The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-11-14
THE DAILY CAIRO BULLETIN: SUNDAY

DerS OF VIC IlBll'I DiNHotoj uli WIZ
wealthy do not disIaln to make use Of
the diviner, and he IL equal to tho
task. For u tempo, or even man, he
will tell tho poor maiden whether her
lover is faithful, or the coollc whether
his pilgrimage will prosper; while
for his noble patrons he can perform
an elaborate ceremony, in some cases
possessing even religious sanctions Of
The most solemn kind, for which he Is
quite ready TO accept a hundred, five
hundred, or cvch thousand yen. On
this subject, passage almost as ap-
plicable TO Japan as TO China may be
quoted here from DR.. DHnIy's little
work on "Folk-Iore OF China"
"Diyination is in China as popular
as,and probably more respectable than,
il was among the Israeiites in the days
of the witch Of Endor, and it is not
perhaps going too far to say that there
is not single means resorted TO in tho
West, by way Of lifting the impcnc-
trable veil which hides the future from
the curious of mankind, which is not
known toand practscd by the Chinese.
From "Plnking the Bible" to using
the planchCttc, from tossing for odd or
even TO invoking spirits or to actually
speak through crafty medll,t whole
range Of western superstition IN this
regard Is as familiar TO the average
Chinaman as to the most enthusiastic
spiritualists at home, The coincidence
Of practice and belief are indeed 50
startling that many will doubtless see
in them o sort Of evidence either for
their truthfulness or for q cOmmOD
orisin of evil"
1t is not intended at present 10 de-
scribe more than one mode which is
universal among tho lower classes. and
which can he seen at work every day
in the temples OF the more corrupt or
poorer seCts of Buddhists in Toxic and
elsewhere. Tho materials are very
simple. A small rectangular OF OBJ
long box is filed with slips Of bam-
boo, each about six inches in length,
and having n number written Oh the
end. These can be shaken out, one by
one, through hole in the end of the
box ana, according to the number on
the first stick, the diviner selects from
q drawer in cabinet close at hand;
printed slip Of paper containing the
lnquirer's late. The boxes vary nc
cording TO age or seXi but the number
OF boxes in possession Of one temple
rarely exceeds sixteen, eight for the
various ages and two for the sexes,
with corresponding drawers in the
cabinet. The stock III trade being so
small, and the diyining priest genor-
ally holding some other occupation
about the temple, he can afford to sell
his wares cneaply. Yet Oh festival
days he Aust receive large sum. AT
the temple between Kawaski and the
sea, the writer has stem as many as
200 persons draw the diVining sticks
-.UttkUjt 100 ktkN as it is called-in
an hour, and all Of them seemed to
treat the ceremony with the utmost
seriousness and solemnity, generally
stepping out before drawing the stick,
ana elevatiDg their hands in prayer to
the idol.
This form of divination seems to be
connected with Buddhism, as we find
it also used in joss-houses III China
The box and sticks are rarely found
among the possessions Of an timer
ant fortune teller, and even then he is
regarded Us all impostor, OF priest
W DO has been discharged for his mis-
conduct from his temple.