FORETELLING THE FUTURE

From the beginning of civilisation, and in all the corners of the world, people have wanted to know their future. Literally hundreds of methods have been used to determine this, including the oracles of the Greeks and the telling of auguries by means of birds among the Romans. Others include divination by means of numbers (numerology), the stars (astrology), the movement of winds (aeromancy), dreams, drug-induced visions, and communication with the dead (necromancy).

People continue to use some of these methods even in this skeptical and scientific era. The occult 'sciences' have many adherents who are very serious about their study. To this day, palm reading, Tarot cards and Ouija boards are popular parlor pastimes, even if seldom taken seriously.

The Gypsy Manja in Countess Maritza uses Palmistry, or chiromancy. This has been traced back to ancient India and before, and studies the hand, including its shape and texture, as well as the shapes of the fingers and nails. The right and left hand are different. It is generally claimed that the left hand shows what we are born with, while the right hand shows what we can make of ourselves. The lines are of the most interest; practitioners of the art study not only their length but their condition. Are they broken or do they have branches and other features? While there are a number of lines, four are of the most interest. The life line shows the length of life, the time of death and also periods of illness. The degree of proximity to the head line indicates intelligence. The head line shows the potential for success and happiness; It can also show insanity. The heart line tells of health and love. People with long heart lines have a passionate nature, while short ones indicate a cold personality. Finally, the fate line relates to worldly success or failure. if it runs up to the base of the third finger, and if the individual is a leader, his subjects will turn and attack him! Serious practitioners of palmistry believe its predictions can allow people to avoid disaster, but they rarely ever do.

The uniqueness of each human hand and led to the modern science of fingerprinting. England's Scotland Yard was the first to use it to identify criminals.

Gypsies also tell fortunes with Tarot cards. In the main deck there are twenty-two cards, twenty-one of which are numbered. These trace the history of the Gypsy wanderings. The thirteenth is the death card, but the worst of all is the sixteenth which shows The House of God struck by lightning and falling into ruins. The twentieth shows the Last Judgement. The unnumbered Fool is a pilgrim and a clown who symbolizes the madness and blind folly of mankind. (He remains in today's standard deck of cards as the Joker.) There is a secondary deck resembling a modern bridge or poker deck but with fifty-six cards. (There are four face cards in each suit instead of three.) Tarots were used during the French Revolution by a Mademoiselle Le Normand who accurately foretold the deaths of such noted personages as Robespierre, Marat, and Danton. Her readings so disturbed Napoleón that he had her imprisoned.

Most crystal gazing involves the use of a crystal ball, but mirrors can also be used. There is a branch called hydromancy which uses water either in a lake or pond or in a dish. The seer induces a hypnotic state which enables one to see visions in the crystal. According to practitioners, the crystals concentrate celestial or terrestrial magnetism which, they claim, the operator's body also has in concentrated form. This magnetism streams from the human eyes when the gaze is concentrated on the crystal. The iron in the blood works like a lodestone. People with dark hair, skin and eyes are the most magnetic because iron oxide is black. Eating herbs high in iron during the increase of the moon can aid crystal gazers. Although illustrations usually show a fairly large ball, one with a diameter of about one and one-half inches is recommended. It should be enclosed in a frame of ivory or ebony and stand on a glass or crystal pedestal. There are certain words which should be engraved on the frame. The ball should be frequently magnetized by passing the right hand over it, and certain prayers should be said during the session. The images observed can represent something unconsciously observed, ideas acquired from others, or indications of the future.

The are many articles on the Internet which dealt with palmistry and Tarot but they should be used with caution. Two good sources are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmistry and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot. These include bibliographies to other reliable sites.

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Revised October 2005
Please credit Lyric Opera San Diego when using this material.