The Sunday globe., 1901-05-12
FORTUNE TELLERS.
The Fakes of ClairvOyantS. NecrO-
mancerS and PalmiStS.
GOOD AND BAD LUCK.
How The GuIlIbIe In all Ages Have Been Duped
by the Willy Jugglers from the Scientist
OF Abstract Light 10 The
Common Gypsy.

Balzac says that superstition is a
hope; that no man who Is superstitious
is ever thoroughly miserable. Whether
this is true or false certain it is that
superst ton constitutes a large part Of
the being Of many individuals, aud that
through it they are at times happy and
again unhappy. "A person undoubtedly
may be unhappy and anxious, scrupu-
lOus to an extreme degree, and yet not
be thoroughly miserable, Superstition
is very peculiar factor in the makeup
Of human being, and sharp, unprinci-
pied individuals have used it as a most
excellent means for furthering their own
designs and for robbing their gullible
fellow-men for centuries. Every year
there are new sharperswho play on the
scruples of people and plenty of victims.
Away back in what is called the dim
past, when the world was young and
ignorance rife, mysticism flourshed.
Every tribe had its augurs, seers and
OWNERS, whose words were taken with
all the faith that Christian people now
repose in the teachings OF God These
sorcerels, with keen insight into the
passions, superstitions and imaginings
OF their fellows, worked them to their
own advantage, spread over their skill
the veil ofmystery, and by their incan-
tations pretended to dirclose futunty
and reveal to the astonished gaze of the
multitude the events that were to come.
Their arts have been handed down from
the remOtest antiquity Founded on
mysterious principles and fortified by
the pretence of science, arbitrary rules
of guida ce were laid down for their
scholars and obeyed by these blinded
votaries without question. In the East,
both as learned doctllnes and popular
faith, augury hourished until Christian
ity opened mems eyes to its falseness
In classical antiquity it was practiced
extensively, AMI to greater or less eX-
tent by the Ignorant and designing all
through the middle ages. BY the Greeks
it was distinguished as natural or artif-
cial, the former being presage Of future
events by an inspiration possible only
to persons favored by the Deity, the
latter founded on observation of certain
natural phenomena believed to be mys-
teriOus.
The principle forms of artificial au-
gury known to the ancieuts, many of
which are practiced at the present day,
were; AlectrOmancy, the outward
signs of which were a circle divided
into twenty-four parts, each lettered,
grains of wheat and cock. The cock
was placed in the center of the circle to
pick grains, and according to this
picking the diviner foretod the future.
ArithmOmancy depended on the secret
operations of numbers and magical
squares. The foretelling of events by
aximomancy depended ON the swing
ing of an axe suspended from an up
right stick. BelOmancy foretOld future
events by means of arrows inscribed
with some legend, which were drawn
QUITO a bag. In capmomancy the future
was unveiled by studying the move
ment Of smoke and its direction. Dac-
tylomancy made use Of rings in har-
mOny with celestial bodies. Gyromancy
used peculiar circles for obtaining won
derful information. In hydromancy
the depth, color and disturbances Of
water were made to impart desired in