who become students of divination by tea-leaves, or cards, may safely be
promised a taste of this pleasing sensation of achievement. It is
limited to the few to discover the marvels of radium, or the discomforts
of the South Pole, but a fragment of their glory is shared by those who
find new evidence of the far-reaching knowledge of symbolism.




CHAPTER V

SOME HINTS FOR DIVINERS

REMARKABLE INSTANCES OF PROPHECY BY THE TEA-LEAVES

"For a man's mind is sometimes wont to tell him more
than seven watchmen that sit above in a high tower."


To those of an inquiring or doubting turn of mind, there may arise the
very natural question as to _why_ one shaped tea-leaf should mean
"a hat" and another "a table." It is useless to point out that these
objects are perfectly represented by the leaves. That is of no practical
satisfaction. The simple fact that each language has its alphabet, its
spelling, and its words, which must be learned before there can be any
reasonable understanding of it, seems the best and obvious reply.

Symbolism is a wide subject with many branches. Who can expect to master
even its alphabet in a moment? To those who cannot accept the symbols in
the tea-leaves on the authority of past experience, reaching over