the oracle at all seriously he should during the whole
of these proceedings concentrate his mind upon his future Destiny, and
'will' that the symbols forming under the guidance of his hand and
arm (which in their turn are, of course, directed by his brain) shall
correctly represent what is destined to happen to him in the future.

If, however, he or she is not in such deadly earnest, but merely
indulging in a harmless pastime, such an effort of concentration need
not be made. The 'willing' is, of course, akin to 'wishing' when cutting
the cards in another time-honoured form of fortune-telling.

The cup to be read should be held in the hand and turned about in order
to read the symbols without disturbing them, which will not happen
if the moisture has been properly drained away. The handle of the cup
represents the consultant and is akin to the 'house' in divination by
the cards. By this fixed point judgment is made as to events approaching
the 'house' of the consultant, journeys away from home, messages or
visitors to be expected, relative distance, and so forth. The advantage
of employing a cup instead of a saucer is here apparent.

'The bottom of the cup represents the remoter future foretold; the side
events not so far distant; and matters symbolised near the rim those
that may be expected to occur quickly. The nearer the symbols approach
the handle in all three cases the nearer to fulfilment will be the
events prognosticated.

If this simple ritual has been correctly carried out the tea-leaves,
whether many or few, will be found distributed about the bottom and
sides of the cup. The fortune may be equally well told whether there are
many leaves or few; but of course there must be some, and therefore the
tea should not have been made in a pot provided with one of the patent
arrangements that stop the leaves from issuing from the spout when the
beverage is poured into the cups. There is nothing to beat one of the
plain old-fashioned earthenware teapots, whether for the purpose of
preparing a palatable beverage or for that of providing the means of
telling a fortune.

CHAPTER III

GENERAL PRINCIPLES TO BE OBSERVED IN READING THE CUP

The interior of the tea-cup when it is ready to be consulted will
exhibit the leaves scattered apparently in a fortuitous and accidental
manner, but really in accordance with the muscular action of the left
arm as controlled by the mind at whose bidding it has worked. These
s