Providence rough-hew them or not. Now this being so, it follows that
he carries his destiny with him, and the more powerful his mind and
intellect the more clearly is this seen to be the case. Therefore it is
possible for a person's mind, formed as the result of past events over
which he had no control, to foresee by an effort what will occur in the
future as the result of acts deliberately done. Since it is given to but
few, and that not often of intention, to see actually what is about to
happen in a vision or by means of what is called the 'second sight,'
some machinery must be provided in the form of symbols from which an
interpretation of the future can be made. It matters little what the
method or nature of the symbols chosen is--dice or dominoes, cards or
tea-leaves. What matters is that the person shaking the dice, shuffling
the dominoes, cutting the cards or turning the tea-cup, is by these very
acts transferring from his mind where they lie hidden even from himself
the shadows of coming events which by his own actions in the past he
has already predetermined shall occur in the future. It only remains
for someone to read and interpret these symbols correctly in order to
ascertain something of what is likely to happen; and it is here that
singleness of purpose and freedom from ulterior motives are necessary in
order to avoid error and to form a true and clear judgment.

This is the serious and scientific explanation of the little-understood
and less-comprehended action of various forms of divination having for
their object the throwing of a little light upon the occult. Of all
these forms perhaps divination by tea-leaves is the simplest, truest,
and most easily learned. Even if the student is disinclined to
attach much importance to what he sees in the cup, the reading of the
tea-leaves forms a sufficiently innocent and amusing recreation for the
breakfast- or tea-table; and the man who finds a lucky sign such as
an anchor or a tree in his cup, or the maiden who discovers a pair