Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1888-10-04

ton street, near tho corner OF Com
mon, Is a modest sign bearing the In.
scription "Card and Cup Reading" +"
says tho Boston Herald. One is 10th
TO believe that In this age OF enlight-
eminent fortune-telling is carried on TO
amy extent--that there are any per-
sons living who
"Cin look into the seeds Of time
And say which grain will grow and which
will not"
Yet there are plenty OF fortune-tellers
in our midst who practice their calling
by the aid OF cards, the sediment Of
tea OF coffee in cup, by astrology, by
clairvoyance or what not, and who find
plenty OF dupes anxious TO WOO the
''fclSlc fortune" who, II they do not find
fortunes themselves, contribute largely
iothe fortunes OF those charlatans. II is
the curse Of man that he never is con-
tented with his lot. 1t is TO be doubted
~ a Vanderbilt, an Astor or jay
Gould Is for one consecutive sixty min
rtes perfectly content with that sta
lion Of life into which it has pleased
tiod TO call him." as the church cate
chism hath it.
'MGn never is, hut always 70 be. biest."
The present is always good enough,
and bad enough, for that matter, and
why any one is desirOus Of lifting the
vail Of fut Tity TO ascertain what Il
'nay have In store is something beyond
the writer's comprehension. Dickens,
'n his "Barnaby Rudge," causes Sir
John Chester TO say: IAN men are
fortune hunters, are they notP The
law, the church, the court. the camp
zee how they are all crowded with fort
une hunters, iostling each other in the
pursuit The stock exchange, the pull
pit, the counting-house, the royal draw
ing-room, the Senate-what but fort
'ine hunters are they filled with?" Il
is even so; but it is YET TO be learned
that the position of fortune hunter
has been bettered by the aid OF necro-
NANCY, no matter what shape that
necromancy may take As Master
Ford says: I'VE are simply men; we
do not know what's brought to pass
'nder the profession Of fortune telling.
She works by charms, by the figure,
and such daubery as this is beyond our
elements. We know nothing" Fort
une telling has been practiced from the
earliest ages, and there have been
Hupes and gulls for all time. The fort
uno tellor can well say with honest
1ago:
- Thus do I ever make my fool my prrse.-
Tho majority OF those who consult
the oracle OF the cards are females. and
Of these shop girls, or to speak II more
politely. salosladies, make up the
greater part. They have a peculiar
Tenehant for prying into their future
rud are especially interested in tle
question OF their loves. and whether Or
10 their lovers are faithful, and n they
viii make good marriage. The ma
.ority OF them believe in the cards
with an implicit faith. and. for the mat
Ter OF that, 80 do those that humbug
them.
Almost commencing with the intro
duction OF card playing, cartomancy.
as it is called, ar the art of aivination
by means OF playing cards, had an
cxiste 20. The earliest work known
10 exist on the subject was written
by Francesca Marcolini. and printed in
Venice in 1910. In William Rowland's
judicial Ast-ology Condemned.
which was published in London in
1852, Is related a singular story, which
runs rs follows; "CuiTe, an excellent
Grecian and secretary TO the Earl OF
Essex was told twenty years before
his death that he should come 10 an
end, at which CufTe laughed.
and In scornful manner entreated the
foolhsayer 20 show him In what man |
ner he should come TO his end. who |
to him, and, calling for 1
cards, entreated Cuffe TO draw out Of |
ne pack any three which pleased him.
ho aid so, and drew three knaves, and
lad them on the table by the wizards
direction, who told him II he desired 10 |
rec the sum OF his bad fortune, 10 take 4
up those cards CufIe, as he was pre-
ieribed, took up the first card, and
looking on II he saw the portraiture OF
himself cap-a-pie. having men encom-
l'assing him with bills and halberds.
Then hc took up the second and saw
sho judge that sat upon him; and tax
Ing up the last card he raw Tyburn,
The place Of his execution and hang.
man, ut which he laughed heartily.
lint many years later being condemned,
he remembered and declared this pre-
uiction.' II must be confessed that
tAis was pitch Of refnement-this
the pictorial character of
The three knayes-to which the art OF
Tho fortune-teller by cards does not OK
tend at the present DAY.
The method OF having ones fortune
fold by the cards is simplicity itself
The individual who is desirous OF
drawing aside tho curtain covering the
picture Of futurliy. aftor shutting the
cards 10 his or her content, cuts the
cards into three parts, equal or not, as
suits tho fancy. Tho fortune.toller
lh2n takes up the cards. and lays them
out upon table face up. sometimes in
u circle, but generally IN rows Of nine
yards each. Nine is mystical num-
ber and has domination over all
phurmsi
Tor &c 70 thine and thrice TO mine.
Aud thrice again. 10 make up nine
fcacai Tho charms worn up"
Every nine consecutive cards forms
! pow and different combination, ana
very card Is in sympathy with tho
ilnih card from It. After the general
oginnc y completed. a separate
manipulation q tho casds is wpde, 10