WRITING IN THE TEA-LEAVES
SOME FREQUENT SYMBOLS
Another source through
which messages are received by the tea-leaves will be found in the
writing which will be seen from time to time. Moreover, it has the
great advantage of being clear and easy to decipher, so that there
may be no doubt of what is intended to be understood by it. The
tea-leaves can never be accused of being illegible. Occasionally
it is very minute writing, and would probably be passed over by
those who read their cups in a superficial manner. To those who
study them carefully the future is revealed.
No one would reasonably
expect to find a speech from the Prime Minister or an invitation
to a tea-party written for them in the tea-leaves. But words they
certainly will find.
A short time ago I saw
in my cup, in perfect copperplate writing, the word "wait."
I was annoyed by it, for what is more annoying than having to wait?
Sometimes it may happen that the tea-leaves—as with their
relatives, the tumbler and automatic writing—become a little
shaky in their spelling. But this is not a serious defect, and the
trifling errors do not prevent the word from being translatable.
It is a recognised fact that writing seen through a medium, whether
it be tea-leaves, or a dream, is of importance, and should always
be regarded with attention and with an endeavour to understand its
message.
I should like to point
out that certain figures and symbols are of so frequent occurrence
that it may be well to emphasise their general significance by referring
to them here, in addition to their meaning being given in the dictionary.
Among those which threaten
misfortune, or sorrow, are the following: Crosses, snakes, spades,
pistols, guns, toads, cats.
Joy and success are
indicated by such symbols as a crescent moon, clover leaves, flowers,
trees, anchors, fruit, circles, stars.
Having learned the symbols
and the combined symbols by heart, it will require only a little
practice to interpret their meanings without hesitation. For those
who find difficulty in committing the dictionary to memory, an essential
for proficient reading of the cup, I would suggest that they write
down any meaning which may seem specially hard to remember, roughly
drawing its symbol beside it. In this way the difficulty will soon
be overcome.