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surface of the whole cup; then reverse it into the saucer, that all the superfluous parts may be drained, and the figures required for fortune-telling be formed. The person that acts the fortune-teller must always bend his thoughts upon him or her that wish to have their fortune told, and upon their rank and profession, in order to give plausibility to their predictions. It is not to be expected upon taking up the cup, that the figures will be accurately represented; but the more fertile the fancy shall be of the person inspecting the cup, the more he will discover in it. In this amusement, each must himself be a judge under what circumstances he is to make changes in point of time, speaking just as it suits, in the present, the past, or the future.
The Roads, or serpentine lines, indicate ways; if they are covered with clouds, and in the thick, they are marks of past or future reverses; but if they appear clcar or serene, they denote some fortunate change near at hand; encompassed with many points or dots, they signify an aeeidental gain of money, likewise long life.
The Ring signifies marriage; if a letter near it, it denotes to the person that has his fortune told, the initial of the name of the person to be married. If the ring is in the clear, it portends happy and lucrative friendship. Surrounded with clouds, denotes that the party is to use precantion in the friendship he is about to contract, lest he should be insidiously deceived; but is most inauspicious if the ring appear at the bottom of the cup, as it forebodes the entire separation from a beloved object.
A Leaf of Clover is, as well here as in common life, a lucky sign—its positions in the cup alone make the difference; if it is on the top, it shows that good fortune is not far distant; but it is subject to delay if it is in the middlc, or at the bottom. Should clouds surround it, many things disagreeable will attend the good fortune; in the clear, it prognosticates undisturhed happiness.
The Anchor, the emblem of hope and commerce implies successful busincss carried on by water and land, if on the bottom of the cup; at the top, and in a clear part, it shows constant love and unshaken fidelity. In thick and clouded parts it also denotes love, but tinctured with the inconstancy of the butterfly.
The Serpent, always the emblem of falsehood and enmity, is herc a general sign of an enemy. On the top, or in the middle of the cup, it promises to the consulting party the triumph which he desires over his enemy: but he will not obtain it so easily if the serpent be in the thiek or eloudy
