<h2 class="nobreak chap0"><SPAN name="XV" id="XV">XV</SPAN><br/> <span class="subhead">FORTUNE-TELLING, ASTROLOGY, AND PALMISTRY</span></h2>
<div class="center-container b1"><div class="poem">
<span class="iq">“I asked her of the way, which she informed me;<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Then craved my charity, and bade me hasten<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To save a sister.”—<i>Otway.</i><br/></span></div>
</div>
<p class="drop-cap3"><span class="smcap1">One</span> noticeable thing about certain forms
of superstition is their general acceptance
by the public at large, like certain moral
evils, which it is felt to be an almost hopeless
task to do away with. Other good, easy souls
choose to ignore the presence of fortune-tellers,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</SPAN></span>
astrologers, palmists among their daily haunts.
As a matter of fact, however, fortune-telling,
astrology, and palmistry have become so fully
incorporated with the everyday life of all large
communities as to excite very little comment
from the common run of us.</p>
<p>It certainly would astonish some people if
they knew to what an extent these methods of
hoodwinking the credulous, or weak-minded,
continue to flourish in our large cities, without
the least attempt at concealment or disguise.
One need only look about him to see the signs
of these shrewd charlatans everywhere staring
him in the face, or run his eye over the columns
of the daily papers to be convinced how far
superstition still lives and thrives in the chosen
strongholds of modern thought and modern
scepticism. At fairs and social gatherings fortune-telling
and palmistry have come to be
recognized features, either as a means of raising
funds for some highly deserving object, of
course, or for the sake of the amusement they
afford, at the expense of those well-meaning<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</SPAN></span>
souls who do not know how to say no. To be
sure, it has come to be thoroughly understood
that no benevolent object whatsoever has a
chance of succeeding nowadays without some
sort of nickel-in-the-slot attachment, by which
the delusion of getting something for your
money is so clumsily kept up.</p>
<p>At fairs, for instance, it is not necessary that
the oracle of fortune should speak. Time is
saved and modern progress illustrated and
enforced by having printed cards ready at hand
to be impartially distributed to all applicants on
the principle of first come, first served. As the
victim receives his card, he laughs nervously,
fidgets around a few minutes, goes aside into
some quiet corner and furtively reads, “Fortune
will be more favorable to you in future
than it has been.”</p>
<p>Unwittingly, perhaps, yet none the less, has
he paid his tribute to superstition, thus thriftily
turned to account.</p>
<p>The penny-in-the-slot machines, so often seen
in public places, tell fortunes with mechanical<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</SPAN></span>
precision, and in the main, impartially, evident
care being taken not to render the oracle unpopular
by giving out disagreeable or alarming
predictions. True, they are just a trifle ambiguous,
but does not that feature exactly correspond
with the traditional idea of the ancient
oracle, which was nothing if not ambiguous?
Here is a sample, “You will not become very
rich, but be assured you will never want for
anything.”</p>
<p>Fortune-telling also is openly carried on at
all popular summer resorts, with considerable
profit to the dealer in prophecies, who is generally
an Indian woman. She is much consulted
by young women, “just for the fun of
the thing.” Roving bands of gypsies continue
to do a more or less thriving business in the
country towns. Character is unfolded or the
future foretold by the color of the eyes,
the length or breadth of the finger nails or of
the eyebrows.</p>
<p>Telling fortunes by means of tea grounds is
often practised at social gatherings.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="center-container"><div class="poem">
<span class="iq">“For still, by some invisible tether<br/></span>
<span class="i0">Scandal and tea are linked together.”<br/></span></div>
</div>
<p class="in0">It is done in this way: When drinking off
the tea, the grounds are made to adhere to
the sides of the tea-cup, by swiftly twirling it
round and round. The cup is then inverted,
turned thrice and no more, after which the
spell is completed, and the mistress of the
revels proceeds to tell the fortunes of those
present, with neatness and despatch.</p>
<p>Time has worked certain marked changes
in the method of practising this equivocal
trade. The modern fortune-teller no longer
inhabits a grewsome cavern, reached by a
winding path among overhanging rocks, and
choked with dank weeds, or goes about muttering
to herself in an unknown tongue, or is
clothed in rags. Far from it. She either
occupies luxurious apartments in the best business
section, or in a genteel up-town hotel,
or dwells in a fashionable quarter of the town,
and dresses <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">à la mode</i>. Nor are her clients by
any means exclusively drawn from among the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</SPAN></span>
lowly and ignorant, as might be supposed, but
more often come from the middle class of
society; and, though consultations are had in
a private manner, those who ply this trade do
so without fear or disguise.</p>
<p>Of the thousand and one matters submitted
to the dictum of fortune-tellers, those relating
to love affairs or money matters are by much
the most numerous. On this head just a few
selections, taken at hazard from the advertising
columns of a morning newspaper, perhaps will
afford the best idea of the nature of the questions
most commonly addressed to these disposers
and dispensers of fate. One reads,
“Mrs Blank: consult her on all business,
domestic or love affairs. Unites separated
parties.” A shrewd offer that! The next,
who styles himself “Doctor” is an astrologer.
He invites you to send him your sex, with
date and hour of birth; or a full description.
All matters, he naïvely declares, are alike to
him. For the trifling matter of one dollar he
promises “a full reading”—presumably of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</SPAN></span>
your horoscope. The next, a trance and
business medium, professes to be able to tell
the “name of future husband or wife, and all
affairs of life.” Still another, after setting
forth her own abilities in glowing colors, warns
a trusting public, after the manner of all
quacks, to beware of imitators.</p>
<p>As an indication to what extent these forms
of superstition flourish, it would be vastly interesting
to know just how many persons there
are in the United States, for instance, who get
their living by such means. Enough, perhaps,
has been said to open the eyes of even the most
sceptical on this point. We may add that the
modern applicant for foreknowledge is not satisfied
with the obscure generalizations of the
ancient oracles. He or she demands a full and
explicit answer, and will be satisfied with nothing
less.</p>
<p>Moll Pitcher, of Lynn, who practised her art
in the early part of the century, was the most
famous, as she was by far the most successful,
fortune-teller of her day. In fact, her reputation<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</SPAN></span>
was world-wide, it having been carried to
every port and clime by the masters and sailors,
who never failed to consult her about the luck
of the voyage. Her supposed knowledge of
the future was also much drawn upon by the
highly respectable owners themselves, who, however,
possibly through deference to some secret
qualms, generally made their visits at night,
sometimes in <span class="locked">disguise.<SPAN name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">27</SPAN></span> Indeed, stories little
short of marvellous are told of this cunning
woman’s skill at divination, or luck at guessing,
according as one may choose to look at the
matter. Besides being the subject of the poet
Whittier’s least-known verses, a long forgotten
play was written with Moll Pitcher as its
heroine, after the manner of Meg Merrilies, in
Sir Walter Scott’s “Guy Mannering.”</p>
<p>From the earliest to the latest times, the astrologers
have always claimed for their methods
of divination the consideration due to established
principles or incontrovertible facts. The<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</SPAN></span>
court astrologer was once quite as much consulted
as the court physician. Though fallen
from this high estate, and even placed under
the ban of the law as a vagabond and charlatan,
the astrologer still continues to ply his trade
among us with more or less success; and, unless
we greatly err, the craft even has an organ,
called not too appropriately, “The Sphinx,” as
the Sphinx has never been known to speak,
even in riddles.</p>
<p>Palmistry is the name now given to fortune-telling
by means of the hand alone. Formerly
there was no such distinction. After looking
her client over, the fortune-teller of other days
always based her predictions upon a careful
scrutiny of the hand. Some careless hit-or-miss
reference to the past, at first, such as “you
have seen trouble,” usually preceded the unravelling
of the future. The disciples of palmistry
now claim for it something like what was
earlier claimed for phrenology and physiognomy.
Every one knows that palmistry openly
thrives in all large communities as a means of<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</SPAN></span>
livelihood. How many practise it in private,
no one can pretend to say, but the number is
certainly very large. It is a further fact that
some surprising guesses at character now and
then occur, but we must hold to the opinion
that they are still only guesses, nothing more.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<h2 class="p1"><SPAN name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</SPAN></h2>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</SPAN> “L’Inconnu et les Problems Psychiques.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</SPAN> Wallington, “Historical Notices, Reign of Charles I.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</SPAN> Chap. 15, 32 v.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor">4</SPAN> Candlemas Day (2 February) is observed as a festival day
by the Roman Catholics, and still holds a place in the calendar
of the Episcopal Church. It is kept in memory of the purification
of the Virgin, who presented the infant Jesus in the
Temple. A number of candles were lighted, it is said in
memory of Simeon’s song (Luke ii, 32), “A light to lighten the
Gentiles.” Hence the name of Candlemas. Edward VI. forbade
the practice of lighting the churches in 1548.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor">5</SPAN> See the ominous import of this farther on.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor">6</SPAN> The white and purple spiræa.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor">7</SPAN> For the ill omens of nosebleed, see Chapter ix.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="fnanchor">8</SPAN> It was commonly believed that the haddock bore the mark
of St. Peter’s thumb, ever since that saint took the tribute
penny out of a fish of that species.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="fnanchor">9</SPAN> It is deemed lucky to be born with a caul or membrane
over the face. In France <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">être né coiffée</i> signifies that a person
is extremely fortunate. It is believed to be an infallible protection
against drowning, and under that idea is frequently advertised
for sale in the newspapers and purchased by seamen. If
bought by lawyers they become as eloquent as Demosthenes or
Cicero, and thereby get a great deal of practice.—<span class="smcap">Fielding.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="fnanchor">10</SPAN> Edward Winslow makes use of this word in speaking of
an Indian who had been taken prisoner at Plymouth, and confined
in the fort newly built there. “So he was locked in a
chain to a staple in the court of guard and there kept. Thus
was our fort handselled, this being the first day, as I take it, that
ever any watch was there kept.”—Winslow’s “Relation.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="fnanchor">11</SPAN> Mr. Coxe.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="fnanchor">12</SPAN> More concerning throwing the shoe will be found under
“Marriage.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="fnanchor">13</SPAN> Note the poetical reference in another chapter.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="fnanchor">14</SPAN> <cite>Boston Transcript</cite>, February 13, 1899.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="fnanchor">15</SPAN> In “Farmer and Moore’s Collections,” i., 136.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="fnanchor">16</SPAN> Another way, laid down by some authorities, was that any
unmarried woman fasting on Midsummer Eve, and at midnight
laying a clean cloth with bread, cheese, and ale, and sitting
down as if going to eat—the street door being left open—the
person whom she is afterwards to marry will come into the
room and drink to her by bowing, afterwards fill the glass,
make another bow, and retire.—<i>Fielding.</i></p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="fnanchor">17</SPAN> A reference to this is found in Cooper’s “Spy.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="fnanchor">18</SPAN> Quetelet, on the calculation of probabilities.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="fnanchor">19</SPAN> May Martin was made to touch the face of her dead child
(murdered by her to prevent a discovery), the fresh blood came
forth, “whereupon she confessed.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="fnanchor">20</SPAN> For more about these places see “New England Legends.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="fnanchor">21</SPAN> Partly taken from Felt’s “Annals of Ipswich,” partly from
the relations of others.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="fnanchor">22</SPAN> The rule, as laid down by Cotton Mather in “More Wonders”
was this: “When there has been a murder committed,
an apparition of the slain party accusing of any man, altho’ such
apparitions have oftner spoke true than false, is not enough to
convict the man of that murder; but yet it is a sufficient occasion
for Magistrates to make a particular inquiry,” etc.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="fnanchor">23</SPAN> “Forty-one Years in India.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="fnanchor">24</SPAN> An apple bough also is made use of in some cases.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="fnanchor">25</SPAN> According to the prophecy in Joel ii, 10, and Matthew
xxiv, 29, then “shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="fnanchor">26</SPAN> In “Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote">
<p><SPAN name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="fnanchor">27</SPAN> For more about her, see “New England Legends and Folk-Lore.”</p>
</div>
</div>
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