tion within its
own proper limits, is that of reading fortunes in tea-cups. Although it
cannot be of the greatest antiquity, seeing that tea was not introduced
into Britain until the middle of the seventeenth century, and for many
years thereafter was too rare and costly to be used by the great bulk
of the population, the practice of reading the tea-leaves doubtless
descends from the somewhat similar form of divination known to the
Greeks as "_{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK
SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER
FINAL SIGMA~}_" by which fortune in love was discovered by the
particular splash made by wine thrown out of a cup into a metal basin. A
few spae-wives still practise this method by throwing out the tea-leaves
into the saucer, but the reading of the symbols as they are originally
formed in the cup is undoubtedly the better method.

Any person after a study of this book and by carefully following the
principles here laid down may with practice quickly learn to read the
horary fortunes that the tea-leaves foretell. It should be distinctly
understood, however, that tea-cup fortunes are only horary, or dealing
with the events of the hour or the succeeding twenty-four hours at
furthest. The immediately forthcoming events are those which cast their
shadows, so to speak, within the circle of the cup. In this way the
tea-leaves may be consulted once a day, and many of the minor happenings
of life foreseen with considerable accuracy, according to the skill
in discerning the symbols and the intuition required to interpret
them which may be possessed by the seer. Adepts like the Highland
peasant-women can and do foretell events that subsequently occur,
and that with remarkable accuracy. Practice and the acquirement of a
knowledge of the signification of the various symbols is all that is
necessary in order to become proficient and to tell one's fortune and
that of one's friends with skill and judgment.

There is, of course, a scientific reason for all forms of divination
practised without hope or promise of reward. Each person carries in
himself his own Destiny. Events do not happen to people by chance, but
are invariably the result of some past cause. For instance, in the
last years a man becomes a soldier who had never intended to pursue a
military career. This does not happen to him by chance, but beca