Part 17
Finally, a fourth sign of approaching visitors is the crying of the magpie. Magpies, as is well known, are the most inquisitive creatures upon the face of the earth. They fly from place to place, and listen to everything. When they find out that any persons have concluded to pay you a visit, they fly to you at full speed, and bring you the news, for they are as chattering as they are inquisitive. They perch themselves upon your house, or upon a tree which may stand near it, or on the grass, and there sit and chatter until they think you must have understood them. Therefore, always give heed to these wise birds, for it is well to know when you are to expect visitors.
THE NEW MOON.
On first seeing the new moon, if you happen to look at it over your right shoulder, you may make a silent wish, and you will realize it. If a girl thus observes the new moon, and desires to see her future husband, she must repeat to herself (so as not to be heard by any one) the following lines:
New moon, new—pray let me see Who my husband is to be: The color of his hair, The clothes he is to wear, And the happy day that he’ll wed me!
If she is to be married that year, she will positively see the man of her choice before the wane of the full moon.
THE KEY AND BOOK CHARM.
To find out the two first letters of a future wife’s or husband’s name, take a small Bible and the key of your front street-door, and having opened to Solomon’s Songs, chap. viii., ver. 6 and 7, place the wards of the key on those two verses, and let the bow of the key be about an inch out of the top of the Bible; then shut the book, and tie it round with your garter, so as the key will not move, and the person who wishes to know his or her future husband or wife’s signature, must suspend the Bible, by putting the fore-finger of the right hand under the bow of the key, and the other person in like manner on the other side of the bow of the key, who must repeat the following verses, after the other person’s saying the alphabet, one letter to each time repeating them.
[Illustration: the key and book charm.]
It must be observed, that you mention to the person who repeats the verses, before you begin, which you intend to try first, whether surname or Christian name, and take care to hold the Bible steady; and when you arrive at the appointed letter, the book will turn round under your finger, and that you will find to be the first letter of your intended’s name.
Solomon’s Songs, chap. viii., ver. 6 and 7.
"Set me a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.”
CARD CHARM.
Draw all the face cards from the pack and put them into your stocking on a Friday night, placing the stocking under your pillow. You must find out by the Almanac the precise time the sun rises on Saturday morning, and at that moment draw a card. A king denotes a speedy marriage; a queen means delay or celibacy; a Jack is a gay seducer who will give you trouble. Diamonds are riches, hearts true love, spades thrift, and clubs poverty.
THE SPIDER OMEN.
It is considered an ill omen when one sees a spider _in the morning_. The earlier in the morning, and the larger the spider, the greater the evil which threatens you. It is _within doors_, however, and chiefly _in one’s own chamber_, that the spider has this signification—out of doors they forebode no harm. The _wood spider_ especially, is not much to be dreaded; what I have said above refers particularly to the _house spider_. Never, on any account, kill a wood spider. By such an act you would only draw upon yourself the hatred of the whole race of witches, and sooner or later you would suffer from it.
When found _in the evening_, a spider signifies good luck. The smaller the spider, the greater the good fortune. I will here teach you the following rhyme:
“Matin, chagrin, Soir, espoir.”
Little spiders have much less evil in them than the others, and those called daddy-long-legs are always messengers of good luck.
THE STRING TOKEN.
If your shoe-tie or apron string breaks, your sweetheart is thinking of you.
SIGN WHEN YOUR RIGHT EAR TINGLES.
If your _right ear_ tingles, some one is speaking _well_ of you, if the _left ear_ tingles, some one is speaking _ill_ of you. To find out who this some one is, you must call out aloud the names of your acquaintance, one after another. The name at which the tingling ceases is the name of the person.
SIGN WHEN TOUR NOSE ITCHES.
If your nose itches early in the morning, you will on that very day hear a piece of news.
STRANGE BED.
Lay under your pillow a prayer-book, opened at the matrimonial service, bound round with the garters you wore that day, and a sprig of myrtle on the page that says “_With this ring I thee wed_,” and your dream will be ominous, and you will have your fortune as well told as if you had paid a dollar to an astrologer.
THE SIGN OF A SNEEZE.
If any one tells you anything, and you are shortly after obliged to sneeze, you may be sure that what was told you is true.
THE DEATH-TICK.
If you hear a wood-tick or death-watch ticking anywhere in the house, you must try to get rid of it as soon as possible, or you will speedily hear of a death which will greatly afflict you.
THE CRICKET.
If there is a cricket in the house, be careful on no account to disturb it. Think of Dickens’ _Cricket on the Hearth_.
AN OMEN OF RICHES.
When an _ant-heap_ gathers in your house, it signifies _coming wealth_—you may, however, destroy the nest.
THE FROG PROGNOSTIC.
If the first _frog_ that you see in the spring of the year is sitting upon _dry ground_, it signifies that, during the same year, you will shed as many tears as the frog would require to swim away in.
THE CANDLE TOKEN.
When a large red token forms in the flame of a candle-wick, it signifies that the one who first sees it will soon receive a letter.
THE STAR AUGURY.
When you are out of doors on a starlit evening, and shooting stars appear, turn your face upward to the stars, and utter in a whisper the wish nearest your heart. If a star shoots while you do this, you may be sure that the wish will be fulfilled.
HOW TO BE SURE OF A PARTNER AT A DANCE.
When you wish to be sure of many partners at a dance or ball, let a little brother or sister, or any other person _hold a thumb for you_—that is, keep her hand closed like a fist for a quarter of an hour, holding her _thumb_ between the _fore_ and _middle finger_, while she thinks of you, and wishes you good luck. This proceeding has a wonderful effect.
THE BRIDE’S OMEN.
If you would have fair weather on your wedding day, you must always faithfully feed the cats. It is true it is a common error when persons think that it forebodes evil when it rains upon the bride _in her bridal dress_. This is no evil omen, but the contrary. But, above all things, let her be careful not to allow her _shoes to get wet_. If my young readers would take the trouble to read Frederika Bremer’s work called “The House,” they would find in it a confirmation of this warning.
TO KNOW IF A WOMAN WITH CHILD WILL HAVE A GIRL OR BOY.
Write the proper names of the father and the mother, and of the month she conceived with child, and likewise adding all the numbers of those letters together, divide them by seven; and then, if the remainder be even, it will be a girl, if uneven, it will be a boy.
THE CROW SIGN.
If you wish to know how matters will go with you during the year, you must take good heed of the first _crow_ that you see in the spring. If, when you first see it, it is _flying_, it signifies that you will take a journey that will be longer or shorter, according to the distance which the bird flies before it alights. It may also signify a complete _change of abode_, perhaps by a wedding. If you first see the bird _sitting_, you will remain at home; if _cawing_, much that you do not think of will happen to you; if upon _one leg_, fortune will not smile upon you.
THE RABBIT AUGURY.
If, when in the open field, or upon the highroad, a _rabbit runs across your path_, it signifies that something _unpleasant_ will happen to you.
THE SHEEP AND SWINE TOKEN.
If you are going to pay a visit, and you meet with _sheep_, you will be very _welcome_; but if you meet with _swine_, you will be _unwelcome_.
A CHARM AGAINST NIGHTMARE.
If you wish to be secure against the nightmare in your sleep, place your shoes side by side upon the floor, at the foot of the bed, so that the toes will point _not_ toward the bed, but in the contrary direction, as if they were _going from it_.
WHAT A SPIDER WEB FORETELLS.
If you are walking with a young man at a time when the so-called gossamer, those snow-white spider’s threads, are floating about in the air, and one of these delicate fibrous veils sweeps by, _and forms a band between you and him_, it is a sign that feelings of a tender nature will some day bind you to each other.
HOW TO GET A SWEETHEART.
If a thick, long spider’s web hangs anywhere from the ceiling, you must sweep it down as soon as possible, for it signifies a _suitor_, and the one that gets the web will have him.
WHAT A PRICK IN THE FINGER SIGNIFIES.
If you are sewing upon a new dress, apron, &c., &c., and you prick your finger with the needle so as to bring blood, it is a sign that when you first wear the garment you will receive many kisses.
EASTER WATER.
In speaking of a love potion, I made mention of _Easter water_; many of my readers have, I suppose, never heard of this singular kind of water. I will explain it to you. It is water which is drawn from the river upon Easter morning, before the sun has shone upon it. To obtain it, therefore, you must rise on Easter morning while it is still quite dark, take your way to the river in silence, fill your pitcher in silence, and then make your way home in silence, without looking behind you. You may then go to bed again and have your sleep out. This Easter water has this peculiarity: _it will keep sweet throughout the whole year_. You can, therefore, fill as many bottles with it as you please, cork them tightly, and lay them away. Besides its use in the above-named love potion, it is beneficial in various maladies, especially in diseases of the eye, and, in addition to this, it is an approved cosmetic.
THE RYE CHARM.
If you would have bread and cake in plenty during the whole year, hang a full sheaf of rye and a full sheaf of wheat upon a pole outside the door, on Christmas morning, so that the birds may come and feed from it.
NUMEROUS METHODS OF TELLING FORTUNES ON NEW YEAR’S EYE.
The evening which of all others is the most adapted for witchery, is New Year’s eve. It is a very ill practice to spend this evening _at a ball_, and it is an acknowledged fact that ill luck, more or less, follows a person throughout the year, who has _danced the old year out and the new year in_.
You should spend New Year’s eve with a small circle of near and dear friends, around a punch-bowl, while you seek to inquire what the future has in store for you. In the first place this may be done with _melted lead or wax_. Some of you, perhaps, are acquainted with this method of inquiring of the future, yet there may be many among your number who are still ignorant of it. Now, as it is of the highest interest in the world that these should know the process, I will here give, for their benefit, a short explanation of it, which the others may skip over.
THE LEAD AND WAX SPELL.
Take a good-sized piece of lead or wax, (the former is better,) place it in a melting-ladle, and dissolve it over the coals, or over a spirit-lamp, into which you have poured a little alcohol. You must then take a vessel full of water, (a bowl is best, that is not too deep nor too shallow,) and pour into it the lead or wax, and from the various figures which it forms in the water you endeavor to tell your fortune.
THE SAUCER CHARM.
The following is another method: you take four saucers; in one you put a _ring_, in another a _sprig of myrtle_, in the third a _piece of money_, and in the fourth _nothing_. The individuals composing the company must now walk around the table, blindfold, one after the other, and choose one of the saucers, which, in the mean time, have been changed as to place. Those among the company who choose the ring, will be _betrothed_ in the course of the year; _myrtle_ signifies wedlock, the _piece of money wealth_, the _empty saucer_ no change of circumstances.
HOW TO TELL THE FIRST LETTER OF YOUR FUTURE WIFE OR HUSBAND’S NAME.
If you wish to know the letter with which your future wife or husband’s name commences, write all the letters of the alphabet, separately, upon small pieces of paper, put these pieces in a box, and draw one out blindfold.
All this may be done before twelve o’clock. Exactly at the stroke of midnight, however, you can summon up your future husband or wife, and behold his or her image _up the chimney_.
THE CANDLE SPELL.
The following is another method: Take _two candles_, go a little before twelve o’clock into an adjoining chamber—no one on any account must follow you—place yourself before the _mirror_, and exactly as it strikes _twelve_, call out your own name in full, _three times_. When the last sound has died away, you will see in the glass your future husband looking over your shoulder.
The company may not remain together after twelve o’clock. When the old year is out and the new year in, you must embrace, and kiss each other, and then go home. You must not yet go to bed, however, but must first devote an hour to solitude, to reflect upon all which the past year has brought with it, and to commit to writing the chief occurrences, as well as the state of your minds. It would be well to keep a book for this purpose, in which you should read and write only on a new-year’s eve, and at other times keep carefully stored away. I have always done this, and I can assure you, that it is with a feeling of sad, sweet interest, that I now read, each new-year’s eve, of the eighty-nine years of my life.
THE NUTSHELL WITCHERY.
Among the witcheries which you may perform on a new-year’s eve, there is one to which I have not alluded. Each person of the company, to wit, takes a _nutshell_, and, after lighting a _wax taper_, places it in the shell. A basin of water is then brought. You now place the nutshells, with the burning tapers in them, in the basin. Some will incline toward each other as they float along, others will repel each other, until, at last, all are extinguished or sunk. What conclusions in reference to the future, are to be drawn from the various movements of these tiny magic skiffs, your own quick wits will tell you.
THE BRIDGE OMEN.
After you have gone home, and have devoted an hour to the solitary task which I counselled you (see CANDLE SPELL), take a _glass of water_, cut a small _chip of wood_, and lay it crosswise upon the glass, so that it stretches like a bridge, from one end to the opposite one. Then place this glass under your bed. The consequence will be that you will dream during the night that you are walking over a bridge, and that you fall into the water. A gentleman, however, appears and rescues you. This same gentleman, whom you will see very distinctly, be careful to remember, for he is your future husband. A gentleman can make the same experiment, and he will dream the same thing, with the difference only, that it is a lady who rescues him, and she is to be his future wife.
THE HAIR SPELL.
If you wish any person to think of you, pluck a hair from your head, and blow it out into the air toward that quarter of the heavens in which the person lives, while, at the same time, you call out the name of this person _three times_, at the top of your voice. During this you must be entirely alone, and must have thought intently upon the person for, at least, a quarter of an hour beforehand. At the same instant he will experience a strange unearthly shudder or thrill, and his thoughts will turn irresistibly toward you.
SIGN WHEN YOU WET YOUR APRON.
When you are washing, if you are apt _to wet your apron_ a great deal, it is a sign that your future husband will be a tippler. Take good heed therefore!
THE NAIL TOKEN.
If a person has nails that are all bitten to pieces, and gnawed close to the quick, it signifies an evil, malicious character, and you have every reason in the world to be on your guard in your intercourse with such a person.
HOW TO DETERMINE THE LUCKY AND THE UNLUCKY DAYS OF ANY MONTH IN THE YEAR.
Ascertain from the Almanac the day on which a full moon occurs, and count the number of days from that to the end of the month: you then multiply the number of days in the month by the number ascertained as above, and the total will give you the lucky days (subject to a further test hereafter explained), which must be reckoned this wise: if the total happens to be, say 516, the lucky days of that month would be the 5th and 16th, and if it should be 561, the days are the same, for you must always transpose the figures, when they will work together. Suppose that instead of 516, the total should be 399; as neither of these figures can be paired, the lucky days from that total are the 3d and 9th, and the 9th would be considered doubly lucky, if no tests worked to the contrary.
The unlucky days are determined in precisely the same manner, by multiplying the number of days in the month by the number which had passed previous to a full moon.
After working out your list of lucky days, in the manner above described, you must then test them, in order to be sure that there are no opposing influences. You can do this by calculating the unlucky days. Should you find that any day of the month which was designated as lucky came also in the list of unlucky days, the latter preponderates, and you must strike it from the lucky list.
This plan of demonstrating lucky and unlucky days is very ancient, and has been tested to such an extent that it is considered accurate by most astrologers. In old times, before the mass of the people understood much about figures, the professional fortune-tellers demanded a large fee for casting the lucky days of any month, which they accomplished in the manner above described.
Lucky marriage days for girls were cast in the same manner, except that the age of the girl was used as the multiplicator, or multiplier, instead of the number of days in the month. The result was determined similarly, and also by a test of the unlucky days. Thus, if a girl is 18 years old, and thinks of marrying in October, she takes up an Almanac and ascertains the day of the full moon in that month. It occurs on the 24th, and there are 31 days in the month: this leaves 7 for the multiplier. She multiplies this by her age, 18, and the result is 106, which shows the lucky days in that month for her to marry are the 10th and 6th, unless they are destroyed by the test, which is determined as follows: There are 23 days before the 24th, and she must multiply 23 by 18, which gives 414, and shows that the 4th and 14th are the only unlucky days for her to marry; and as they do not conflict with the lucky days, the 6th and 10th may be considered as genuine lucky days for that month, reckoning the moon to have fulled on the 24th. In determining her age, she should reckon any period over half a year a full year.
THE DIVINING ROD:
OR, HOW TO TELL WHERE TO DIG FOR WATER AND ALL KINDS OF METALS.
So early as Agricola, a celebrated conjuror who lived in ancient times, the divining rod was in much request, and has obtained great credit for its discovering where to dig for metals and springs of water; for some years past its reputation has been upon the decline, but lately it has been revived, and with great success, as I have myself found from numerous experiments that its effects are more than imagination, and to enable others to do the like, I have laid down some short rules, as follows:
DIRECTIONS FOR CHOOSING RODS. The hazel and willow rods, I have by experience found, will actually answer with all persons who are in a good state of health, if they are used with moderation, and at some distance of time, after meals, when the operator is in good spirits. The hazel, willow, and elm are all attracted by springs of water. Some persons have the virtue intermittently; the rod in their hands will attract one half hour, and repel the next. The rod is attracted by water, all metals, coals, amber, and lime-stone, but with different degrees of strength.
The best rods are those from the hazel, or nut-tree, as they are pliant and rough, and are best cut in the winter months; a shoot that terminates equally forked is to be preferred, (_See Fig. 1_,) about two feet and a half long; but as such a fork is rarely to be met with, two single ones of a length, and size may be tied together with thread, and they will answer as well as the others. (_See Fig. 2._)
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Fig. 2.]