WRITING IN THE TEA-LEAVES
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.