the physical
its
Serious Tarot students see the Major Arcana as
the soul's
matrix of The next seven are inner-directed toward
map in its quest for self-awareness and integration into the
life.

contemplation and self-knowledge, and the last-supercon-

cosmic whole. The cards are tools, they say, and
diligent
sciousness-are keys to spiritual enlightenment.
meditation on them can unlock mystic truths.
Cards through VII, as they are shown on these two
Modern occultists of a psychological bent lend their
1

They divide the Major Arcana's pages, are from the so-called Renaissance deck, Pre-
own twist to the process.
Raphaelite renderings by American artist and printmaker
twenty-one numbered cards into three groups, symbolizing
superconscious minds. Brian Williams, who worked on the deck for nine years be-
the conscious, subconscious, and
out- fore completing in 1987.
seven cards -consciousness -describe life's it
The first
I.The Magician. He is called by many rearing, growth, creativity, and prosperity. rigidity, and and it
effete philosophizing,
names-the Juggler, the Magus, the Moun- Inverted, she indicates cloying domestici- cautions against and bad advice
lies
tebank—and his mercurial nature lies be- ty, family discord, dominating matriarchy, VI. The Lovers. The obvious symbolism
tween instinct and intellect, the sublime bourgeois small-mindedness, dissipation, has to do with love, passion, the tension
and the mundane. He is a master manipu- jealousy, insecurity, problems with sexual between flesh and spirit, and in addition,
lator, a con man and trickster, but perhaps matters or with career. the responsibility for making choices. On a
also a miracle maker and sage. In divina- IV. The Emperor. A male symbol and pa- more mystical level, the Lovers denote in-
tion he denotes skill, craft, cunning, elo- triarchal figure, he is consort of the Em- spiration, impulse, psychic gifts, and cre-
quence, the mastery of arcane science. In- press. The Emperor is temporal power, ativity. They illustrate duality unified, the
verted, he signifies fraud and chicanery, professional or political success, social male and female completing each other. In
demagoguery, sophistry, lies, corrupt tech- status, rationality, strong will, energy, and divination, the Lovers suggest courtship or
nology, cheap tricks. decisiveness. At the negative extreme, he a sound relationship or marriage. Inverted,
II. The Priestess. She is the keeper of may also mean war and conquest. Usually they represent bad romantic choices, sex-
mysteries, the mistress of hidden knowl- propitious for a male inquirer, he bodes ual difficulties, infidelity, ill-fated or un-
edge. Her wisdom is feminine, creative, ambitions realized through force of per- requited love.
intuitive, spiritual, and nonrational. In div- sonality. However, his presence in a wom- VII. The Chariot. The image of two hors-
ination she stands for female influences, an's reading indicates a dominating male. es drawing a chariot suggests a male-
passive power, the cyclical balance of Inverted, the Emperor means despotism, female metaphor, feminine pacifism sub-
nature, magic, and the arts of natural heal- pomposity, and self-indulgence, or he may duing masculine bellicosity, or female se-
ing. She may predict change, a secret re- warn against weakness. ductiveness sapping male energy. The
vealed, or a problem illuminated. Inverted, V. The Hierophant. Often called the Pope Chariot also signifies movement, travel,
she is a warning against irrationality and or High Priest, Hierophant rules a
the achieving a goal, reaching an important
implies obfuscation. spiritual kingdom. He is the male counter- milestone in worldly attainment. It indi-
III. The Empress. The Empress is Moth- part of the Priestess, and his realm is ra- cates triumph, good health, and success,
er Goddess and Mother Earth— fertile, tional knowledge, creative intellect, inspi- although they may prove impermanent. In-
bountiful, and nurturing. She embodies ration, insight, established order, religious verted, the card suggests ruthlessness,
woridly sovereignty and pleasure, as well tradition, occult knowledge. He forecasts bullying, and defeat.
as female power, love, beauty, luxury, sta- the acquisition of profound understanding
bility, well-being; she is also a civilizing in- and may stand for an important teacher or
fluence and a symbol for domesticity, child adviser. The card inverted means dogma.
 TarotoiflicWUchcs
As the Fool continues his metaphysical journey, he meets
seven cards from the Tarot of the Witches, a contemporary
deck designed by the Scottish surrealist Fergus Hall.

Tarot encyclopedist Stuart R Kaplan sug-

gests the Tarot has special significance for
witches, who supposedly use it often for proph-
ecy Kaplan has written that the Tarofs Priest-
ess symbolically presides over and completes the
thirteen-member witches' coven, whose other
members correspond to certain cards in Tarot suits.

Situated inside witchcraft's occult magic circle, em-

blematic of the universe, the Priestess protects the
coven and rules it with benevolence and wisdom. Kap-
lan also contends the four cardinal points of the
circle

correspond to the Tarot's suits: North is represented by

Swords, south by Wands, east by Cups, and west by Penta-

cles The circles center, where lines from the cardinal
points intersect, is said to be a sacred point of immense
power and to symbolize the Major Arcana as a whole.

and He has secluded himself not as a ment and accomplishment The cards
VHI. Justice. According to the Witches truth.

misanthrope but as pilgrim on an interior more belligerent aspects are defiance,

deck, this benevolent card follows the im-
voyage toward enlightenment strife, contention, and conquest
plication of its name, denoting equity, fair-
X. Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel may XII. Hanged Man. Martyrdom, sacrifice,
ness, reasonableness, harmony, and bal-
bode well or ill, depending on the cards suffering, and punishment are all suggest-
ance It carries additional meanings of
accompany it in a reading Its possible ed by this mystenous card It may also sig-
honor, integrity, sincerity, virtue and vir- that
meanings include good fortune, happi- nify surrender, abandonment, renuncia-
gmity, good intentions, and well-meant
tion, stifled progress, or action or thought
acts It may promise deserved rewards In ness, something opportune or heaven-
makes sent, the answer to a question or the solu- held suspended On the other hand, regen-
divination, the Tarot of the Witches
tion to a problem It also carries neutral eration IS suggested, along with transition
no distinction as to whether a card ap-
connotations of destiny, fate, ineviubility, with the infiux of new life The Hanged
pears upnght or inverted in a reading.
cowled approaching change, a culmination, or an Man is suspended not from a gallows but
Villi. The Hermit. The reclusive
ending If its neighboring cards are not from a living tree, suggesting spnngs re-
figure suggests withdrawal and soli-
propitious, the Wheel may mean an un- birth Students who use the Tarot as an es-
tude, an abandonment of the world
healthy intoxication with success or oteric spiritual guide rather than for
and Its pleasures He denotes judicious-
worldly honors and rewards fortune -telling attnbute great mystical sig-
ness, prudence, and circumspection, but
XI. Strength. As its muscular avatar nificance to the Hanged Man For them,
he may also symbolize a person who is ex-
the card has far more to do with resurrec-
pressionless, insensitive, reluctant to face suggests, Strength signifies physical pow-
tion than with death, and it is a profound
facts, wary of expending emotion, protec- er,courage, fortitude, liberation, achieve-
ment gained at considerable nsk It may expression of the relationship between the
rr. of pnvacy to the point of fear The Her-
'•

'. mis^tjidcd himself and with also imply determination, strength of will divine worid and the matcnal one
..MiiJc Others More cso and resolution of mind, as well as strong XIII. Death. This card need not be alto-
convictions, confidence, energy, an orien- gether as ominous as its name and num-
, «jrc Milder lo the Hermit, con-
wisdom tation toward action, a capacity for attain- ber and Its grisly image would imply U
:in(! ^'• IS a seeker after divine
may indeed foretell endings, finality, loss,
and death, but
failure, destruction, illness,

it may no more than a surprise,

also augur
a sudden and unexpected change, and
perhaps even a blessing in disguise. Like
the Hanged Man, Death can suggest life in
transition, transformations, new begin-
nings as yet unsuspected.
XIIII. Temperance. Patience, adaptabil-
ity, thrift, balance, and moderation are
qualities ascribed to this card. Temperance
may also indicate a reflective nature with
the ability to compromise, adjust, accept
life as it Other meanings include com-
is.

patibility and comradeship, management

ability, a fusion of forces or consolidation
of gains, good influences. In a reading.
Temperance may stand for a parent or pa-
rental influence.
 S\1N

XV. The Devil. Satan represents the

chains of materiality, holding men and
women in thrall after their fall from spiritu-
al grace Allegorically, the man and wom-
an are Adam and Eve, and their chains arc
a commentary on the fatality of a purely
material existence In divination, the Devil
signifies material power and the tempta-
tions of the flesh, obsession, violence, fate,
prodigious effort, and weakness and petti-

ness The Golden Dawn makes no

Tarot
provision for difTerent meanings if cards
fall it does caution that the
reversed, but
relationshipsbetween the cards can alter
their meanings
XVI. The Tower. The Tower struck by
lighlnmg depicts ruin m its several forms,
stemming from the materialization of the
spiritual world It may also symbolize the
destruction of the human mind, which
mys-
pridefully seeks to penetrate sacred
teries, as well as the knowl-
futility of all

edge apart from God The Tower denotes

strife, war. destruction, danger, adversity,
 nic Golden Dawn Tarof
Although it existed only fifteen years, the Hermetic Order of
the Golden Dawn left an indelible stamp on Western occult-
ism. Its initiates melded the Tarot and astrology with the
mysteries of the Jewish Cabala to create an occult
construct of staggering complexity.
The first Golden Dawn Tarot supposedly
appeared by magic to the Order's leader, Mac-
Gregor Mathers. In fact, the cards were probably
designed by Mathers himself and painted by his
wife, Moina MacGregor Mathers. They were only for

initiates, Dawn deck for the

however, and a Golden
public did not exist until 1978, when occult scholar
Robert Wang, using old notebooks of the order's mem-
bers, collaborated with colleague Israel Regardie to re-

create the deck represented here.

"As Above, So Below" was a Golden Dawn motto.
It meant that man was a microcosm of the universe, and
in understanding himself he could understand all things.

For Golden Dawn members, divination was only incidental

to the Tarot's true purpose: instructing initiates in the most
profound secrets of the cosmos.

misery, poverty, disgrace, deception, un- ture. It portends dissatisfaction, error, lies, its higher self In addition, it implies
foreseen disaster. It may also foretell des- deception, slander, terror, danger, dark- resurrection and etemal life. In divination,

potism and imprisonment. In its only posi- ness, hidden enemies, and occult forces Judgment denotes final decisions, judg-
tive aspect, it indicates courage. at work, as well as silence, instability, and ments, and sentences, the ultimate settle-
XVII. The Star. The Star is immortal inconstancy. ment of a matter with no further appeal
beauty and truth unveiled, pouring bless- XIX. The Sun. The Sun is emblematic of possible. It may foretell the loss of a law-
ings on the soul. The card also carries the passage from the light of this worid to the suit or some kind of change or renewal in

mystic meaning of universal understand- light of the next. Some of the card's sym- the inquirer's life.

ing devolving on those who are ready to bolism also deals with enlightenment XXI. The Universe. Called the Worid in

receive it. It promises immortality and en- through self-knowledge, which leads to several other Tarot decks, this card is usu-
lightenment. The Star augurs hope, faith, humanity's rescue from its animal nature ally propitious when it occurs in a reading,
and rosy prospects. If ill-favored by other and a union with transcendental con- ensuring success and just payment. It may
cards, however, it can also mean hope de- sciousness. The Sun's divinatory meanings also suggest travel, the material worid, a
ceived, arrogance, and loss of power, and include wealth, gain, glory, material con- kingdom. If it is badly positioned in a read-
it may indicate a person who is excessively tentment, a good marriage. number of
If a ing, however, it can mean stagnation and

disposed to dreaminess. ill-favored cards surround the Sun in a inertia. It often stands for the inquirer or
XVIH. The Moon. The Moon symbolizes reading, it takes on the negative aspects of for the subject of his or her question. In es-

the life of the imagination venturing into vanity, ostentation, and arrogance. oteric terms, the card signifies the rapture
the unknown. It also stands for reflected XX. Judgment. The card is sometimes and perfection of the universe when, as
from a dazzling prime source that re-
light called the Last Judgment, and to a certain A. E. Waite put it, "it understands itself in

mains as yet unrevealed— an analogy, per- extent does represent the usual Christian
it God." It is the end of the soul's metaphys-
haps, to the light of the intellect reflecting notion of that event. But it also has mystic ical where self-knowledge brings
journey,
dimly a more absolute spiritual truth. The significance involving the transformation a new andhigher consciousness that
Moon illuminates humanity's animal na- of the soul in response to a summons from unites the one with the all.
In general, divination with the Major Arcana is said to re-

veal one's spiritual condition and potential, while the Minor

Arcana cards deal with more mundane realities: occupa-
tion, social position, domestic situation. Nevertheless,
oc-

cultists associate each suit with mystical kinetic forces sym-

bolized by the elements fire, water, air, and earth. The suit

of Wands-also known as Rods, Staffs, Batons, or Scep-

ters-is the so-called fire suit, in occult terms, it represents

the archetypal world of pure spirit. Wands govern growth,

self-development, creativity, ingenuity, energy, ideas, inspi-

ration, passion. They are depicted not as sterile artifacts
but

as living branches, befitting the suit's generative aspect.

The Wands shown here are from the Tarot of the Cat
People, an imaginative modern deck rendered by Karen Ace of Wands. A card of remale Two of Wands. This represents
fertility, the Ace denotes creation, a dominant individual, mature, bold,
Kuykendall, a painter, sculptor, and cat lover. genesis, a new undertaking, industry, brave The card also signifies reaching
luck, profit, inheritance, birlh Inverted, goals and fulfilling needs Inverted, it

starts, thwarted implies trouble, loss of faith, sadness,

It stands for false
goals, dim prospects, frustrated plans, impediments imposed by others.
emptiness, and decadence

-if Wnnds Six of Wnnd

nve of Wands. The ill-favored Five Six of Wands. This card forecasts
Three of Wafula. PracKulily. business Four of Wands. The Four represents
means unsatisfied desires, violent victory, gain. g<X)d tidings, advance
KHK and in(lu.Mrlousncs5 trade vMjbilily. harmony, peace, serenity,
struggle, effort, conflict, barriers mcnt. the achievement of desires, the
negoiuiions. and cooimetce are new wealth, harvest after labor, rest
Inverted, complexity, contradictions, realization of goals Inverted, the
Indicated by Ihr Three Inverted, lis after strife, romame Inverted. It

meaning changes to fear, disloyalty,

predicts insecunly. diminished beauty. and trickery are its messages It gives
mrdiunfj cliangrt lo lessening uoubles, superficial or meaningless profit
IrKomplele happiness and unfuiniled warning against Indecision
jMiMam ' with ullertor plant, wariness
ijf help Ihal 1'. offered romance, lost tranquility
 Seven of Wands Nine of Wonds Ten of Wands
Seven of Wands. The Seven suggests Eight of Wands. The Eight describes Nine of Wands. This card augurs Ten of Wands. This is a card of
surmounting obstacles on the way to quickness, progress that may come too changes, the expectation of problems, excessive burdens, pressures, or
success, victory, and gain. Inverted, fast, and hasty decisions or. if it is awaiting trouble, a hiatus during a problems, though they may soon be
it means anxiety, indecision, doubt, inverted, family quarrels, discord, struggle, hidden enemies, anticipation, resolved; it also signifies effort (o
confusion, embarrassment, and loss. jealousy, stagnation, and aggravation. discipline, order. Inverted, it denotes ill maintain position, the selfish use of
health, obstacles, delays, adversity. power. Inverted, it portends trouble,
duplicity, intrigue, deceit, loss.

4
 lUcMyfliicTarof ACE OF CUPS

These cards are adorned with Greek deities and legendary

mortals, primal figures symbolizing nature and the human
psyche. The device points up the archetypal quality often
ascribed to the Tarot. Psychologist Carl Jung, among others,

believed the Major Arcana were archetypes, images that are

stored in the collective unconscious and that resonate in all

subconscious minds.
Designed by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Liz Greene and
illustrated by Tricia Newell, the Mythic Tarot was intro-

duced in 1986. Its romanticism is well adapted to the suit of

Cups, shown on these two pages. The suit, whose element

is water, isemblematic of the creative world. Cups flow
with love, dreams, fantasies, and with psychic and intuitive
artistic gifts. The Mythic deck's Cups deal mostly with the Ace of Cups. The card's divinatory Two of Cups. Like the Ace. the Two
meaning involves an outrush of raw predicts the beginning of a relationship:
story of the love god, Eros, and his mortal lover. Psyche. It is emolion, a nascent relationship, the in addition, it signifies reconciliation

start of a loumey of love Unlike many after a separation, fnendships, contracts

a tale of love found, lost to mistrust, and finally regained
decks, the Mythic Tarot suggests no between business partners
alternate meanings for inverted cards
through courage.

FOUR or rups

Five of Cups. The Five warns of a Six of Cups. Nostalgia about old loves,
Three of Cupi The Three bodes Four of Cup*. A disalTeclcd relation
betrayal with subsequent sorrow and the possible return of a former lover,
'rrniinmal sdii&factlon and promise ship leading to depression, disappoint-
remorse, a possible separation, but the lempenng of past romantic
I cclchrailon of marrtagc, a new love mcnl, boredom, and possible unex
without the IlkelihiHH) ol permanent fantasies, leading to serenity and
iirair .1 child* birth, or a deeper pressed rrvnlmenl is indli aled
endlnits, a challenge to lommltmeni In strength,and the possible revival and
• .(>;-. f.ihon ol love The cflcd <an be p<»lllve only ll the
the aHairs of the heart recapturing of former love are all
negalivei prompt one to put aside old
predicted by the Six
fanUutles and expectations In Favor of a
more tr.ihslM virv. r.f love
Seven of Cups. The card implies
an emotional situation-possibly a love
relationship— with great potential,
which will be realized only if correct
and realistic choices are made.
PAGE OF CUPS
Eight of Cups. The Eight involves Nine of Cups. The Nine promises Ten of Cups. The contentment
surrendering an emotional tie in pleasure, fulfillment, the realization of augured by the Nine of Cups continues
a doomed relationship. It also means a treasured wish, the reward of effort, into the Ten, whicli also connotes
depression, mourning, emptiness, the consummation of commitment. permanent love, a lastmg relationship.
an unknown and mtractable future.
KNIGHT OF CUPS OUEEN OF CUPS
 nieRider-WaUeTaroi
If there is such a thing as a standard Tarot, that distinc-
tion belongs to the one conceived by British editor, writ-

er, and Edward Waite. Waite had his ideas

occultist Arthur

executed by a young American artist, Pamela Colman

Smith, his colleague in the Hermetic Order of the Golden

Dawn. The resulting deck was published in 1910 in London
by William Rider Son Limited, hence the name Rider-
&
Waite. It remains the world's most widely used Tarot.
Waite claimed his deck purged much nonsense previ-
ously ascribed to the cards. A devoted mystic, he sneered at
divination as a corrupt use, although he did offer divinatory
meanings for those who wanted them.
The suit of Swords, symbolic of form and matter, is the
Ace of Swords. A very forceful card, il Two of Swords. The Two suggests
air suit, generally representing the rational, logical mind. connotes triumph, conquest, great balance, courage, and comradeship,
extremes, as well as very passionate brotherhood in arms, plus fondness and
Swords also have to do with strife, struggle, the quest for love or hate It has the same meanings intimacy Inverted, the meanings
change disloyally
truth, and the need for discriminating decisions and deci- when inverted, but catastrophic to duplicity, lies,

outcomes are implied

sive actions. In the main, Swords are an ominous suit.

Five of Swords. Hallmarks of the Five Six of Swords. The Six charts a
Three of Swords. The Three augurs Four of Swords. Withdrawal, solitude.
Ihc rciluse s repose, vigilance, exile, the are degradation, inlamy. destruction, pathway or touie, a so|oum by water, a
'•paMli'in ahsemc. disruption,
and loss The meanings persist when messenger or envoy, an expedient
il enull*
flLspersion, delay Inverted, cofnn and the tomb are all toreliild
the card inverted, but with the Inverted, it portends » confession, a
miMikes. Urn. confusion, distraction, by the four Inverted. 11 slRnlne^ wise is

additional unpleasant connotations declaration, or publicity

dr.d mental alienation nMnagemcnl. prudence, thrift, and
precaution, hui also greed of deaili .ind buna!
i
 IhelliofliTarof

Erotic and highly stylized, the Thoth deck was the brain-
child of eccentric British diabolist Aleister Crowley, another

Golden Dawn initiate. He designed it, and Udy Frieda

Harris painted between the years 1938 and 1943.

it,

The Thoth Tarot is replete with cabalistic and astro-

logical symbolism, and Crowley exercised a free hand in re-

naming certain Trumps. With the Minor Arcana, he desig-

nated the court cards as Prince, Princess, Queen, and

Knight rather than the traditional King, Queen, Knight, and
Page. He also added names to the numbers of cards Two
through Ten in each suit, and he used the term Disks for the

suit shown here instead of the more common Pentacles or Ace of Disks. Crowley said the card Two of Disks: Change. This card

represented 'ihe root of the powers of denotes harmonic change with

Coins. Crowley made no distinction as to whether cards fell
earth" and the mystical unity of sun altemaiing gain and loss, strength and
and earth, spint and flesh It stands for weakness, joy and sadness It may
upright or inverted; rather, he called them 'well-dignified"
signify changing occupation, traveling,
work, power, financial nches. satisfac-
visiting friends also represents
or "ill-dignified," depending on neighboring cards.
It
tion, materiality
someone who is at the same lime
Pentacles, the earth suit, represents activity and gov- diligent and unreliable

erns physical expression, money, work, and materiality.

C^^T^ ^
Seven of Disks: Failure. The Failure Eight of Dislcs: Prudence. The Eight Nine of Disks: Gain. It promises Ten of Disks: Wealth. The Ten brings
card means eventual growth, honorable reveals intelligence, skill, cunning, and material good fortune, inheritance, and riches; the completion of a fortune, but
work undertaken for its own sake and industry applied to material things, greatly increased wealth, but when with no future prospects in the absence
without hope of reward. Ill-dignified, it including building and agriculture. An ill-dignified, covetousness, theft, and of creativity; and old age. ill-dignified,
means laziness, abandoned work, ill-dignified Eight indicates greed dishonorable behavior. its message is sloth, diminished mental
profitless speculation, empty promise. and miserliness, punctiliousness about acuity and material profit, heaviness.
small things at the expense of more
important matters.

Knight of Disks. The Knight represents Princess of Disks. She is a beautiftil, Queen of Disks. She is a kind, Prince of Disks. The Prince denotes
a farmer, somewhat plodding and strong young woman, generous, charming, affectionate woman- an energetic and industrious young
overconcemed with material things but diligent, kind, nurturing, filled with life practical, quiet, and domestic, man, competent and practical, if dull.
patient, hardworking, and clever with and attuned to its secret wonders. but ambitious in useful ways. Stupid, He tends to resent those more spiritu-
his hands. Ill-dignified, he is a petty, Ill-dignified, she is wasteful, at odds slavish, and whimsical when ally inclined and, though slow to anger,
surly, jealous, grasping man with her own dignity. ill-dignified, she is also moody and he is relentless once aroused.
somewhat prone to debauchery.
With the Tarot, nothing is simple. Mastering
DivinaflonwifliflieTaro(

all the possible Three of the more common spreads are shown below
^
meanings of ail the cards as they appear in the various and on the next three pages, using the standard Rider- Waite
decks is an arduous job, but still it falls short of preparing a deck. The readings were done by Fredrick Davies, a psychic

would-be Tarot reader to practice cartomancy. The next adviser with a large celebrity following in the United States

deck should be used and and Great Britain. His interpretations do not necessarily fol-
step is deciding which cards in the

Some readers employ all low the meanings given in the foregoing pages. Davies is an
how they should be laid out.
seventy-eight cards, others only the Major Arcana. In either astrologer as well as a Tarot reader, so the stars figure in

case, the cards may be arranged in any number of configu- his analyses. Moreover, like many advisers, he brings his

rations. Some provide readings lasting only a few minutes, own purported psychic gifts to the interpretations.

while the more complicated layouts can take hours to inter- His three-card reading was given for a woman artist, a

may be used answer an inquirer's specific Pisces; the seven-card, for a Cancer businessman; and the
pret. The cards to

question or to provide general information. ten-card reading, for a female writer, a Gemini.

The Three-Card Spread. This is among so at detailed length would be fruitless.

the simplest spreads, ideal for short read- She should not be inhibited from speaking,
ings At the outset, all of the cards should but at the same time she should keep the
face in the same direction. The notion is complaint short, lest she regret later hav-
that after shuffling they will then fall up- much.
ing said too

right or reversed as fate decrees. As with The Cups card bodes changes in her so-

most readings, one began with the in-

this cial schedule. Perhaps someone she loves

quirer shuffling and cutting the cards and will make a spur-of-the-moment sugges-
presenting them to the reader. He then tion regarding mutual plans. She ought to
fanned the deck and the inquirer selected be open to possibilities and flexible in
three cards with her left hand The reader adapting to such situations.
laid them down. The Seven of Swords suggests that the
Following the numbers on the small dia- lover of her choice will not have the ap-

gram next to the spread, card number one proval of well-meaning family members
number two and friends. They will try to protect her by
represents the inquirers past,
the present, and number three the future. criticizing him, but she should not listen.

Here, the cards are the Nine of Swords, the Her best course is not to be intimidated by

Seven of Cups, and the Seven of Swords. them but to follow her own instincts. The
Davies interpreted them as follows: card might also be an analog other profes-
The Nine indicates the inquirer is trou- sional life, meaning that she will be suc-

bled by some person or event in her past. cessful following her own course, regard-

She wants to air her grievance, but to do less of criticism.

ESS
The Seven-Card Spread. This is also rent beloved. It recommends that the man taining a happy marriage in the future.
called theHorseshoe Spread because of its temper honesty with discretion, especially Davies suggests that the Four of Penta-
shape. After the inquirer shuffled and cut if some third person is involved, but it also cles might mean that the third party in the
the cards, the reader laid them out from indicates a choice or decision is imminent. reading's suggested triangulation is not
left to right. !n sequence, the cards repre- The Three of Cups indicates thoughts of another woman but simply work. Perhaps
sent (1) the inquirer's past, (2) his present, marriage, or a happy marriage if the in- the man is concentrating on his job to the
(3) his future, (4) the particular matters on quirer is married. (He is.) However, the detriment of his relationship with his wife.
his mind, (5) others in his life, (6) obsta- card once again indicates the presence of He should strive for balance, giving proper
cles, and (7) the outcome of a particular a third person. It is not necessarily a lover attention to his home life.

question, situation, or condition. The cards and does not seem to represent a threat The Nine of Swords cautions again that
that fell businessman's reading were
in the to the marriage. It could be a child, an tact is imperative if have
the situation is to
the Lovers, the Eight of Wands, the Three ex-wife or ex-husband, perhaps a parent, a propitious outcome. "It says, whatever
of Cups, the Five of Cups, the Three of or even an in-law. you do, don't say anything to anybody
Swords, the Four of Pentacles, and the The romantic theme carries over to the about it in too much detail," Davies speci-
Nine of Swords. Davies interpreted them in Five of Cups, which indicates that affairs of fies. "If you say anything, you'll regret say-

the following way: the heart are of current concern to the in- ing it. It will come back to haunt you. It's
In his past, the inquirer had to make a quirer. The Three of Swords says that if he better just to plead total ignorance." If the
choice between two loves, perhaps one is embroiled in a romantic complication, a inquirer feels that some kind of romantic
more romantic and serious and the other separation from one of the parties might choice is inevitable, he is cautioned
more passionate. Just next to the Lovers, be good. The inquirer is left to determine against making it or revealing it precipi-
the Eight of Wands counsels diplomacy from which person he should separate, but tously. He should exercise restraint and
and tact, especially in dealing with the cur- the move is seen as bearing on his main- wait for the appropriate moment.
The Ten-Card Spread. Also known
been used
the Celtic cross, this spread has
quite popular
for many years and is
Tarot readers. After the inquirer shuffled
and cut the cards, the reader laid them out
in the sequence indicated by the diagram.
In order, they represent (1) the inquirer
herself, (2) what is on her mind, (3) future
goals, (4) her past, (5) her more recent
immediate future, (7) the in-
past, (6) the
quirer again, (8) changes in her environ-
ment, (9) her emotional state, and (10) the
outcome of her concerns and situation.
The cards in this reading were the World
of Cups, the Ace of
(inverted), the Two
Wands, the Queen of Cups (inverted), the
Eight of Wands, the Five of Cups, the Ace
of Pentacles, the Seven of Cups, the Four
of Pentacles, and the Magician (inverted).
This was Davies' assessment;
Having the World trump represent the
inquirer is extremely promising, despite
the fact that the card is reversed There is
no such thing as an unlucky World in a
reading, Davies says, no matter how it
falls Here it indicates spectacular pros-
pects for the inquirer, including the possi-
bility of work-related travel to far-flung
Caribbean or South
ports, possibly in the
America Everything is falling into
both her professional and domestic
as However, the card's inversion may mean
that she is feeling rather restless or uneasy
among despite the good fortune. "Everything
should be wonderful for you at this time,"
Davies comments, "but you're still not to-
tally convinced that it is."
Crossing the World, the Two of Cups in-
dicates the inquirer's thoughts about her
marriage. The card is among the happiest
of marriage symbols, the reader relates,
and in this case it indicates the inquirer is
secure in her marriage and inclined to turn
her thoughts to other matters, probably re-
lating to her career. She is cautioned not to
be so complacent that she neglects her
marriage or fails to enjoy
it.
The Ace of Wands suggests "something
wonderful" the offing regarding the
is in
inquirer's future goals. The card predicts
great opportunities, possibly with a pub-
lishing or television project. The past has
been somewhat less satisfactory, accord-
ing to the inverted Queen of Cups. Cou-
pling the Queen with the writer's Gemini
Davies surmises that past obsta-
birth sign,
cles and difficulties are clearing and
the future will be much brighter. The
Queen's reversal indicates the inquirer
might be able to look forward to a more
place in amusing and eventful love life
The Eight of Wands implies that the
lives.
woman has recently entered a situation
which political skills and tact are essential.
The Five of Cups suggests that her near fu-
ture will hold good romantic prospects.
Perhaps her marriage will become more
exciting. A love affair is possible, although
is just as likely that some new person
it
entering her life will become a valued pla-
tonic friend or a collaborator in a profes-
sional venture.
The Ace of Pentacles reveals the writer
has the ability to make a great deal of
money. Prospects for gain are enhanced
further, Davies says, because the ace is
one of two in the reading. Unusual finan-
cial success is ensured. Changes in the
writer'senvironment are indicated by the
Seven of Cups. Perhaps she should make
some alterations in her home to facilitate
her working there. The next card, the Four
of Pentacles, indicates that her career is, in
fact, uppermost in the inquirer's thoughts
and feelings. Her concern for it could be
an obstacle to her domestic life unless
she takes care to show her husband the at-
tention he needs.
The final card, the Magician, is particu-
that larlyauspicious for Geminis. The inquirer
has magic with words; she is a master ma-
nipulator who can make anything happen
with her writing and in her life. "The final
outcome is wonderful, Davies says. "This
"
is like a brand-new beginning for you."
in
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The indexfor this book was prepared by Hazel nch. Cosmic Contact Psychic Services, New York de Salon et de la Crau, Salon-de-Provence, France;

Blumberg-McKee The editors wish to express NY; John Hogue, Bellevue, Wash ; Kathleen Jack Marvin Schwab, Chevy Chase, Md Barbara A. ;

and John M Olin Ijbrary, Cornell University, Ithaca, Shattuck, National Geographic Magazine, Wash-
their appreciation to the following individuals lin,

NY, Patricia McCarver, Labynnth Publishing, Zug, ington, DC Rolf Streichardt, Institut fiir Grenzge-
organizations ;

Baumbusch, Scala, Florence, Italy, Helen Switzerland; Steve McCurry, New York, NY.; Patri biete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Frei-
Bngitte
Bradford, Alexandria, Va , Dr Hans Bender, Insti- cia McLaine, Arlington, Va Professor Dr Jo- ,
burg, West Germany; Jeanette Thomas, Edgar
tut fur Grenzgebiete der Psychologic und Psy- hannes Mischo, Institut fur Psychologie und Cayce Foundation, Virginia Beach, Va Dr. ;

chohygiene, Freiburg, West Germany, Philip Dunn, Grenzgebiete der Psychologie, Freiburg, West Ger- Thomas A Tufo, The A N Palmer Company, He-
many; Singh Modi, New York, NY, Rolla Nordic, bron, III Dr Jing Nuan Wu, Washington, DC
Labyrinth Publishing, Zug, Switzerland; Leif ;
;

Geiges, Staufen, West Germany, Michael Good- New York, N Y , Marie-Christine Roquette, Musee Matthew Zalichin, Takoma Park, Md

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Index

an 76 graphology, 92; and palmistry, 81 Bacon, Roger, 45

Numerals In italics indicate
American Monthly Review. 75 and physiognomy, 66 Balfour, Arthur, 82
illustration of the subject mentioned
American Phrenological Journal, 76, Association for Research and Barbary apes, 40
Enlightenment, 22 Bartlell, loseph, 67, quoted, 67
79
Amos (biblical figure), 10, quoted, Assyria haruspicy in, 34-35, Barton, Clara, 80: quoted. 80
Adams, lohn Quincy, 75
10 numerology in, 107 Baynes. Cary F 121
Aeromancy, defined, 35
,

An da shcal ladh, defined, 38 Sec Astragali, defined, 10 See also Beecher, Henry Ward, 78. 80,
Air hand, 54, 60 See also Palmistry, 1

also Druids Dice quoted, 80

Palmists
Anderson, Jack, 23 Aubrey, John, 47, quoted, 47 Beetles, divination with, 40
Airscrew, 28
Angus, Miss quoted, 50 Augury defined, 33, Etruscan, 33, Bernhardt, Sarah, 85
Alchemy, defined, 46-47 (scrycr), 50,

Animals, divination with, 37, 38 39, and haruspicy, 35, Roman, 33 34 Bible numerology In, 106. 107.
Alectryomanccrs, defined, 34
Auspices, defined, 33 seers in, 10, 14
Alexander III (king of Macedonia), 40, 42
Bin (oracle), 1'*
II Anthropomancy defined, 32, 38, by Austromanc^, defined, 35 1

Druids, 38 Axinomancy, defined, 35 Bind, Alfred, 92

Alexandra (queen of England), 82
Birds, divination with, 38 3<}. 40, 42
AliDio, lohn. 25 Apantomancy, defined, 32
Apollo (Greek 107 Blake, William, 66, quoted, 66
Allicltc (Tarot reader). 125 127 g<xl), 10,

Apple blossoms, divination with, 40 Babylon haruspicy In, 34 35, and Blofcld, lohn as / Ching diviner,
Alphllnmancy, defined. 35
Archetypes, defined, 122, 140 Sec seers, 9 l.S, 16 117, 119, quoted, 116
Altman, Nathaniel (palmist), 60-63
I 1

Ama (Dogon god), 36 also Jung, Carl Bacon, Sir Francis (The New Boelhlus, 109

Aristotle iHistory of Animals) and Atlantis). 27. quoted. 27 Book of Changes See I Ching
American Institute of Phrenology,
 1 7 1 1 1 1 1

BookofThoth (Alliette), 125 Chresmomancy, defined, 35 quoted, 46; as scryer, 45-49; Essence, defined, 98. See also
BookofThoth, r/ie (Crowley), 129 Chu Hua, 19 1 talisman of, 48 Numerologists; Numerology
Borden, Lizzie, physiognomy of, Claros Oracle, 11-14 De Florinville, Seigneur, 17; quoted, Etruscans: augury of, 33; and
79-81 Clemens, Samuel (The Tragedy of 17 haruspicy, 34-35; and hepatos-

Borgia, Cesare, 67 Pudd'nhead Wilson), hand print of, De Forest, Lee, 27; quoted, 27 copy, 32
Boston Phrenological Society, 75 67; and palmistry, 64-65, 66, 81, Delphic Oracle, 10-11, 14 Etteilla. See Alliette (Tarot reader)

Botanomancy, defined, 35 82; quoted, 65 Devereux, Robert, 123 Experiment with Time, An (Dunne), 8
Botticelli, Sandro (Primavera), 106 Cleveland, Grover, 82 Le Diable Amoureux (Cazotte), 6 Ezekiel (biblical prophet), 10

Brahan Seer. See Odhar, Coinneach Club of Rome, 28 Dice, 110-1 1

Brahma (Hindu god), 106 Codex, and the Maya, 12-13 Divination: defined, 7; various types
Brandano, Bartolomeo, 14 Coffee grounds, reading, 40 of, 35. See also Seers; specific Fate line, 5S-59 85 See also
Broca, Paul, 81 Collective unconscious, theory of, types of divination Palmistry; Palmists

Brown, John, 78 defined, 122. See also Jung, Carl Dixon, Jeane: quoted, 23; as seer, Felidomancy, defined, 35
Byg, William, 45 Combe, George (phrenologist), 72, 23-25 Fermi, Enrico, 28
75 Dogon (West African tribe), Fifteen, in dice, 1 1

Comet, 34 divination among, 36-37 Filipepi, Alessandro. See Botticelli,

Cabala: defined, 105; and numerol- Confessions (Cheiro), 82 Dogs, divination with, 40 Sandro (Primavera)
ogy, 105; andTarot, 127, 137 Confucius, 1 1 Dominoes, 112-113 Fingertips, 55 See also Palmistry;

Caesar, Julius, 35 Corporations, and use of grapholo- Dracula (Stoker), 127 Palmists
Cagliostro, Count Alessandro di, 84 gy, 86, 92 anthropomancy by, 38;
Druids, 35; Fire hand, 54, 63. See also Palmistry;
Calendars, Mayan, 12 Cortes, Hernan, 34 pyromancy by, 38; sacrifices by, Palmists
Caligula, 109 Court de Gebelin, Antoine, 125 38 Fish, divination with, 42
Calvin, John,20 Cowrie shells, 36-37 Dunne, John William (An Experiment Fishbough, Rev. William, 22
Campbell, Duncan, 40; quoted, 40 Cromniomancy, defined, 35 with Time), as seer, 8, 9, H Five; in dice, 1 10-1 1 1 ; in dominoes,
Canary, divination by, 39 Crowley, Aleister (The Book of 112; in numerology, 101, 108
Capnomancy, defined, 32 Thoth): Tarot cards by, 144-145; Floral Oracle, 40
Carolus Linnaeus, 67 as Tarot reader, 126, 129 Earth hand, 54, 61. See also Floromancy, defined, 35
Cartomancy, defined, 123. See also Crystal ball, 48, 50 Palmistry; Palmists Flowers, divination with, 40
Tarot; Tarot readers Crystal Gazing and Clairvoyance Earthquakes, prediction of 25-27, Fool card, 124, 131. See also Tarot;
Castagno, Andrea del (Last Supper). (Melville), 50 41-43 Tarot readers
fresco by, 109 Crystallomancy, 49-50. See also Edward Augustus (prince of Forensic graphology, 93. See also

Catherine de Medicis (queen of Scryers; Scrying England), 69 Graphologists; Graphology;

France), 18,47 Cuffe, Henry, 123 Edward VII (king of England), 82 Psychographologists; Psychogra-

Cayce, Edgar: as seer, 22-23, 24; Cups (Tarot suit), 130, 140-141. See Edward VIll (king of England), 82 phology
trances, 22 also Tarot; Tarot readers Egypt: use of dice in, 1 10; use of Fortune cookies, 26-27
Cazotte, Jacques (Le Diable Cylicomancy, defined, 45. See also numerology in, 105; seers in, 10 Fortune-tellers: the Dogon, 36;
Amoureux): quoted, 6, 7; as seer, Scryers; Scrying Eidetic imagery, defined, 52 gypsies, 128; Lucerito, 38-39 See

6-7, 8, 20 Eight: in dice, 1 1 1; in numerology, also specific types offortune-tellers

Celts, 35-38 D 103, 108 and fortune-telling

Central Phrenological Society, 72 DalaiLama, 45 Eighteen, in dice, 1 1 Four: in dice, 110, 1 1 1; in domi-
Centuries (Nostradamus), 18-/9 Damascius, quoted, 45 Einstein, Albert, 8-9; quoted, 8-9 noes, 1 12; in numerology, 101,
Cephalomancy, defined, 35 Dante Alighieri C/n/emo| 16 Eleven, in dice, 1 1 108
Ceromancy, defined, 35 Daphnomancy, defined, 35 Elizabeth (queen of Spain), 18 Fourteen, in dice, 1 1

Chalcomancy, defined, 35 Darwin, Charles, 81 Elizabeth 1 (queen of England), 46, Fowl, divination with, 42

Chaldea, numerology in, 107 Davies, Fredrick: quoted, 147, 148; 47, 123 Fowler, Jessie, 76

Charles IX (king of France), 18 as Tarot reader, 146-149 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 75, 92 Fowler, Lorenzo: as phrenologist,

Cheiro (Confessions). See Hamon, Davis, Andrew Jackson (The Encausse, Gerard. See Papus 76, 78,80, 81; quoted, 78

Count Louis le Warner de Penetralia; The Principles of England, dominoes in, 112 Fowler, Lydia Folger, as phrenolo-
Cheng, George, 26 Nature): quoted, 22; as seer, English Chirological Society, 81 gist, 78, 81

Chicago Evening News, 8 20-22; and trances, 22 Enmenduranna (Sumerian king), 9 Fowler, Orson (A Home for All).
China: dominoes in, 12; palmistry
1 Deathwatch beetles, divination Ens (Greek goddess), 108 house designed by, 79; as

in, 81; physiognomy in, 70-71 with, 40 Essays on Physiognomy (Lavater), phrenologist, 76, 78, 80, 81

Chiromancy. See Palmistry; Palmists Dee, John: crystal ball of, 48; 67,69 Fowler & Wells, 79; employees of

155
 7S palmistry In, 81; seers in, 10-14 Hippomancy, defined, 35 K
Foxes, divination with, 37 Greene, Uz, Tarot cards by, 140-141 History of Animals (Aristotle). 66 Kabala See Cabala
France, dominoes in, 112 Guaita, Stanislas de, 127 Hitler, Adolf, predictions about. 19. Kahn. Herman. 28. quoted. 28
Francis II (king of France), 18 Gypsies as fortune-tellers, 128- as 20.21, 109 Kaplan, Stuart R , 134

Freer, Ada Goodrich, 52; quoted, 52 palmists, 87 9; Holmes, Oliver Wendell. 75. quoted, Kelley, Edward quoted, 46; as

Freud, Sigmund, 81 Gyromancy, defined, 35 75 server. 4b-47. 49

Freya (Norse goddess), 108 Home for All. A: or a New Cheap, Kennedy, John F . 23

From the Earth to the Moon (Verne). H Convenient and Superior Mode of Kennedy. Robert F . 25; quoted. 25
Habakkuk (biblical figure), 10 Building (Orson Fowler). 79 Kitchener. Horatio Herbert. 81 82
27.28 .

Fu Hsi, 117, 118 Hall, Fergus, Tarot cards by, Horses, divination with. 42 Korea, dominoes in. 112

Futurists See Seers: specific types of 134-135 Hortlich, Johann (Die Kunst Die Kunst Chiromantic (Hortlich), 81,

divination and seers Halomancy, defined, 35 Chiromande), 81 82

Hamon, Count Louis le Warner de Horus (Egyptian god), 106 Kuykendall, Karen. Tarot cards by,
(a k a Cheiro; Confessions) as Hydromancy, defined, 45 Sec also ;js ;39

Galen and Andrew Jackson Davis, palmist, 64-65, 66, 81-85, 84, Scryers; Scrying

22. as palmist, 81 quoted, 65, 82, 85; salon of, Hypnotism, 22

Gall, Franz Joseph as phrenologist, 84 l^ Harpe. lean Francois de. 6

69-72, 75, quoted. 69 Handwriting analysis See Grapholo- I Laila. Terfren.2;

Graphology; Psycho- Ching (Anonymous): Carl Jung, Laski. Albert. 47
Garrett, Eileen, 42-43, 45, 52; gists, /

quoted, 45. 52 graphologists; Psychographology 119, 122; characteristics of, 104, Last Supper (Caslagno). 109

Udy Frieda, Tarot cards by, 19-122, hexagrams in, 116, 121, Laurels, divination with. 40
Gary, Remain, 25 Harris, 1

Gastromancy, defined, 45 See also 144-145 122, history of, 1 1 7, lohn Blofeld, Lavater. lohann Kaspar (£s5<7vs on

Scryers. Scrying Haruspices: Soudinos, 35; Spurinna 115, 116-117, 119. learning to Phvsiognomyi as physiognomist.
Gauric (seer), 18, quoted, 18 Vestricius, 35 Sec also Haruspicy use, 7, 70, 1 10; techniques, I lb. 67-69. 72; quoted, 67. 69, 72

Oe (Greek goddess), 10 Haruspicy Assyrian, 34-35; and 117. 1 19; translations of, 117-119, League of Nations. 20
Gelomancy, defined, 35 augury, 35; Babylonian, 34-35; 121, I22,trigrams, 118, 120-121. Leahy. William. 27; quoted. 27

(^matna, defined, 105 See also defined, 34; Etruscan, 34-35; Yin-Yang in, 1 19, 120-121 Leaves of Grass (Whitman). 80

Numerologists, Numerology Greek, 34, 35; Nepalese, 33: lchthyomanc7, defined, 35 Legge. lames. 1 1

Gemology, defined. 52 Roman, 34, 35 India dominoes in, 1 12; palmistry Leonardo da Vinci. 27, 28
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 86 81 Leopold 11 (king of Belgium). 82
Ccntlcman's Magazine, 67 in,

Head 58 85 See also Inferno (Dante Alighieri), 76/7 lister. David. 93

Geomancy. defined, 42 line, 59,
Insects, divination and, 40 U^vi. Eliphas quoted. lO"? 114. 127,
Geraniums, divmation with, 40 Palmistry; Palmists
40
Gibraltar, Health line, 58-59, 85 Sec also Intuition line, 85 See also Palmistry, as Tarot reader. 127. 129

Gilgamcsh epic (Anonymous), 9 Palmistry; Palmists Palmists Uiamo Latso. 44

Gnosticism, 124 Heart line, 58 59, 85 See also Isabella (countess of Seaforth), 31 Liang Songzeng. 70

Golden Dawn Tarot, 136 137 See Palmistry, Palmists quoted, 31 Life lesson number, defined, 98 Sec

Henry (king of France), 18-19 Isis (Egyptian goddess), 106 also Numerologists. Numerology
also Tarot. Tarot readers II

Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Henry 11 (king of Navarre), 18 Israel, seers in, 10 Ijfc line. 58 59. 85 Sec also
Henry (king of France), 18 Italy, dominoes in, 112 Palmistry. Palmists
Magazine, 86, 92 111

Henry VIM (king of F.ngland), 14 Ijghlnmg. inlerjirelation of. 33 34

Graphologists Alfred Binet. 92.
Hepatoscopy, defined, 32 Ijlics, divin.ilion with. 40
Anstotle, 92, defined, 66. 86. J
Hermes Tnsmcglstus See Thoth Jeremiah (biblital liguri.), lu Uncs of palm, 5S .so. 85 Sec ai-n^
Gloria Weiss. 96 97. Jean
(f-gyptian god) Jesus, 4 quoted, 4 Palmistry. Palmists
Hippolytc Michon. 92 Sec also 1 ;

Graphology. Psychographolo Hermetic Order of the Golden Joan of Arc, 14 Unnaeus Sec Carolus Linnaeus
gists. Psychographology Dawn, 127, 129, 137 lohnson, Lyndon B , 26 Ijthomant^, defined. 36

Graphology and use by corpora- Herodotus, 10 Joseph (biblical figure), as sccr, 10, I jver. 32
tions. 86. 92. forensic. 93. Hexagrams. 121. 122, defined, 116 15 l^iki (Norse god). 108

techniques. 93 97 Sec also Sec also I Ching Joseph II (Holy Roman Fmpcror), 6'* 1 ucerilo (canary). 38 39

Graphologists. Psychographolo Hindlcy. Charles. 16 Sec also lulms Caesar (Shakespeare), 1 10 I ychnomam-y. defined. 35
gists, Psychographology Shlplon. Mother Jung, Carl, 9, 122. as / Ching diviner
Gray. Alonzo. 75 78 Hippocrates and moleostopy, 66, 119, 122, quoted, 9. 122, as M
Greece dice In, 1 10. harusplcy In, and palmistry. 81 . and physiogno Tarot reader, 140, theories of. 9. Millharomancy. defined, 35
34. 35, mythology In. 108, my. 66 122 Mackenzie, Kenneth Spt Odhar.

156
 6

Coinneach ciystallomancer, 49-50; quoted, 114-115; thirteen in, 108; three in, Papus, 127; quoted, 127
Mackenzie, Mrs. (ghost percipient), 49,50 100, 106, 108, 109-1 14; twelve in, Pamell, Charles Stewart, 82
30; quoted, 30 Montaire, Rinoir, 40 108; two in, 100, 108, 109. See Passive hand, 53. See also Palmistry;
McKinnie, Ian, 43 Montezuma, 34 also Numerologists Palmists
Madrid Codex, 12-13 Montgomery, Gabriel de, 18 Path of destiny number, defined, 98.
Major Arcana, 132-133, contents of, Mounts of palm, 56-57, See also See also Numerologists; Numerol-
123; history of, 125; interpretation Palmistry, Palmists "Ode to Spurzheim" (Pierpont), 75 ogy
of, 124, 127, 129, 130. See a/so Myers, Frederic W H,, 50 Odhar, Coinneach: quoted, 31; as Patrick, Saint, 45
Tarot; Tarot readers Myomancy, defined, 35 scryer, 30-32, 45 Peale,Rembrandt, 75
Mala, 114-115 Mythic Tarot, 140-41. See also Oenomancy, defined, 35 Pendulum, 51
Mann, Horace, 75; quoted, 75 Tarot; Tarot readers Omphalomancy, defined, 35 Penetralia, The; Being Harmonial
Margaret (queen of Navarre), 18 Mythology; Greek, 108; Norse, 106, One: in dice, 1 1; in dominoes,
1 12, 1 Answers to Important Questions
Margaritomancy, defined, 35 108 1 13; in numerology, 99, 108, 109 (Davis), 22
Markham, Ursula, 52 Oneiromancy, defined, 35 Pentacles, 130, 144-145. See also
Marriage line, 85. See also Palmis- N Onychomancy, defined, 35 Tarot; Tarot readers
try, Palmists Nabhi. defined, 10 See also Seers Ophiomancy, defined, 35 Periodic table, 115
Mars line, 85, See also Palmistry; Necromancy, defined, 46 Oracle bone divination, 117, 119 Pemety, Antoine Joseph, 72; quoted,
Palmists in, 33
Nepal, haruspicy Oracles: Bin, 1 19; Claros Oracle, 72; treatise by, 73
Mary (queen of England), 20, 46
1 Nephelomancy, defined, 35 11-14; Delphic Oracle, 10-11, 14; "Personal-Year Cycles," defined, 98.
Mata Han, 84 Nero, 40, 109 Floral Oracle, 40. See also Seers; See also Numerologists; Numerol-
Mathers, Moina MacGregor, 137 New Atlantis, The (Bacon), 27 specific types of divination and ogy
Mathers, S L MacGregor, 127, 137 Newell, Tricia, Tarot cards by, oracles Philip 11 (king of Spain), 18
Maya calendars, 12, codex of, 140-141 Organology. See Phrenologists; Philolaus, 107; quoted, 107
12-13, numerology of, 105; seers, Newton, Sir Isaac, 8 Phrenology Phrenological Cabinet, 76, 79
12-13 Nicias, 33 Osiris (Egyptian god), 106 Phrenologists: Charlotte Fowler
Medical and Surgical Journal, 75 Nine: in dice, 1 1 1, in numerology, Outer personality number, defined, Wells, 76, 78; Franz Joseph Gall,
Melville, John (Crystal Gazing and 103, 108, 114-115 98. See also Numerologists; 69-72, 75; George Combe. 72. 75;
Clairvoyance), 50; quoted, 50 Nixon, Richard M,, 23 Numerology Jessie Fowler, 76, Johann Kaspar
Mendeleev, Dmitri, 1 15 Norse mythology, 108; numerology Ovomancy, defined, 35 Spurzheim, 72-75; Lorenzo
Merlin, 38 in, 106 Fowler, 76, 78, 80, 81; Lydia
Merton. Holmes Whittier, 74 Nostredame, Michel de (Centuries): Folger Fowler, 78, 81; Nelson
Merton Institute for Vocational quoted, 17, 18; as scryer, 47; as Palmer, Austin N, 94 Sizer, 79-81; Orson Fowler, 76,
Guidance, 74 seer, 16, 17-20, 19, 28 Palmer Method, 94 78, 80, 81; Samuel Robert Wells,
Mesmensm See Hypnotism Nostradamus. See Nostredame, Palmistry: air hand, 54, 60; Chinese, 76, 78, See also Phrenology
Mesopotamia, numerology in, 105 Michel de 81; dominant hand, 53; earth Phrenology: bust, 77; chart, 76. 79;
Metopomancy, defined, 35 "Nostradamus Predicts the Course hand, 54, 61; fate line, 58-59. 85; defined, 72, See also Phrenologists
Mexico, numerology in, 105 of the War" (Anonymous), 20 fire hand, 54, 63; Greek, 81 ; head Phrenometer, 83
Michon, Jean-Hippolyte, 92 Notes & Queries, 1 line, 58-59, 85; health line, 85; Phyllorhodomancy, defined, 35
Millennium, defined, 14 Numerologists: Boethius, 109; heart line, 5S-59, 85; Indian, 81; Physiognomists: Antoine Joseph
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Pythagoras, 105-109, 115, See a/so intuition line, 85; life line, 58-59, Pemety, 72, Aristotle, 66;
Inventory, 93 Numerology 85; marriage line, 85; Mars line, Hippocrates, 66; Holmes Whittier
Minor Arcana: contents, 123, 130; Numerology: Assyrian, 107, biblical, 85, mounts of palm, 56-57; Merton, 74; Johann Kaspar
interpretation of, 125 See also 106, 107; and Cabala, 105; passive hand, 53; relationship Lavater, 67-69, 72; Liang
Tarot, Tarot readers Chaldean, 107; charactenstics of, lines, 58-59: sun line, 85; Songzeng, 70; Simms, 69. See <j/so
Mithras (Persian god), 107 105; conversion table, 99: techniques, 53-63, S5-86; Venus Physiognomy
Mo (divination system), 1 14 Egyptian, 105, eight in, 103, 108; line, 85; water hand, 54, 62 See Physiognomy: Chinese, 70-71;
Moleoscopists: Hippocrates, 66; five in, 101, 108; four in, 101, 108; also Palmists defined, 66, 70; history of, 66-67;
Richard Saunders, 66, 68 Mayan, 105; Mesopotamian, 105; Palmists: Aristotle, 81; Cheiro, techniques, 74; treatise on, 73.
Moleoscopy, 68: defined, 66, 68 Mexican, 105, nine in, 103, 108, 64-65, 66, 81-85, 84; Galen, 81; See also Physiognomists
Monochord, defined, 105 114-115, one in, 99, 108, 109; gypsies, 87-91; Hippocrates, 81; Pierpont, Rev, John ("Ode to
Monroe, Marilyn, 104 Sanskrit, 107; and science, 1 15; Johann Hortlich, 81; Nathaniel Spurzheim"), 75
Montague, Nell St, John (Revelations seven in, 102, 107, 108; six in, Altman, 60-63; Plato, 8\ See also Pigs, divination with, 42
of a Society Clairvoyante): as 102, 108, techniques, 98-103, Palmistry Plants, divination with, 40

157
Plato. 81 Rudoiril (Holy Roman Emperor), 47 Shakespeare. William Oullus Caesar; 124. 125. 130-/49; Tarot of the

Podomancy, defined. 35 The Tempest). 49 Cat People, 138-139. charactens-

Poe, Edgar Allan. 22. and grapholo- Shamans. 32-J3, quoted, 33 tics of 104-105, Cups, 130, 140-
gy. 86-92, quoted. 92 Sacnfices, by Druids, 38 Sharman-Burke, luliet, Tarot cards 141. Golden Dawn Tarot. 136-137;
Poughkeepsie Seer See Davis. Sand foxes, divination with, 37 by, ;4o-;4; history of 123-129; layouts of
Andrew iackson (The Penetralia. Sansknt, numerology in. 107 Shipton, Mother (seer). 14-16; 123. 146-149. learning to use, 7,

The Pnnaples of Nature) Saunders, Richard, as moleoscopist, quoted. 15-16 110; Major Arcana, 123, 124, 125.
Prayer beads. 1 14-1 IS 66,68 33
Sibylline books, defined. 127. 129. 130. 132 133. Minor Ar-
Predictions See Seers; spedfic types Scapulomancy, defined, 35 Sideromancy, defined. 35 cana. 123. 125. 130; Mythic Tarot.
of predictions Schermann, Raphael, 92 Significator. defined. 123 See also 140-141. Pentacles. 130. 144-I4S;
Pnestley. ) B . 8. quoted. 8 Sciomancy, defined, 35 Tarot; Tarot readers Renaissance Tarot. 132-133. re-

Pnmavera (Botticelli). 106 Scryers: Coinneach Odhar, 30-32, Simms (physiognomist). 69; quoted. search, 129; Rider- Waite Tarot,
Pnnaples of Nature. Her Divine 45, Edward Kelley, 46-47, 49; 69 142-143. 146-149, significator, 123;
RevelatiofK. and a Voice to lohn Dee, 45-49, Michel de Siva (Hindu god). 106 Swords, 130, 142 143. suits of
Mankind. The (Davis). 22 Nostredame, 47, Miss Angus, 50; Six in dice. 1 1 1; in dominoes. 1 12; 138-145. techniques of 122-123;
Processus pyramidalis. defined. 35 Roger Bacon, 45, William Byg, 45 in numerology, 102. 108 Tholh Tarot. 144-145. Wands,
See also Haruspicy See also Crystallomancy, Scrying Sixteen, in dice, 1 1 130. 138-139; Tarot of the Witches.
Prophecies See Seers, specific types Scrying charactenstics of 32, 52; Sixtus V, 1 134- 135 See also Tarot readers
of prophecies defined, 31, 45, techniques, 45, Sizer. Nelson; as phrenologist. Tarot of the Cat People, 138-139
Prophets See Seers, specific types of 50 See also Crystallomancy, 79-81; quoted. 81 See also Tarol, Tarot readers
propheaes Scryers "Sleeping prophet " See Cayce. Tarot of the Witches, 134 135 See
Psychographologists. 92 See also Scaforth, third earl of 31 Edgar also Tarot, Tarot readers
Graphologists. Graphology Seers Alan Vaughan, 25; Amos, 10, Smith. Pamela Colman, Tarot cards Tarot readers Aleister Crowley.
Psychographology. 92 See also Andrew Jackson Davis, 20-22; by, 142- 143. 146- 149 126. 129. Alliette, 125-127; Carl
Graphologists, Graphology Babylonian, 9, Bartolomeo Socrates, 67 Jung, 140, EJiphas Ltvi, 127, 129;
Pulcher, Publius Claudius. 39-40; Brandano, 14, biblical, 10. 14. 15. Solar system, 107 Fredrick Davies, 146-149 See also
quoted. 40 Charles Hindley. 16. Claros Soudinos, 35 Tarot
Pyromancy, defined. 38 Oracle, 11-14, Delphic Oracle, Soul number, defined, 98 Sec also Tasseography, 42-45, defined, 42;
Pythagoras, as numerologist. 10-11, 14; Edgar Cayce. 22-23. 24. Numerologists, Numerology techniques, 43
105- 109. 115 Egyptian. 10. Enmenduranna. 9. Spaceship, 28 Tea-leaf reading Sec Tasseography
Pythia, 10- II, defined. 10, quoted, Ezckiel, 10. Francis Bacon. 27. Splanchomancy, defined, 35 Tempest. The (Shakespeare), 49
II Gaunc. 18. Greek. 10-14. H G Spurzheim, lohann Kaspar, as Ten, in dice, 1 1

Wells. 28. Habakkuk. 10. Herman phrenologist, 72-75 Tetractys, defined, 106-107
Kahn. 28. Israeli. 10. (acques Stoffler, Johannes, 4 Themis (Greek goddess), 10
Raphael, ertgraving of painting by, Cazottc, 6 7, 8. 20, Jcane Dixon. Stoker, Bram fDracu/aA 127 Thirteen in dice, 1 1 1 . in numerolo-
IS 23-25, leremlah, 10, loan of Arc. Stonehenge, 38 gy, 108
Rasputin, Crlgon, 84 14, John William Dunne, 8, 9, //, Stone of Petty, 32 Thistles, divination with, 40
Ravens. 40 loscph, 10, 15. Jules Verne, 27; Stowc, Harriet Beccher (Uncle Tom's Thor (Norse gixl), 125
Regardle. Ivael. TarcH cards by, Konslantin Tsiolkovsky, 28. Lee Cabin). 78 Thoth (Egyptian god), 125
136 137 De Leonardo da Vlncl.
Forest. 27. Sun line, 85 Sec also Palmistry, Thoth Tarot, 144 145 Sec also
Relationship lines. S8 S9 See also 27. Leo Mayan, 12 13
Szllard. 28. Palmists Tarot, Tarot readers
Palmistry. Palmists Michel de Nostredame. 16. 17 20. Swedcnhorg, Emanuel, 22 Three in dice, 110, 1 1 1, in

RenaisvancF Tarot. 132 133 See I'>. 28. Mother Shipton. 14 16. Swifi, Jonathan, 67 domincx-s, 112, 1 13. in numerolo-
also Tarot. Tarol readers Pythia. 1 0-1 1. Roman. 14. Terfren Swords, 130. 142 143 See also gy. 100. 106. 108, 109 114
RevelaUons of a Society CJalrvayantc Laila. 21. In Ur. 9. William Leahy. Tarol, Tarol readers Thumb, 55 Sec also Palmistry,
(Montague). 49 27 Ser also specific types of seers Sycomanry, defined. 35 Palmists
Rider Walte Tarot. 142 H3. Sclcnorrwncy, defined, 35 Synchroniclty. theory of defined. 9. Titian. 67
146 149 Sec abo Tarot Scnallsm, defined, 10 See also 122 Sor d/.v) lung. Carl Torricelll. Evangellsta. 41
Rome alectryorruncy In. 34. augury Dunne, lohn William S/ilard. Leo. 28 Tower of Umdon. 40
In. 33 34. dice In. 1 10. haruspicy Seven In dlcr, In numerology.
1 1 1 . Triincit\' (V l\iitil nhniJ Wilstm. The
in, 34, 35, seers In, 14 102. 107. lOH T (Clemens), h.s

Rorschach InkblnLs, 93, 129 5^vcntecn. In due. 1 1 Talisman. 48 Trances of Andrew Jackson Davis,
Round the Moon (Vcrrtc). 27 Shackleton. Sir Lmcsl. 82 Tarol and Cabala. 127. 137. cards. 22, of Edgar Cayce, 22

166
 7 1

Transataumancy, defined, 35 Uromancy, defined, 35 Wands, 130, 138-139. See also quoted, 80
Trigrams, 118, 120-121. See also I Tarot; Tarot readers Wilde, Oscar, 82
Ching V Wang, Robert, Tarot cards by, Wilhelm, Richard (/ Ching transla-
Trinity, Christian, 106 Van Buren, Martin, 75 136-137 tor), 119, 121, 122
Triskaidekaphobia, defined, 108 Vaughan, Alan, 25; quoted, 25 Wang Pi, 117 Williams, Brian, Tarot cards by,
See also Numerologists; Numerol- Vecelli, Tiziano. See Titian Warner, William. See Hamon, Count 132-133
ogy Venetsianov, Alexie, painting by, Louis Warner de
le Wolsey, Thomas, 14
Trumps Major See Major Arcana 128 Water hand, 54, 62. See also Woolley, Sir Richard van der Riet,
Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin, 28 Venus line, 85. See also Palmistry, Palmistry; Palmists 27; quoted, 27
Twain, Mark See Clemens, Samuel Palmists Weather, prediction of 4 World Set Free, The (Wells), 28
(The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Verne, Jules (From the Earth to the Webster, Daniel, 75
Wilson) Moon; Round the Moon), 27-28; Weiss, Gloria, 96-97
Twelve: in dice, 11 1 ; in numerolo- quoted, 28 Wells, Charlotte Fowler: as Xylomancy, defined, 35
gy, 108 Vestricius, Spurinna, 35 phrenologist, 76, 78; quoted, 78
Two: in dice, 1 1 1; in dominoes, 1 12, Visconti-Sforzas, Tarot of 125 Wells, H. G. (The World Set Free), 28
1 numerology, 100, 108, 109
13; in Vishnu (Hindu god), 106 Wells, and prediction of earth- Yeats, William Butler, 127
Tyromancy, defined, 35 quakes, 43 Yin-Yang, 1 19, 120-121. See also I

W Wells, Samuel Roberts, as phrenolo- Ching

u Waite, Arthur Edward, 127-129; gist, 76, 78
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Stowe), 78 quoted, 127; Tarot cards by, 129, Wen Weng, 1 1

Ur, seers in, 9 142-143, 146-149 Whitman, Walt (Leaves of Crass), 80; Zoomancy, defined, 35

159
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