2. The Book of Knowledge. 7. 4. Fortune telling

The BOOK of KNOWLEDGE,
a novel by Alexandra Kryuchkova
in the “PLAYING ANOTHER REALITY” series

PART 2. ANOTHER REALITY

Day No. 7

CHAPTER 7.4. FORTUNE-TELLING

After the classes, RAM told us to focus on the most important issue for us at the time.

“Each of you will come to me in turn. You’ll take the cards. Unusual cards. They are made by my students in a single copy. They have the answer to your question in the form of a simple phrase, a rhymed quatrain, and a picture. Ask the Higher Forces to give you useful advice, then take just one card out of the deck.”

We sat in silence for a while, tuning in. The girl from Klaipeda was the first to approach RAM. She pulled out a card, RAM commented on it, and returned it to the deck. Then I came up.

Shuffling the deck, I thought that there were one and a half or two times more cards in it than in a regular one. My question, actually, was not an extraordinary one. I asked mentally, “What should I do?” Taking a card from the middle of the deck, I handed it to RAM without looking at it.

“It’s interesting, Alice, you got the same cards! Considering how many cards there are in the deck and the fact that none of them is repeated… So, this card is close in its meaning to the runes WYRD and ISA, it says, it’s not the time to act now, it’s right time to accumulate strength and collect Knowledge, so that later at the right time to give it to the world.”

“Indeed, pulling the same card by two people in a row, there is something in that,” I thought.

Then the others approached RAM. Gradually we were overcome with confusion. There were twenty seminarians and three times more cards. But in total we pulled out only five different cards from the deck. True, each of the five was repeated an unequal number of times. For example, the one that was given out to me was pulled out by only three seminarians.

“Why?” someone asked RAM.

“Interesting, isn’t it? Why do you think?” she said enigmatically, and we shrugged our shoulders in confusion. “You are here for a reason. You are approximately on the same wavelength. So, your vibrations are the same, and, accordingly, being tuned into the same sectors, you pull out the same cards. Remember, when you first arrived, each of you at dinner told the seminarians about yourself and the purpose of your arrival. It turns out that our group can be conditionally divided into five subgroups, each of which has its own vibrational level and its nearest life task.”

We went to our rooms in anticipation of dinner. Svetlana, Sasha and I, we pulled out three different cards. “Three cards, three cards…”

“Alice, what do those two runes that look like your card mean? And anyway, what are runes?” Svetlana’s voice brought me back to reality.

“‘Ru’ means mystery or secret, so, the runes derived from the same word. There was a runic language, an alphabet, used by the Scandinavian and Germanic tribes of northern Europe for magical purposes – to communicate with the Higher Forces. It appeared in the 2nd century BC. Each letter was a pictogram, a symbol, a sign corresponding to a certain force in nature. There were several alphabets, one of the most common was Futhark. It contains 24 letters, divided in 3 groups of 8 letters each. You can compose rune-scripts, that is phrases of several runes for specific tasks. For example, to cause rain during a drought, they make an appeal to the corresponding Forces. Rune-scripts can promote the growth of plants, help getting mutual love, serve as a talisman, bring good luck, and so on. Thus, the runes are one of the secret languages of communication with the Higher Forces.”

“Magic again?”

“Yes.”

“Is this time Black or White?”

“It depends on what they ask for… If it’s about rain during a drought, White. Monks also cause rain. They go to the mountains for a small liturgy when there is not a cloud in the sky. As soon as they finished praying, thunderclouds instantly appear. The monks don’t have time to return to their cells as they get wet to the skin. It’s the magic of working with the elements.”

“How and on what were the runic symbols written?”

“With a pen, ballpoint, on paper… They cut them out on wooden or clay tablets, painted on pebbles, applied to interior items, jewelry, clothes.”

“Do their letters look like A, B, C?”

“No, these are signs taken from nature itself, that is, you can see them everywhere around. Of course, if you want to see them. For example, in the branches of trees, in lightning in the sky. Basically, elementary lines, WYRD looks like a circle. ISA is a straight vertical line. There are crosses, arrows, zigzags. In the Middle Ages, buildings with a log frame over stone were common in Germany and France. So, the outer side of the house had a wooden pattern of connected runes, meaning that the house itself and its inhabitants were under some magical protection.”

“That is, in the language of runic symbols, they appealed to the Higher Forces for help, for example, in protecting the house?”

“Yes, and then, since people wanted to get answers to their questions from the Higher Forces, they began to use these symbols for fortune-telling. They applied one sign at a time on separate pebbles, for example, put them in a bag, pulled out a few and interpreted them.”

“Does each of these symbols has its own meaning?”

“Yes, mostly associated with an object or phenomenon of the nature. For example, Buffalo, Livestock, Tree, Ice, Sun, Hail and so on, although they are interpreted differently by everyone. And it’s right. Precise instructions on the specific meaning of symbols don’t work. There are basic concepts. It’s necessary to feel with your heart what the symbol means in this particular situation.”

“Why?”

“The runes, like cards, are just a guide or mediator helping to establish your own connection with the Subconscious, with the Spirit. Constantly using intermediaries, you try to tune in to communication with the Higher Forces and gradually begin to feel the meaning of runes or cards. The answers of the runes are the answers you need to find in yourself. Sooner or later, the need for runes disappears, you’ll learn to communicate directly, without intermediaries, using intuition, or direct vision, or knowledge. But at the initial stage, it’s common to use intermediaries, and they should be saturated with the energy of the one who ask them for help.”

“If they must be saturated with my energy, it turns out that another person cannot work with my runes, doesn’t it?”

“It’s advisable to have your own. It’s even better to make them by hand, from any natural material, rather than buying ready-made ones in a store.”

“And how to get answers?”

“First, ask a question. Focus on the problem. The question should be specific enough. And pull out the answer.”

“How many runes to pull out?”

“You can pull out one. As a rule, it’s asked about the present moment. Pull out three. The first is a problem. The second is advice on what to do. The third is what is likely to happen if you follow the advice. You can get a simple answer with three runes, yes or no.”

“How? There are three of them, and each has its own meaning!”

“Runes can be pulled out in their straight of inverted position. If two or three runes are in the straight one, the answer is yes, and vice versa. Some runic symbols have no inverted position, that is, no matter how you twist them, you’ll get the same symbol. As a rule, runes in the inverted position mean something negative.”

“I see, and how much more can I pulled out?”

“As much as you want. Even if all, the order you pull them is always different. Pull out five: the first three mean your past (the cause of the inevitable consequence), the present and the future, which is likely to be realized if you use the hint of the fourth rune and take for granted what is indicated in the fifth one.”

“Something that cannot be changed?”

“Right. There is also a layout of 7 runes. The first two symbols mean the problem, the second two are their cause in the past, the fifth and sixth are the advice of the Higher Forces, the seventh is the resulting one, that is, how this situation is likely to end.”

“Okay, but how to address the Higher Forces with a request?”

“With your heart…”

“No, Alice, with runes!”

“Compose a rune-script by arranging the symbols in a certain sequence in order to lay a chain of events with the power of thought to materialize the desired result. Fix the final pattern on paper – paint it. It can be engraved on your talisman. Constantly referring to the rune-script, including with a glance, you’ll saturate it with your energy. In general, it’s the same as working with the Wish Program and visualization. It depends not on the runes, but on you, on the power of your thought, and on what the Higher Forces think about this.”

“I see,” Svetlana sighed heavily. “And what do those two runes mean, which are similar to what you’ve pulled out of the deck today?”

“WYRD is a rune of the full trust in the Higher Forces that lead you along your Path. That is, you have no need to fight with what is given to you by Fate, just go with the flow. The real meaning of the current situation is hidden from you, but sooner or later you’ll understand why everything goes that way and not another. This rune combines the past, present and future. If the question is formulated, ‘Why do I have this situation?’, the answer sounds something like this, ‘You have such karma’.”

“It’s interesting!”

“This rune, acting in Another Reality, means a period of temporary Void, through which a person should pass patiently, without grumbling. If it’s an answer to the question about the Future, then it’s better not to know the Future yet. As for ISA, it’s a rune of cessation of activity, cooling, freezing, temporary suspension. As RAM said, it’s not the time to act, but to accumulate strength and knowledge.”

“Looks like what’s happening to you right now! The Heavenly Duty hangs over you, it’s useless to resist, you should get Knowledge here, in the mountains, in order to complete your Book. Okay, with the runes, it’s clear. As for the cards, what kind of fortune-telling do you know?”

“Svetlana, what’s the difference: runes or cards? They are not the point!”

“Well, tell me, please, about cards!”

“Cards are different. The same cards are interpreted by each magician in their own way, although there are, of course, generally accepted meanings. Like, the ace of hearts is love. As a child I used to ask my grandmother to tell me fortune, of course, about the king, and wondered what each card meant, but she always answered laughing, ‘I don’t know.’ I thought she was kidding. Then I realized she used the cards as an intermediary, and as soon as she laid them out, she knew or saw something, but not those cards at all. Ask me the meaning, for example, of the eight of spades, and I won’t tell you. Not because I don’t want to, I don’t know it.”

“There are a lot of fortune-telling with the cards!”

“Basically, they ask about love of a king, about the future, and about the fulfillment of wishes. Lots of ways have been invented. People have a rich imagination. Well, for example, they ask about their king. I know girls for whom, in order to tell everything about love, four kings at the same time are clearly not enough. Even if four jacks are added to the kings.”

“Lucky girls!”

“Don’t envy, they can get mixed up in their kings!”

“What other ways to tell fortune with cards?”

“All sorts of solitaires, like the Medici Solitaire, although it’s better known for the legend of Mary Stuart.”

“Stop, repeat it, please!”

“The Medici Solitaire was played by Mary Stuart, Queen of England, the night before her execution. Poor Mary was taught that magic solitaire by her court astrologer.”

“Why poor, wasn’t she a queen?”

“She didn’t succeed to lay out the Solitaire the way she needed during the night, so she had to lay down her head in the morning.”

“What’s the connection between Solitaire and a severed head?”

“Remember, I said that the symbols of the runes can be written in a certain combination in order to achieve the goal. For example, to meet your love. Same thing with Medici Solitaire, it’s very popular with Dream Hackers right now. Each card of the ordinary deck describes an event in life, from the largest to the smallest. If we put the cards in a certain chain, inserting the target block we need, where the X card is assigned by us as responsible for the fulfillment of our wish, recharge the chain with energy, then it starts to be fulfilled and leads to the realization of our wish or goal.”

“That is, Mary Stuart wasn’t able to build the necessary chain until the morning, was she?”

“It turns out she couldn’t, or made a mistake, or there was not enough time for realization, since in Another Reality everything happens instantly, but in the Earthly Reality it takes a certain time, and sometimes it’s just a little bit lacking.”

“Tarot cards, are they other cards? Who invented them?”

“People… Taro is also a symbol system of 78 cards in the deck. They say they appeared in the Middle Ages, in the 14th century. Their symbols are associated with astrology and alchemy, unlike the runes taken from nature. Traditionally, Tarot are considered Secret Knowledge, although they still argue who invented them. There is a legend that Tarot were used in ancient Egypt. There was a temple of 22 rooms with painted walls, the pictures of the walls became the basis of the Major Arcana, as well as the vignettes of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Others believe that Tarot cards were born by Kabbalah and were based on its 22 letters and 10 Sephiroth.”

“What other kinds of fortune-telling are there, not with the cards?”

“Okay, let’s talk about astragalomancy.”

“About what?”

“Astragalomancy is a type of cleromancy.”

“Alice!”

“Cleromancy is divination by pulling out lots from a series of uniform objects: pebbles, grains, or whatever. It appeared a long time ago, some thousand years BC. Oracles addressed to cleromancy in order to predict the future in Delphi, Dodona, and Rome. Homer wrote that the lot was guided by Divine Power, not by chance. At first, the answer of the Gods consisted of the words, yes and no. Then the oracles began to interpret the answers in phrases. Thus rapsodomancy appeared, which later related to divination from the books of Homer. Astragalomancy is fortune-telling by bones.”

“Whose bones?”

“Once upon a time, they used sheep vertebrae. It’s easy to throw them, they are quadrangular. Then people began to make them out of wood, stone, ivory. Some bones had as many as 20 faces. Today, plastic dice with marks in the form of dots are common: 1,2,3,4,5,6. At the same time, they are also fortune-telling.”

“So did the oracles invent dice?”

“People, Svetlana, and the rest doesn’t matter anymore. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that dice came from Palestine, as well as the concept of gambling. In any case, bones were first mentioned in the East. Further, their influence spread to Egypt, where for a long time this method of fortune-telling was considered doubtful. Then the bones conquered Greece, then Rome. The oldest bones known to archaeologists are said to be almost 5,000 years old. They were found in a royal tomb in a Sumerian city.”

“Did they play with the bones of a Sumerian king?”

“No, they were very beautiful bones, ivory ones, with lapis lazuli, in the shape of a tetrahedral pyramid. Two corners of each of the bones, that is, two tops of the pyramid of four, were decorated with a special delicacy. In Egyptian tombs and even in Chinese burials, similar bones with similar markings were found, too. There are two main forms of bones: cubes and astragals. The latter are oblong sticks with four sides.”

“And how did they use them for fortune-telling?”

“Sometimes, in order to find out the answer of the Higher Forces to the question, it was necessary to throw bones into the water, sometimes – on special circles or tables with advice and sayings of divine wisdom already written on them. Bones in ancient Greece were dedicated to the god Hermes. Although, there is an interesting legend in Greek mythology about how gambling appeared. Once the Goddess of Fortune, walking in the groves of Olympus, was seduced by a young Zeus. Their daughter turned out to be an unusual child. It gave her joy to invent games the outcome of which was decided by chance, and to watch the players quarrel. She even persuaded the losers to commit suicide. Her mother loved and indulged her in every possible way, and even gave her gambling houses, at the threshold of which unquenchable lamps were burning.”

“It looks like a casino!”

“Yes… Tibetan Mo fortune-telling also belongs to clero-mancy. A cube is taken like a dice, but instead of dots, the corresponding hieroglyph is applied to each of its 6 faces – Dhi, Na, Ra, Pa, Tsa and Ah. I like the last one the best, it sounds sympathetic! The die is thrown twice, and the symbols, in the exact sequence they fell out, are the answer to your question. For example, if you get ‘Ah-Ah’, it doesn’t at all mean mutual earthly love.”

“And what does it mean?”

“Clear sky, the period when a person is cleared of negative thoughts, peace and harmony reign in the Soul. It’s useless to strengthen the financial situation, it’s not even worth trying. The main thing is to understand the goals, set priorities, so that to realize them after a while, because there is a clear sky above your head, and a ray of Light is about to illuminate it.”

“Anything else about cleromancy?”

“There is also the so-called Chinese oracle of the goddess Kuan Win. 100 sticks of fate with ancient poems of the goddess are thrown into the bowl or into the Magic Hat, which in fact have long turned into ordinary numbered pieces of paper. Ask a question, pull out a number and read out the relevant verse of the poem.”

“Recite any! What did she write, this goddess?”

“Poem number 87 is called Climbing the Mountain, so: Climbing the Mountain. The darkest hour is before dawn. Don’t depend on anyone. Walk your path firmly. Think carefully about every step you take. Don’t give up!”

“Strong enough. You are all in the mountains, not here. Come back, I know you haven’t told everything yet.”

“It’s impossible to tell everything, Svetlana.”

“Well, do you know any Arabic fortune-telling?”

“There is a fancy word ‘geomancy’. The Arabs put dots with a stick on the sand in the deserts, while meditating on their question, and then interpreted the location of the dots, what could that mean? Arab geomancy came to Europe in the 13th century. Europeans modernized it over time, of course, in the absence of deserts. If the Arabs knew…”

“In what way modernized?”

“They began to draw on the water with a pitchfork… Just kidding. They replaced the sand with white paper, and the stick with a pencil. The dots should be applied in random order, but, however, in Arabic: from right to left, with the left hand, in four rows. Then we count the number of points in each row. Getting odd number, draw one circle next to the line, even number – two circles. As a result, we get a figure. For example, one circle per each line, conditionally, makes a straight vertical line called ‘the Road’. There is a road ahead of a man. If there are two circles at the top, and further one at a time, then the sign looks like a slingshot and is called ‘the Dragon’s Head’.”

“It’s interesting, isn’t this the mountain where RAM won’t lead us to?”

“Dragon’s Head means the completion of a certain stage of life, which must be said goodbye without regret, because ahead there is renewal and success.”

“Wait, Alice… Are you going to climb the Dragon’s Head?”

“You guessed it!”

“You are crazy!”

“No, I just know I have to get there, even if none of our guys keeps me company.”

“Okay, it’s useless to change your mind. Let’s get back to fortune-telling. Tell me what else people have invented, all sorts of mancies there.”

“Well, hold on, Svetlana! In ancient times, to tell fortune, they used to watch the flight of an arrow, for example, it’s belomancy. They liked to eavesdrop, cleydonomancy.”

“What’s that?”

“The first words heard after the question. In ancient Greece, they came to the temple, asked a question to the statue of a God, then covered their ears with their hands, went outside and opened their ears. The first they heard was a prophetic phrase. In Russia, they went to listen the liturgy songs under the church, whether they were about death or health.”

“Come to the church and find death liturgy serving there! It’s better not to go to church!”

“It’s better, Svetlana, not to tell fortune! There was also a kind of axe fortune-telling, axinomancy. Put an axe in something, look at the direction of the handle and listen to the sounds of the axe. If you need to find a criminal, you take an axe in your hand, stick it into a log, list all the names you know, on which the log twitches, that’s the name of the criminal.”

“So simple!”

“Yes, very simple. For example, Fedor will fall out. Go around the world all your life and look for all the Fedors, so that later you can choose one of them. Similarly, they told fortune by a sieve. In Russia, by the way, before fortune-telling, snow was sifted through a sieve to clear it. Then they hung it on a thread, pronounced the names. When it begins to swing, it’s the name of the thief. This is coscino-mancy.”

“It’s like to tell-fortune by a thread landed on your clothes. You twist it on your finger, while pronouncing the letters in alphabetical order, and find out what letter the name of your next boyfriend begins with. Right?”

“A modernized version. In the past, they used to tell fortune by roosters in the same way. They hold the loud-mouthed, listing the letters of the alphabet. To which letter the rooster responds, the coveted name begins with. It will take quite a lot of lives to get it correctly.”

“Whose name?”

“Of a thief or a bridegroom. However, they are synonymous. You can still use a white rooster or a black hen, but already adding grain. A circle is drawn on the ground, they write all the same letters of the alphabet inside it and scattered the grains are at each of them. They let the rooster in and see the first letter he reached. Everything related to roosters is alectriomancy. But if you walk in the same circle with letters until you stumble or collapse from dizziness, this is gyromancy, with numbers – arithmomancy. You can walk around in circles, you can sum up the digitals of each letter of the question according to Kabbalah and look at the answer in the cheat sheet.”

“Wait, let me write down all these funny mancies!”

“Write them down! Ornithomancy is fortune-telling by the flight and behavior of birds. More often you need to look, Svetlana, at eagles and kites, listen to the cries of owls and ravens. But fortune-telling by pigeons, which have long been revered as royal birds, is possible only for royal people.”

“Well, I’m still far from royal blood! What about the eagles?”

“Where the eagle will torment the snake, it’s necessary to found a city. You can, Svetlana, just build a house there. This is one of the signs of Aztec Magic. If you watch the behavior of snakes, in particular, how they crawl, it’s ophiomancy. And fortune-telling, watching rats and mice, is myomancy. Apantomancy is by the first ones you see, animals and birds, and people as well. If you drive a Mercedes and suddenly see a girl with full buckets in the yoke, be happy, but a squirrel flashing in your eyes is a bad sign. One can tell fortune by the insides of animals – hieromancy, by the insides of fish, it’s ichthyomancy, by the insides of animals sacrificed – hieroscopy. Pay attention to the color, shape, and location of the viscera, especially the heart, liver, intestines, and spleen. If the insides of a donkey are black and wrapped to the left, then don’t expect abundance, but in case of a bluish tint, no sadness threatens you, Svetlana! The calendar even has a specially established ritual day for fortune-telling by the liver and spleen of a pig. Previously, they also determined the weather and the yield of the year. You can tell fortune by the trees, it’s dendromancy. The best is oak considered an oracle tree in Greece.”

“And what to do with the tree?”

“Listen to it. Ask a question and listen to it rustle. Be careful if any bird has landed on its branch directly above your head. Sometimes they made inscriptions with signs on the leaves, this is sycomancy. Xylomancy is fortune-telling by pieces of wood, by their shape, size and lines. Evil people burned leaves and branches, watching them burning: whether good or bad, whether the smoke is clear or not. This is already from botanomancy, kavsimomancy and capnomancy. Kausimomancy is fortune-telling by objects thrown into the fire, more often by crushed resin. If the resin burns quickly or doesn’t burn at all, it means happiness. If at first it smokes, it’s a sign of misfortune. Jumping and red flame means failure and defeat. An even flame means a victory. Crackling means that someone will get angry at you, Svetlana. It’s necessary to throw resin into the fire in the morning or at noon in January and in June on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But if you tell fortune by the smoke at the same time, this is already capnomancy. Contemplate form, color, and direction carefully. Blue means well-being, black and thick – trouble, pure white – surprise, light clubs – good luck, thin up – a happy meeting. Fortune-telling by incense smoke is levanomancy. Using ashes from sacrifices is tephranomancy.”

“What about the water?”

“A whole sea of fortune-telling by water, called hydromancy. When girls throw wreaths and look at them whether they float or sink. They interpret the color of the water, its level in the reservoir, ripples, the number of circles from the object thrown into the water, the number of jumps of the stone on the water. They try to see different images on the surface of the water. Water in such fortune-telling is perceived as a magical mirror or crystal. On Christmas Eve, girls used to go to the ice-hole and look for the image of their bridegrooms in it. Why not, an option. Perhaps even the most real. Nowadays, many people bathe in the ice holes, not only cast their images onto the surface. Pegomancy adjoins hydromancy as fortune-telling by air bubbles and objects rising from the water. Lekanomancy is fortune-telling on a dish with water from natural springs. The prediction is made by the sounds of gold or silver objects immersed in it, as well as, for example, by the shape of oil drops spilled into the container. Keroscopy is fortune-telling by the molten wax poured into water. Analyze the shape: what does it look like? You can also melt the lead and pour it out, but this is molivdomancy. If wine is used instead of water, it’s oinomancy.”

“Is it possible to do without lead and wine somehow?”

“It’s a must, Svetlana, not just possible. Take a wide dish, pour some water and look at the shape of the islands. You can throw objects into a bowl of water. There are a lot of options here, too. For example, folded pieces of paper with the names of the bridegroom. In Russia, during Christmas time, in baths, they sculpted figures of a couple of swans out of wax, let them float in a basin and watched what they would do there.”

“Really?”

“Not that, Svetlana! You are all about your own, about girlish. They watched them floating, whether together or apart. You can tell fortune by cereals and legumes: cryfomancy – by grains, kyameomancy – by beans. For example, in Athens, many official positions were distributed by lot. If a candidate pulled out a white bean, he was elected, if a black one was not. In Russia, they worked with 41 beans, as with cards.”

“Any other edible fortune-telling?”

“Fortune-telling by pies or dough is aleuromancy. In everything that you can bake yourself, put some kind of surprise. For example, a coin that will portend happiness to the one who gets the magic pie. Unless, of course, the lucky person doesn’t crash a tooth with it. They also used the table salt, it’s alomancy, for example, throwing it over the shoulder. It’s important only that your beloved man doesn’t pass by at this moment. If salt gets into at least one of his eyes, you will definitely quarrel, Svetlana, even if your swans bathed together in the same basin. They used needles to tell fortune about the joint future, it’s belonomancy. They took two needles, rubbed them with lard and put into the water, if they were sinking it was bad, if they got together, it was a sign of wedding. It’s very popular fortune-telling by coffee grounds, just look for images as well. Probably, it’s called coffeemancy.”

“How to tell fortune by crystals?”

“Crystalmancy means fortune-telling with the help of shiny objects: transparent stones, rock crystal and so on. Nowadays, a variety of balls is very common. It’s about meditation and contemplation of images or visions. Shiny objects contribute to falling into a trance. Fortune-telling by a pendulum is popular, too. Previously, they hung keys on a thread to learn about one’s marriage, or about a thief. The key has always been considered a reliable remedy for the evil eye, a protective amulet. By keys, it’s kleydomancy. You can hang a ring as well and ask questions. Anything by a ring is dactyliomancy. At Christmas time, they put a ring into a glass of water, exposed it into the frost and looked at it in the morning in order to find out how many tubercles and holes there were, so the number of sons and daughters was calculated. They still tell fortune by mirrors, it’s catoptromancy, also called enontomancy. Mirrors are like crystals and promote another vision. One of the most popular fortune-telling is about the bridegroom. Take two mirrors, sit in front of the large one and move the small one until a corridor of reflections appears. He will appear at the end of the corridor.”

“I remember! You can also comb your hair, put the comb under the pillow, and ask him to come in a dream!”

“You can, and, probably, he’ll come. The only question is, whether it’s necessary. What if he is not a tall, blue-eyed, blond-handsome man, as you imagine him to be, and you’ll get scared in vain or, even worse, chase him away once and forever? What if it turns out later that happiness is not at all in a tall, blue-eyed, handsome blond?”

“Do you know any modern fortune-telling?”

“Recently, I’ve read about the newest ones: by the curls of freshly cut apple skin, by elite tea leaves, by scattering of multi-colored beads, and even by pieces of cloth of various colors.”

“Something special, Alice, well, what is closer to you personally?”

“Bibliomancy.”

“Books, right? You are the expert on them!”

“The most accessible way is to open any book and read what is written there as an answer to your question. It was used everywhere. In Arab countries, they still tell fortune by the Koran, it’s called fal. In Christian world, they use the Holy Scriptures, it’s theomancy. A bishop in his autobiography says that, before taking the ordination, he prayed to St. Seraphim of Sarov, then took a book about the life of the Saint and opened it at random. It was on that page that St. Seraphim gave an advice on whether a person should leave for a monastery or not. In pre-revolutionary Russia, fortune-telling by books was widespread. You can even read about bibliomancy in one of Tolstoy’s books. In China, they use the Book of Changes.”

“Is this a Chinese Bible?”

“One of the oldest books in the world, it has a lot of wisdom, too. The Book of Changes, or I Ching, ranks first among the classic books of Confucianism. Almost all Chinese philosophers based their reasoning on it. The main thesis of the book: there is nothing accidental in life, all events are the result of a certain cause-and-effect relationship. The I Ching is difficult to understand, especially for Europeans. The Book of Changes tells us that the entire process in the Universe is an alternation of events taking place in a constant struggle between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness.”

“How did they tell fortune by it?”

“The Forces of Light, Yang, are indicated by horizontal solid lines, the Forces of Darkness, Yin, by horizontal dotted lines. An elementary way is to toss three coins six times, since each situation is described by six lines. Faces are solid lines, and backs are dotted ones. The lines are written from bottom to top. The resulting hexagram is interpreted by the Book of Changes, and each line has its own meaning and is described separately within the framework of the general hexagram. Two trigrams are also considered: 6 lines are divided into 3 upper ones (external, what is leaving) and 3 lower ones (internal, what is coming). Particular attention is paid to lines number 2 and 5, since they are central in trigrams. They also divide 6 lines into 2, where the upper 2 are Heaven, the middle 2 are Man, and the bottom 2 are Earth. Thus, the hexagram shows the situation in development by stages. Odd positions (1, 3, 5) are considered positions of the Forces of Light, even ones (2, 4, 6) – of the Forces of Darkness. But only in half of the cases, these positions have the lines corresponding to them – light or shadow. When, for example, a solid line is in its place, that is, in position 1, 3, or 5, this is called appropriate, although it’s not always considered the best option. In total, there are 64 combinations of the Forces, or hexagrams.”

“It’s a very complex system!”

“The Book of Changes consists of 12 parts, each situation corresponds to a certain aphorism, which is interpreted for ordinary people. A lot of comments have been written. Although, in fact, as many people as many comments. They look at the same page, but see their own. This is normal. That’s the way it should be.”

“Well, you’ve listed so many mancies, it’s enough to go crazy!”

“The right conclusion, Svetlana, there are as many mancies as there are objects in the world. Any object can become a fortune-teller, if a person gives it such powers. But even if you learn by heart all the rules of the mancies and the meanings of the symbols, not trying to find the answers within yourself, all this will either remain an empty sound, or turn into Black Magic.”

“Why?”

“Svetlana, why do you need a magical ritual, for example, preparation for divination, candles, mirrors, magic items? To get you tuned in, in order to communicate with yourself. With your Higher Self, the Divine Spirit. Only it knows everything about you, and not just about you. Of course, it was easier for the Atlanteans, because they didn’t have to tune in. All information was freely available. They didn’t need rituals. But magic items, talismans, cards, everything that is used in fortune-telling is theatrical decoration, props. You have to establish a dialogue with that part of you, which, as a rule, wants to tell you something, but you are so mired in the earthly whirlwind that you won’t hear anything, even if they shout in your ear a hundred times in a row from There, ‘Stop!’ People not only don’t hear, they don’t even notice the signs sent to them on the Path. The human mind is too busy with the Earthly and doesn’t talk with the Divine. During the ritual, you switch off from the Earthly and tune in to the Heavenly. You can stay at home, or go to church. There, by the way, you’ll tune in to communication with the Divine much faster. Magic consists in the Power of Will, in the thoughts of a person, not in fortune-telling.”

“Are you saying that I answer myself?”

“Your Higher Self, Your Spirit answers. If the Spirit moves away from the person, the conversation will be exclusively with the Essences of the Dark Forces, or it won’t happen at all. What matters is what you ask. Is it the question within the competence of the Higher Forces or of the Lower Astral Essences?”

“What if I ask about the future?”

“You don’t need to ask about it no one at all. It’s closed for your own good. If the Higher Self prevails over the Lower, the circumstances will work in the best way for you. And if something goes wrong, you’ll be definitely warned. Asking about the future, you show God and the Higher Forces that you don’t believe in their existence. They will be offended and stop leading you along the Path of Light. So you will immediately become an easy prey for the Forces of Darkness. Fortune-tellers, in the best case, will connect to the Universal Computer and consider only one of the options, on which, of course, you will become obsessed and, most likely, realize it by energy feeding with your thoughts. In the worst case, fortune-tellers will either tell you a lie, or will bring you directly to the Dark Essences. Evil spirits will gladly tell you an option for a fee.”

“Can I make fortune-telling about love?”

“Whether someone loves you or not, Svetlana, you need to feel, not guess. It’s most important to love, without demanding love in return. How many beautiful and innocent daisies have been decapitated in the history of mankind, like Mary Stuart? There are only two possible answers: either he loves or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t love you, what should you do? Cut off his head or yours? God knows better who you are better with. That man is just like you, he has the right to choose and has his own feelings. Let him be himself. If he loves you, but you don’t know about it yet, then let the Higher Forces arrange such a pleasant surprise at the most suitable moment. All trips to fortune-tellers and people’s questions are just the result of a lack of love and disbelief in the all-seeing God, who knows what is best for us and guides everyone along the optimal Path.”

“So what is there to tell fortune about?”

“You can ask for advice when you don’t know what decision to make. But not about some trifle, about something serious. Then you turn for help to the Higher Forces, to your Divine Spirit, to God, and they will definitely answer you anyway. If you neither hear, nor notice anything around you, open a book. It should be a really important question. Don’t distract the Higher Forces for trifles. Any fortune-telling is not a game or entertainment. It’s a real call of the Higher Forces, and it depends only on you who and how will answer you.”

“Are talismans and charms nothing?”

“If you endow them with your own energy and at the same time believe in their help, then they are not nothing. Feel what is yours and what is not. Objects by themselves have no power. They are empowered by those who use them. A magic wand without a hand to transfer energy to it won’t produce miracles. Even sacred objects, such as icons, Holy Water, a belt with the 90th psalm won’t help if you don’t turn to them with all your heart, your pure Soul and good thoughts, or if you turn to them, but without faith in their power.”

“So, does everything depend on a person, Alice?”

“Not everything, Svetlana, but a lot.”