A question that will very naturally
occur to persons of an enquiring turn of
mind in regard to the figures and symbols
seen in the tea-cup is: Why should one
symbol necessarily signify one thing and not
something quite different?
The answer, of course, is that the meanings
given to the symbols are purely arbitrary,
and that there is no scientific reason why
one should signify one thing and not
another. There is no real reason why the ace
of clubs, for instance, should not be
considered the 'House Card' instead of the
nine of hearts, or why the double four in
dominoes should signify an invitation
instead of a wedding, like the double three.
It is obviously necessary, however, in
attempting to read the future by means of
any kind of symbols, whether pips, dots,
numbers or anything else, to fix beforehand
upon some definite meaning to be attributed
to each separate symbol and to hold fast to
this meaning in all events. In the case of
tea-leaves, where the symbols are not mere
'conventional signs' or numbers but actual
figures like the pictures seen in the fire
or those envisaged in dreams, there is no
doubt that the signification of most of them
is the result of empyrical experience.
Generations of spae-wives have found that
the recurrence of a certain figure in the
cup has corresponded with the occurrence of
a certain event in the future lives of the
various persons who have consulted them: and
this empyrical knowledge has been handed
down from seer to seer until a sufficient
deposit of tradition has been formed from
which it has been found possible to compile
a detailed list of the most important
symbols and to attach to each a traditional
meaning. These significations have been
collected by the writer—in a desultory
manner—over a long period of years chiefly
from spae-wives in both Highland and Lowland
Scotland, but also in Cornwall, on Dartmoor,
in Middle England, in Gloucestershire and
Northumberland. Occasionally it has been
found that a different meaning is attributed
to a symbol by one seer from that given it
by another. In such cases an alternative
signification might, of course, have been
given here, but as the essence of all such
significations is that they shall be stable
and unvarying, the writer has fixed upon
whichever meaning has been most widely
attributed to the symbol or appears to have
the best authority for its adoption, so that
the element of doubt may be excluded.
Although included in their alphabetical
order in the list which follows, there are
certain figures and symbols which are of so
common occurrence and bear such definite
interpretation that it is advisable to refer
to them here in detail. Certain symbols are
invariably signs of approaching
good-fortune: certain others of threatened
ill-luck. Among the former may be mentioned
triangles, stars, trefoil or clover-leaves,
anchors, trees, garlands and flowers,
bridges or arches, and crowns. Among the
latter, coffins, clouds, crosses, serpents,
rats and mice and some wild beasts,
hour-glasses, umbrellas, church-steeples,
swords and guns, ravens, owls, and monkeys
are all ominous symbols.
Symbols and Significations
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
Reading Tea Leaves |
