Consult the Oracle

by Gabriel Nostradamus

  SPELLS FOR LOVERS

  To Know One’s Future Partner in Life

  THE EVEN ASH LEAF CHARM

  The following four lines are to be repeated by girls anxious to know their future. They must gather an even ash leaf, and holding it in the hand walk along the road saying –

  “This even ash I carry in hand

  The first I meet shall be my husband!

  If he be single let him draw nigh,

  But if he be married then he may pass by.”

  To ensure success the leaf is sometimes thrown at the passer-by.

  YOU MAY MAKE USE OF A PIECE OF CLOVER

  Another charm to be used by young men and maidens who wish to know who their future wives or husbands are to be is the following. The “Clover of two” means a piece of clover with only two leaves upon it.

  “A Clover, a Clover of two,

  Put it in your right shoe;

  The first young man [woman] you meet,

  In field, street or lane,

  You’ll have him [her] or one of his

  [her] name.”

  THE NEW MOON KNOWS IT

  On the first appearance of the new moon let a girl go out and pluck a handful of grass, repeating –

  “New moon, new moon, tell me if you can,

  If I have here a hair like the hair of my guidman.”

  On returning indoors let the grass be carefully examined; if a hair is found amongst it, which is often the case, the colour of that hair indicates that of the future husband’s.

  THE SNAIL KNOWS IT

  If a girl will take a snail and place it on a slate it will describe by its turning the initials of her future husband’s name.

  THE COLOUR OF HIS HAIR

  When a country girl first sees the new moon in the new year she should take her stocking off one foot and run to the nearest stile. When she gets there she will find a hair between the great toe and the next, and it will be the colour of her lover’s.

  BY THE AID OF THE MOON

  When a country girl first sees the new moon after Midsummer (June 24th) she should go to a stile, turn her back to it, and say –

  “All hail, new moon, all hail to thee!

  I prithee, good moon, reveal to me

  This night who shall my true love be;

  Who he is and what he wears,

  And what he does all months and years.”

  She will then see the apparition of her lover.

  BY APPLESEEDS

  On the eve of St. Thomas’s Day (the 20th of December) cut an apple in two and count the seeds in each half. If the number is even you will be married soon. If a seed be cut in two the course of true love will not run smoothly. If two be so cut it is a sign of approaching widowhood.

  SEEN IN THE LOOKING-GLASS

  If a girl wants to discover what sort of a husband will eventually lead her to the altar let her sit late on the eve of Christmas (the 24th of December) between two large mirrors. She must place a candle on either side and then watch till she can see twelve reflected candles. If the fates are propitious she ought also to discern the husband she desires portrayed in the glass before her.

  VISITED IN DREAMS

  A SIMPLE SPELL

  If a girl would dream of her sweetheart let her write his name, as well as her own, on a piece of paper at twelve o’clock at night. Let her burn the paper, but carefully gather up the ashes, and lay them, closely wrapped in paper, on a piece of looking-glass, marked with the sign of the cross. This must be put under her pillow, when she is sure to dream of the object of her affections.

  YARROW WILL CAUSE HIM TO COME

  Pluck yarrow from a young man’s grave, saying as you do so –

  “Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found.

  And in the name of Jesus I pluck it from the ground,

  As Joseph loved sweet Mary, and took her for his dear,

  So in a dream this night, I hope my true love will appear.”

  Sleep with the yarrow under the pillow.

  DREAM ON WEDDING-CAKE

  To eat a piece of wedding-cake is a sure way of enabling one to see in a dream his or her future partner for life.

  ON THE EVE OF ST. AGNES (JANUARY 20TH)

  A girl should take her right leg stocking and knit her left garter round it, saying –

  “I knit this knot, this knot I knit,

  To know the thing I know not yet,

  That I may see

  The man that shall my husband be,

  Not in his best or worst array,

  But what he weareth every day;

  That I to-morrow may him ken

  From among all other men.”

  On going to bed she must lie on her back, with her hands under her head, and her future spouse will appear in a dream and salute her with a kiss.

  A BAY LEAF CHARM

  On Valentine’s Eve (February 13th) take five bay-leaves and pin four of them to the four corners of your pillow and the fifth to the middle. If after doing that you dream of your sweetheart the chances are in favour of your being married before the year is out.

  DUMB CAKE

  On St. Faith’s Eve (October 5th) let three girls who wish to know their fortune in marriage make a cake of flour, spring water, and sugar, each giving an equal hand in the composition. It must be baked in the oven, the strictest silence being observed all the time, lest the spell should be broken, and the cake must be turned thrice by each person. When it is well baked it is to be divided into three equal portions, and each girl must cut her share into nine pieces and draw each piece through a wedding-ring which has been borrowed from a woman who has been married seven years.

  Each girl must then eat her pieces of cake, while she is undressing, and repeat the following lines –

  “O, good St. Faith, be kind to-night,

  And bring to me my heart’s delight;

  Let me my future husband view,

  And be my vision chaste and true.”

  All three must then get into one bed, with the ring suspended by a string to the head of the bed, and during the night they are certain to dream of their future husbands.

  SEEN IN A DREAM

  On the eve of St. Luke’s Day (the 17th of October) take marigold flowers, a sprig of marjoram, thyme, and a little wormwood; dry them before the fire, rub them to powder, then sift through a fine piece of lawn and simmer over a slow fire, adding a small quantity of honey and vinegar. Anoint yourself with this when you go to bed, saying the following lines three times, and you will dream of your partner that is to be –

  “Saint Luke, Saint Luke, be kind to me,

  In dreams let me my true love see.”

  She must then turn round three times and cast it over her left shoulder. If on falling the paring forms a letter, that is the answer of the oracle; if it breaks, the inquirer may expect to die an old maid.

  FAITHFUL OR FAITHLESS?

  ASK AN APPLE PIP

  To ascertain whether her professing lovers really care for her or not let a girl take an apple pip and, naming one of her followers, put it into the fire. If the pip makes a noise in bursting from the heat, it is a proof of love; but if it is consumed without a crack she may be satisfied that there is no real regard felt towards her by the person named. As many pips should be experimented on as there are lovers.

  NAMING NUTS?

  If a young woman would know if her lover is faithful she must on All Hallows’ Eve put nuts upon the bars of the grate, naming one nut after her lover and one after herself. If the nut representing the lover cracks or jumps the lover will prove unfaithful; if it begins to blaze or burn he has a regard for the person making the trial. If the nuts named after the girl and her lover burn both together they will be married.

  VIRTUE IN A CANDLE AND A PIN

  Girls who want to know the state of their sweethearts’ affections may practise a curious piece of divination with a candle and a pin. She who makes the trial must take a pin and cautiously stick it through the substan
ce of the candle, making sure at the same time that it pierces the wick. Whilst doing so she must repeat the following rhyme –

  “It’s not this candle alone I stick,

  But A.B.’s heart I mean to prick;

  Whether he be asleep or awake

  I’ll have him come to me and speak.”

  She must then watch the candle as it burns away, and if the pin remains in the wick after the flame has made its way below the place in which it was inserted, she may go to rest with an easy mind, for the loved one will be sure to visit her in dreams. If the pin drops out, however, it is a sign that he is faithless, and not worth thinking about any more.

  Important Questions

  IS THERE TO BE A WEDDING?

  If two forks or knives or spoons are laid down together while setting a table, there is going to be a wedding.

  SAVED FROM DYING OLD MAIDS

  If in a family the youngest daughter marries before her elder sisters, they should all dance at her wedding without shoes; this will counteract their ill-luck and procure them husbands.

  HOPE FOR THE UNMARRIED

  If, at a dinner, a person yet unmarried be placed inadvertently between a married couple, be sure he or she will get a partner within the year.

  WHAT THE WEDDING-CAKE DISCLOSES

  In the wedding-cake there should be baked a wedding-ring and a sixpence. When at the wedding breakfast the cake is distributed, she who gets the ring in her portion will shortly be married, and she who gets the sixpence must look upon it as consolation for having to die an old maid. Should they fall to a man’s share the ring, of course says, “You will be a married man,” but the sixpence, “You will pass your days as a bachelor.”

  FOR FLIRTS ONLY!

  Should a girl find any little stems of tea-leaves in her tea let her swallow them if she wishes to capture a new beau.

  IS HE IN GOOD HUMOUR OR BAD?

  To test a lover’s humour, let a girl lightly stir the fire with the poker. If the fire blazes brightly the lover is good-humoured; if not, he is cross as two sticks.

  MAKING SURE OF HIS RETURN

  When a lover is going away on a journey, if his best girl will only put common clover into his shoe unknown to him he is sure to return to her.

  UNFORTUNATE OMENS

  Should you stumble when going up stairs, if you are unmarried you will have no chance of wedding till next year. Should your chair tumble backwards you will certainly not be married during the currency of the present year.

  SPELLS FOR MONEY-MAKING

  THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS

  If you eat goose on Michaelmas Day you will never want money all the year round.

  BY THE AID OF THE MOON

  Here is another secret worth knowing. On the first day of the first new moon of the new year, or so soon afterwards as you observe it, all you have to do is this: on the first glance you take at “pale Luna’s silvery crest” in the western sky, put your hand in your pocket, shut your eyes, and turn the smallest piece of silver money you possess upside down in your said pocket. This will ensure you (if you will but trust its infallibility) throughout the whole year that summum bonum of earthly wishes, a pocket never empty.

  If, however, you neglect on the first appearance of the moon your case is a bad one. Nevertheless and notwithstanding at a future new moon you may pursue the same course, and it will be sure to hold good during the then current month, but not a whit longer.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  FORTUNES TOLD BY CARDS

  FOR the reading of the future there are few methods more popular than the study of the apparently accidental combinations of a pack of cards. By these oracles, many nowadays, as in byegone times, learn their fate and guide their conduct.

  The general mode of manipulating the cards, when fortune telling, is very simple. The person who is desirous to know the future, after shuffling the cards ad libitum, cuts the pack into three parts.

  The seer, then taking up these parts, lays the cards out, one by one, face upwards, upon the table, sometimes in a circular form, but oftener in rows consisting of nine cards in each row. Nine is the mystical number. Every nine consecutive cards form a separate combination complete in itself; yet, like a word in a sentence, no more than a fractional part of the grand scroll of fate. Again, every card, something like the octaves in music, is en rapport with the ninth card from it; and these ninth cards form other complete combinations of nines, yet parts of the general whole. The nine of hearts is termed the ‘wish-card.’

  After the general fortune has been told, a separate and different manipulation is performed, to learn if the pryer into futurity will obtain a particular wish; and, from the position of the wish-card in the pack, the required answer may be deduced.

  Here are the interpretations given to the various cards –

  DIAMONDS

  KING A man of very fair complexion; quick to anger, but soon appeased.

  QUEEN A very fair woman, fond of gaiety, and a coquette.

  KNAVE A selfish and deceitful relative; fair and false.

  TEN Money. Success in honourable business.

  NINE A roving disposition, combined with honourable and successful adventure in foreign lands.

  EIGHT A happy, prudent marriage, though rather late in life.

  SEVEN Satire. Scandal. Unpleasant business matters.

  SIX Marriage early in life, succeeded by widowhood.

  FIVE Unexpected news, generally of a good kind.

  FOUR An unfaithful friend. A secret betrayed.

  TREY Domestic troubles, quarrels and unhappiness.

  DEUCE A clandestine engagement. A card of caution.

  ACE A wedding ring. An offer of marriage.

  HEARTS

  KING A fair, but not very fair, complexioned man; good-natured, but rather obstinate, and, when angered, not easily appeased.

  QUEEN A woman of the same complexion as the king; faithful, prudent, and affectionate.

  KNAVE An unselfish relative. A sincere friend.

  TEN Health and happiness, with many children.

  NINE Wealth. High position in society. The wish-card.

  EIGHT Fine clothes. Pleasure. Mixing in good society. Going to balls, theatres, &c.

  SEVEN Many good friends.

  SIX Honourable courtship.

  FIVE A present.

  FOUR Domestic troubles caused by jealousy.

  TREY Poverty, shame, and sorrow, caused by imprudence. A card of caution.

  DEUCE Success in life, position in society, and a happy marriage, attained by virtuous discretion.

  ACE The house of the person consulting the decrees of fate.

  SPADES

  KING A man of very dark complexion, ambitious and unscrupulous.

  QUEEN A very dark-complexioned woman, of malicious disposition. A widow.

  KNAVE A lawyer. A person to be shunned.

  TEN Disgrace; crime; imprisonment. Death on the scaffold. A card of caution.

  NINE Grief; ruin; sickness; death.

  EIGHT Great danger from imprudence. A card of caution.

  SEVEN Unexpected poverty caused by the death of a relative. A lean sorrow.

  SIX A child. To the unmarried a card of caution.

  FIVE Great danger from giving way to bad temper. A card of caution.

  FOUR Sickness.

  TREY A journey by land. Tears.

  DEUCE A removal.

  ACE Death; malice; a duel; a general misfortune.

  CLUBS

  KING A dark-complexioned man, though not so dark as the king of spades; upright, true, and affectionate.

  QUEEN A woman of the same character, agreeable, genteel, and witty.

  KNAVE A sincere, but rather hasty-tempered friend.

  TEN Unexpected wealth, through the death of a relative. A fat sorrow.

  NINE Danger caused by drunkenness. A card of caution.

  EIGHT Danger from covetousness. A card of caution.

  SEVEN A prison. Danger arising from the opposi
te sex. A card of caution.

  SIX Competence by hard-working industry.

  FIVE A happy, though not wealthy marriage.

  FOUR Danger of misfortune caused by inconstancy, or capricious temper. A card of caution.

  TREY Quarrels. Or in reference to time may signify three years, three months, three weeks, or three days. It also denotes that a person will be married more than once.

  DEUCE Vexation, disappointment.

  ACE A letter.

  THE MYSTERIES OF SPIRITUALISM

  THE mysterious phenomena classed under the name of modern spiritualism have attracted the attention of many distinguished observers, and should be approached by every one with an open mind. There is no doubt that few subjects are more capable of being turned to account by rogues, charlatans, and double-cunning persons, but the fact of anything being abused does not prove it valueless: on the contrary, it suggests that at the bottom of it there is something of real worth and importance. Truth in the long run will prevail about spiritualism as about everything else.