The Washington times., 1902-10-12
Chinese Wizards Who Practice AstroIogy in
Far-OH San Francisco Divining Sticks
Which Presage the Fate of the Curious.
Bad Spirits Known. as Fiends, Dragons,
ard Evil Genii Who Exercise a MaIevo-
lent Influence Over the Lives of Men.
A Celestial Seer.

twin of the doctor In 1.-THE First Born.
for space of perhaps two feet and
sends queer shadows over the remain
ing portion of the room. You are al
ready fascinated by the mystery of i'll
and look about at the assortment of
mixed pictures. Suddenly you are re-
called to earth by the flowery speech
of the revealer, asking whether you
him to read your palm, let the stars
determine your fate, or just choose your
own fortune by selecting sticks. There
is one popularity in all the various
methods of Chinese fortune telling
you must ask plainly just what you want
to know. You announce the subject and
the prophet will do the rest. i fancy
it depends a great deal upon the color
of your eyes and hair and the tilt of
your nose whether the answer to your
question be propitious or no. One old
fellow in a communicative mood told me
that he would not tell any red-haired
persons fortune Titan locks and bur-
nished copper do not appeal to the ar
tistic soul of the Chinese. Priests, min
listers, doctors, and undertakers are
also tabooed. If by any chance their
identity and profession are disclosed
Their money, according to the Chinese
y,-fl h.
Gong, however. is trifle more Ameri-
canized than any of the others, so he
does not draw the line quite SO Sc
verely, but he, too, has his supersti-
tions.
Tourists generally take so cents
or dollars worth of past or future, but
those who know are more apt to dicker
for quarters worth. for fortune in Chi
natown is sold singly or in quantities.
like fish or vegetables. Ten cents
question, three for a quarter, seven for
a half, and it is vastly more fun than
buying 1t in wholesale quantities. The
stick process of divination goes some
thing like this: The customer is re-
of sticks. These sticks are about
foot in length, pointed at the
end and painted red at the tips. The
symbols and Chinese characters upon
these determine your fate. There are.
in all twenty-six Of these sticks, each
one representing block upon the shell
of a terrapin, certain species of
which, from the Chinese point of view.
is symbolic of all that = good. Some of
the spots painted upon the sticks are
associated with words strongly express
i've of evil. as 'fend," dragon" sor
"evil genii.''
Spirits of Dead Friends.
Others are spirits of dead friends.
God, heaven, earth. water. fire." etc
After choosing the required number of
sticks they are deftly gathered up by
the taper fingers of the diviner. who
has in the meantime placed a slip of
red paper before him and has prepared
the brush and pot CT blacking or Chi
nese ink. Then, as he looks over the
symbols and sorts the sticks. he muir
murs a sort Of prayer as he writes in
Chinese on the red slip. The prayer, as
near as it can be translated into Eng
lish, goes like this: May the great fe
licitous star answer to its change with
out resting. May 1t dispel diabolical in
fuences and bind monsters. preserve life
and protect the person. In wisdom. in
teiligence, splendor and purity. may