Don't Talk To My Parrot
Wanda's dishwasher quit working so she called in a repairman. Since she had to go to work the next day, she told the repairman, 'I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I'll mail you a check . Oh, by the way don't worry about my dog Spike. He won't bother you.'
'But, whatever you do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, talk to my parrot!
'I MUST STRESS TO YOU: DO NOT TALK TO MY PARROT!!!'
When the repairman arrived at Wanda's apartment the following day, he discovered the biggest, meanest looking dog he has ever seen. But, just as she had said, the dog just lay there on the carpet watching the repairman go about his work.
The parrot, however, drove him nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling, cursing and name calling.
Finally the repairman couldn't contain himself any longer and yelled, 'Shut up, you stupid, ugly bird!'
To which the parrot replied,
'Get him Spike!'
See - Men just don't listen!
* * * * * * * * * *
Down On the Farm
On the farm lived a chicken and a horse, both of whom loved to play together.
One day the two were playing, when the horse fell into a bog and began to sink.
Scared for his life, the horse whinnied for the chicken to go get the farmer for help!
Off the chicken ran, back to the farm.. Arriving at the farm, he searched and searched for the farmer, but to no avail, for he had gone to town with the only tractor..
Running around, the chicken spied the farmer's new Harley.
Finding the keys in the ignition, the chicken sped off with a length of rope hoping he still had time to save his friend's life.
Back at the bog, the horse was surprised, but happy, to see the chicken arrive on the shiny Harley, and he managed to get a hold of the loop of rope the chicken tossed to him.
After tying the other end to the rear bumper of the farmer's bike, the chicken then drove slowly forward and, with the aid of the powerful bike, rescued the horse!
Happy and proud, the chicken rode the Harley back to the farmhouse, and the farmer was none the wiser when he returned.
The friendship between the two animals was cemented: Best Buddies, Best Pals.
A few weeks later, the chicken fell in to a mud pit, and soon, he too, began to sink and cried out to the horse to save his life!
The horse thought a moment, walked over, and straddled the large puddle.
Looking underneath, he told the chicken to grab his hangy-down thingy and he would then lift him out of the pit.
The chicken got a good grip, and the horse pulled him up and out, saving his life.
The moral of the story?
(yep, you betcha, there is a moral!)
When You're Hung Like A Horse, You Don't Need A Harley To Pick Up Chicks!
Feb 10, 2010
Feb 9, 2010
Tell Me Your Fortune - Part II
DIVINATION BY DICE
Long before tarot cards, astrology, rune stones, etc, dice were cast to gain an insight into the future and the unknown. The term for divination by casting dice is cleromancy.
African witch doctors of certain tribes use dice for this purpose, although their dice are not the standard ones we use. Indian Hindu's use an ancient divining science called Ramala and the dice used are very similar to standard dice except they are spun on a rod. Both ancient Egypt and Rome used dice for divination. The Greek term for divining by dice is astragalomancy from the Greek word for knucklebone dice astragalus's.
There are dice marked with mystic symbols specifically used for fortune telling and divining. Rune dice are a common type but standard dice may just as easily be used. Tibetan monks practise a dice divination technique called Sho-Mo using three ordinary standard spotted dice.
Dice made of bone or ivory are said to be particularly receptive while wood, stone or a natural material are next best, but don't worry if yours are plastic, they will suffice.
Unlike interpreting tarot cards or tealeaves using dice to divine answers to questions requires little intuition. When you feel too tired or distracted to connect with your imagination and intuition, try casting dice for a quick, clear answer to a query.
Reading Your Fortune with Dice
Draw a circle 12 inches in diameter with chalk on a wooden table. Shake three dice vigorously, using either a cup held in the left hand or both hands cupped together if no cup is available. Cast the dice within the circle.
If one die falls outside the circle then it indicates a block to the developments shown by sum of all three dice. If two dice fall outside the circle it warns of a disagreement about the event shown by the sum of all three dice. If all three dice fall outside the circle, try again. If the dice land beyond the circle a second time, try again the next day as the situation is unclear.
Add the sum of all three dice. Read the following interpretation and consider how this statement responds to your question.
THREE: ponder well on what you intend to do. Rushing into things may cause problems. Caution is advised in all things.
FOUR: something you have been hoping for will happen soon.
FIVE: you have nothing to worry about. Your difficulties will pass. A good time to start a new enterprise.
SIX: you are in for a disappointment, but do not take it too seriously. It may be a blessing in disguise.
SEVEN: scandal may touch you for no fault of your own. Avoid petty disputes.
EIGHT: something out of your past will come back to haunt you. Avoid bitterness and recriminations.
NINE: good luck is ahead in school, business, or love. But keep away from games of chance for some time.
TEN: changes are coming, either for good or for evil. Unless you act cautiously, a loss is certain.
ELEVEN: a family matter will soon have you deeply involved. Do not speak too freely of private matters, especially to strangers.
TWELVE: a quarrel with a friend is indicated. Your behaviour will determine its outcome.
THIRTEEN: trouble and bad luck ahead. Put little faith in promises.
FOURTEEN: you may soon have to travel. The journey will be successful.
FIFTEEN: you will have good luck in making an important selection, either in love or in business.
SIXTEEN: you will make a friend who will influence you greatly. But do not desert old friends needlessly.
SEVENTEEN: you will be involved in an enterprise requiring perseverance and industry. Success depends on your efforts.
EIGHTEEN: a lucky toss, indicating success in anything you undertake. Honours and awards lie ahead.
Long before tarot cards, astrology, rune stones, etc, dice were cast to gain an insight into the future and the unknown. The term for divination by casting dice is cleromancy.
African witch doctors of certain tribes use dice for this purpose, although their dice are not the standard ones we use. Indian Hindu's use an ancient divining science called Ramala and the dice used are very similar to standard dice except they are spun on a rod. Both ancient Egypt and Rome used dice for divination. The Greek term for divining by dice is astragalomancy from the Greek word for knucklebone dice astragalus's.
There are dice marked with mystic symbols specifically used for fortune telling and divining. Rune dice are a common type but standard dice may just as easily be used. Tibetan monks practise a dice divination technique called Sho-Mo using three ordinary standard spotted dice.
Dice made of bone or ivory are said to be particularly receptive while wood, stone or a natural material are next best, but don't worry if yours are plastic, they will suffice.
Unlike interpreting tarot cards or tealeaves using dice to divine answers to questions requires little intuition. When you feel too tired or distracted to connect with your imagination and intuition, try casting dice for a quick, clear answer to a query.
Reading Your Fortune with Dice
Draw a circle 12 inches in diameter with chalk on a wooden table. Shake three dice vigorously, using either a cup held in the left hand or both hands cupped together if no cup is available. Cast the dice within the circle.
If one die falls outside the circle then it indicates a block to the developments shown by sum of all three dice. If two dice fall outside the circle it warns of a disagreement about the event shown by the sum of all three dice. If all three dice fall outside the circle, try again. If the dice land beyond the circle a second time, try again the next day as the situation is unclear.
Add the sum of all three dice. Read the following interpretation and consider how this statement responds to your question.
THREE: ponder well on what you intend to do. Rushing into things may cause problems. Caution is advised in all things.
FOUR: something you have been hoping for will happen soon.
FIVE: you have nothing to worry about. Your difficulties will pass. A good time to start a new enterprise.
SIX: you are in for a disappointment, but do not take it too seriously. It may be a blessing in disguise.
SEVEN: scandal may touch you for no fault of your own. Avoid petty disputes.
EIGHT: something out of your past will come back to haunt you. Avoid bitterness and recriminations.
NINE: good luck is ahead in school, business, or love. But keep away from games of chance for some time.
TEN: changes are coming, either for good or for evil. Unless you act cautiously, a loss is certain.
ELEVEN: a family matter will soon have you deeply involved. Do not speak too freely of private matters, especially to strangers.
TWELVE: a quarrel with a friend is indicated. Your behaviour will determine its outcome.
THIRTEEN: trouble and bad luck ahead. Put little faith in promises.
FOURTEEN: you may soon have to travel. The journey will be successful.
FIFTEEN: you will have good luck in making an important selection, either in love or in business.
SIXTEEN: you will make a friend who will influence you greatly. But do not desert old friends needlessly.
SEVENTEEN: you will be involved in an enterprise requiring perseverance and industry. Success depends on your efforts.
EIGHTEEN: a lucky toss, indicating success in anything you undertake. Honours and awards lie ahead.
Feb 8, 2010
Mastering Monday
Okay, so I'm not quite sure how it happened, but this post ending up on my Random Writings blog instead of here on Random Thoughts. Guess I had a lot on the mind when I scheduled it last night. Anyway, here it is, in all it's glory. :-)
As you can see, I’ve been playing around with the font colours again. When I got to the point where I couldn’t decide if I was improving things or just making them worse, I decided to stop. :-)
You’ll also notice the comments link is still at the top, rather than the bottom of my posts. My only consolation is that I’m not alone – this is happening to other bloggers as well. No one seems to know why this is happening, and unfortunately, no one knows how to correct the problem. Blogger says “they’re working on it”. I’ve checked the editing page, and I’ve gone through the HTML coding with a fine toothed comb; :I’ve changed the comments from a popup and back again; I even deleted my template and started from scratch. According to everything I’ve checked, my comments link should be showing at the bottom not the top. I give up! Grr!
/rant
RECAP:
Last week’s goals were a fortune telling post for Tuesday; more humour for Wednesday; the poetry form of Terzanelle; and Chapter 25 in the continuing Space Opera.
Not only did I attain last week’s goals, I also read three more books, which is why I didn’t get much else done. :-)
Goals for This Week:
Random Tuesday: Fortune Telling, Part Two. The second part of my series about fortune telling will explore Divination by Dice.
Whimsical Wednesday: I’m starting to run out of humourous stories so I might have to resort to a couple of cartoons or videos instead.
Thursday: the Passion for Poetry form this week with be the Luc Bat.
Friday: Chapter 26 of the Space Opera. And hopefully I won’t be up until 2 a.m. writing it like I was last week. :-)
I think I’d also better make note here that I also want to get some editing done, and maybe even some fresh words in one (or both) of my two WIPs.
It’s easy to pat myself on the back with my weekly goals when that’s all the writing I do in the week. This week’s motto will be: Less reading and more writing.
Random Writing
I got my post up last week for the Fight Scene Blogfest and many wonderful people commented on it. If you missed the blogfest, you can still access the list of participants HERE
A couple of days ago I did an update of how I’m doing on the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year. Not doing too bad at all, if I do say so myself. Hopefully I can keep up the good work.
Tuesday, look for my post about the Northumberland Scribes. We have a meeting tonight, which means I’ll be posting a prompt for you guys to have some fun with. I’ll be posting my own flash piece to inspire you.
I think it's about time I added a couple of progress bars in one of the side columns to show what I'm working on. The added advantage of this is people can shame me getting to work if those bars don't move. :-)
So, how about you? What have you got planned for the week?
As you can see, I’ve been playing around with the font colours again. When I got to the point where I couldn’t decide if I was improving things or just making them worse, I decided to stop. :-)
You’ll also notice the comments link is still at the top, rather than the bottom of my posts. My only consolation is that I’m not alone – this is happening to other bloggers as well. No one seems to know why this is happening, and unfortunately, no one knows how to correct the problem. Blogger says “they’re working on it”. I’ve checked the editing page, and I’ve gone through the HTML coding with a fine toothed comb; :I’ve changed the comments from a popup and back again; I even deleted my template and started from scratch. According to everything I’ve checked, my comments link should be showing at the bottom not the top. I give up! Grr!
/rant
RECAP:
Last week’s goals were a fortune telling post for Tuesday; more humour for Wednesday; the poetry form of Terzanelle; and Chapter 25 in the continuing Space Opera.
Not only did I attain last week’s goals, I also read three more books, which is why I didn’t get much else done. :-)
Goals for This Week:
Random Tuesday: Fortune Telling, Part Two. The second part of my series about fortune telling will explore Divination by Dice.
Whimsical Wednesday: I’m starting to run out of humourous stories so I might have to resort to a couple of cartoons or videos instead.
Thursday: the Passion for Poetry form this week with be the Luc Bat.
Friday: Chapter 26 of the Space Opera. And hopefully I won’t be up until 2 a.m. writing it like I was last week. :-)
I think I’d also better make note here that I also want to get some editing done, and maybe even some fresh words in one (or both) of my two WIPs.
It’s easy to pat myself on the back with my weekly goals when that’s all the writing I do in the week. This week’s motto will be: Less reading and more writing.
Random Writing
I got my post up last week for the Fight Scene Blogfest and many wonderful people commented on it. If you missed the blogfest, you can still access the list of participants HERE
A couple of days ago I did an update of how I’m doing on the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year. Not doing too bad at all, if I do say so myself. Hopefully I can keep up the good work.
Tuesday, look for my post about the Northumberland Scribes. We have a meeting tonight, which means I’ll be posting a prompt for you guys to have some fun with. I’ll be posting my own flash piece to inspire you.
I think it's about time I added a couple of progress bars in one of the side columns to show what I'm working on. The added advantage of this is people can shame me getting to work if those bars don't move. :-)
So, how about you? What have you got planned for the week?
Feb 4, 2010
Terzanelle
In October, to prepare for NaNoWriMo, I did several extra poetry posts so all I’d have to do in November is post them. This form was one I considered doing, but ultimately abandoned because it’s a little . . . shall we say . . . challenging. As one web site put it: The terzanelle is a good form for the recovering obsessive-compulsive
The terzanelle, invented by Lewis Turco in 1965, is a poetic form that combines the villanelle’s refrain with the terza rima’s end line patterning. Turco’s "Terzanelle", the original terzanelle poem titled for the name of the form, was first published in the summer edition of The Michigan Quarterly Review that same year. Over the years, Turco’s invention has become well known and popular. Hundreds of terzanelle poems may be found by as many authors.
Here are the rules by which a terzanelle should be written:
The first and third lines of the opening tercet are refrained as the second and fourth lines of the closing quatrain.
The terzanelle body is comprised of tercets that each refrain the second line of the preceding tercet for its third line. The first line of each of these tercets is rhymed with its refrained line.
It is a fixed form of 19 lines (five triplets and a quatrain).
The closing quatrain refrains the second line of the last tercet as its third line and rhymes its first line with that refrain.
Lines may be in any length or meter within reason.
Terzanelles may be written on any subject.
To give you a better idea of how it works, here’s the repeating and rhyme scheme:
Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A
Line 4 B
Line 5 C
Line 6 repeats line 2
Line 7 C
Line 8 D
Line 9 repeats line 5
Line 10 D
Line 11 E
Line 12 repeats line 8
Line 13 E
Line 14 F
Line 15 repeats line 11
Line 16 F
Line 17 repeats line 1
Line 18 F
Line 19 repeats line 3
My example was inspired by the new header on this blog. I have a soft spot for dragonflies. :-)
Dragonflight
The wind is sighing through the trees,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round;
Magic‘s found in days like these.
A forest pool, a wild playground,
Where water lilies are abloom,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round.
A wafting scent of rare perfume;
The air is soft with ambient light
Where water lilies are abloom.
Who directs your soaring flight,
Free spirit wandering where it will.
The air is soft with ambient light.
You dip and weave and fly with skill -
I’d follow if I only could,
Free spirit wandering where it will
I watch you flitter through the wood;
The wind is sighing through the trees.
I’d follow if I only could -
Magic is found in days like these.
The terzanelle, invented by Lewis Turco in 1965, is a poetic form that combines the villanelle’s refrain with the terza rima’s end line patterning. Turco’s "Terzanelle", the original terzanelle poem titled for the name of the form, was first published in the summer edition of The Michigan Quarterly Review that same year. Over the years, Turco’s invention has become well known and popular. Hundreds of terzanelle poems may be found by as many authors.
Here are the rules by which a terzanelle should be written:
The first and third lines of the opening tercet are refrained as the second and fourth lines of the closing quatrain.
The terzanelle body is comprised of tercets that each refrain the second line of the preceding tercet for its third line. The first line of each of these tercets is rhymed with its refrained line.
It is a fixed form of 19 lines (five triplets and a quatrain).
The closing quatrain refrains the second line of the last tercet as its third line and rhymes its first line with that refrain.
Lines may be in any length or meter within reason.
Terzanelles may be written on any subject.
To give you a better idea of how it works, here’s the repeating and rhyme scheme:
Line 1 A
Line 2 B
Line 3 A
Line 4 B
Line 5 C
Line 6 repeats line 2
Line 7 C
Line 8 D
Line 9 repeats line 5
Line 10 D
Line 11 E
Line 12 repeats line 8
Line 13 E
Line 14 F
Line 15 repeats line 11
Line 16 F
Line 17 repeats line 1
Line 18 F
Line 19 repeats line 3
My example was inspired by the new header on this blog. I have a soft spot for dragonflies. :-)
Dragonflight
The wind is sighing through the trees,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round;
Magic‘s found in days like these.
A forest pool, a wild playground,
Where water lilies are abloom,
The warmth of summer shimmers ‘round.
A wafting scent of rare perfume;
The air is soft with ambient light
Where water lilies are abloom.
Who directs your soaring flight,
Free spirit wandering where it will.
The air is soft with ambient light.
You dip and weave and fly with skill -
I’d follow if I only could,
Free spirit wandering where it will
I watch you flitter through the wood;
The wind is sighing through the trees.
I’d follow if I only could -
Magic is found in days like these.
Feb 3, 2010
Whimsical Wednesday
Just a short whimsical offering for you today, hope you enjoy!
Learning English
A Priest was about to finish his tour of duty, and was leaving his Mission in the jungle where he has spent years teaching the natives when he realizes that the one thing he never taught them was how to speak English.
So he takes the chief for a walk in the forest. He points to a tree and says to the chief, 'This is a tree.'
The chief looks at the tree and grunts,'Tree.'
The Priest is pleased with the response. They walk a little further and he points to a rock and says, 'This is a rock.'
Hearing this, the chief looks and grunts, 'Rock.'
The Priest was really getting enthusiastic about the results when he hears a rustling in the bushes. As they peek over the top, he sees a couple of natives in the midst of heavy sexual activity.
The Priest is really flustered and quickly responds, 'Man riding a bike.'
The chief looks at the couple briefly, pulls out his blowgun and kills them.
The Priest goes ballistic and yells at the chief that he has spent years teaching the tribe how to be civilized and be kind to each other, so how could he kill these people in cold blood that way?
The chief replied, 'My bike.'
* * * * * * * * * *
Enjoy your day and remember to keep off the roads when riding someone else’s bicycle!
Learning English
A Priest was about to finish his tour of duty, and was leaving his Mission in the jungle where he has spent years teaching the natives when he realizes that the one thing he never taught them was how to speak English.
So he takes the chief for a walk in the forest. He points to a tree and says to the chief, 'This is a tree.'
The chief looks at the tree and grunts,'Tree.'
The Priest is pleased with the response. They walk a little further and he points to a rock and says, 'This is a rock.'
Hearing this, the chief looks and grunts, 'Rock.'
The Priest was really getting enthusiastic about the results when he hears a rustling in the bushes. As they peek over the top, he sees a couple of natives in the midst of heavy sexual activity.
The Priest is really flustered and quickly responds, 'Man riding a bike.'
The chief looks at the couple briefly, pulls out his blowgun and kills them.
The Priest goes ballistic and yells at the chief that he has spent years teaching the tribe how to be civilized and be kind to each other, so how could he kill these people in cold blood that way?
The chief replied, 'My bike.'
* * * * * * * * * *
Enjoy your day and remember to keep off the roads when riding someone else’s bicycle!
Feb 2, 2010
Tell Me Your Fortune, Part One
Fortune telling can be a lot of fun and any one can do it, even you.
A long time ago I started compiling different methods of fortune telling with an eye to making a book. Actually, I did make a book, but it's a volume of one that I pull out every once in awhile to have a little fun. But what good is fun if you can't share it? So here I am, sharing it. This is the first in a series of posts I'm doing on some of the more simple methods of fortune telling, the idea being for you to try them out and have some fun.
We start with the age old practice of reading tea leaves.
Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).
To read someone's tea leaves, you must use loose tea leaves. A small, white cup with no designs or patterns on the inside walls is ideal. Have the person drink the tea, leaving a minute amount of liquid in the bottom of the cup, as well as some tea leaves. Holding the cup in the left hand, he or she should slowly swirl the contents of the cup around three times clockwise. Try to make sure that the leaves are moved towards the rim of the tea cup. Then they should place the cup upside down on the saucer, holding it there for 7 seconds while letting the fluids drain. When the tea cup is placed right side up again, the handle should be facing the reader while he or she interprets the symbols and images.
It is traditional to read a cup from the present to the future by starting along the rim at the handle of the cup and following the symbols downward in a spiral manner, until the bottom is reached, which symbolizes the far future.
Below I’ve listed a few of the traditional meanings of some more common symbols you may see. If you’d like to learn more about reading tea leaves or even just a more comprehensive list of meanings, click HERE
AIRCRAFT – a journey; if broken, danger of an accident; can mean a rise in position
ANCHOR - a lucky sign; success in business and constancy in love; the realization of your wishes.
APPLE - achievement
AXE - difficulties; near the top, overcome.
BALL - variable fortunes.
BELL - unexpected news; good if near the top.
BIRDS - good news.
BOAT - visit from a friend, protection.
BOOK - open, good news; closed, a need to investigate something.
BUTTERFLY - fickleness.
CANDLE - help from others.
CAT - deceit, a false friend.
CHAIN - an engagement or wedding; an entangled chain means a; a long, thick chain indicates ties you wish to undo; a broken one, trouble in store.
CHAIR - a small chair shows an arrival; a large one, deliberation over a new plan.
CIRCLE - success, completion; with a dot, a baby.
CROSS - expect to meet with hindrances and obstacles; sorrow and misfortune are also indicated.
CROWN - advancement and honor; the attainment of your highest ambition.
CROWN AND CROSS - signifies good fortune resulting from death.
DAGGAR - danger from self or others, beware of recklessness.
DOG - good friend; if at bottom, friend needs help.
DUCK - money coming.
ELEPHANT - wisdom and strength.
FACE - a change, may be a setback.
FEATHERS - large feathers mean achievement and prosperity; to authors, literary success; small feathers denote something of which you are afraid, but which you will meet with courage.
FISH - good news from abroad; if surrounded by dots, emigration.
FORKED LINE - decision.
GOAT---be careful of enemies.
GRAPES - these signify pleasure, abundance, fulfillment, and a life free from care.
GUN - a sign of discord and slander.
HAND---if open, friendship; if closed, an argument.
HEART - pleasures to come; if surrounded by dots, through money; if accompanied by a ring, through marriage.
HORSE - -if galloping, good news; if head only, a lover.
HOURGLASS - need to decide something.
HOUSE - success in business.
IVY, Patience, understanding, steadfastness, and loyal friends.
KITE - wishes coming true.
KNIFE - a warning of disaster through quarrels and enmity.
LADDER - promotion, a rise in life.
LINES - -straight, progress; wavy, uncertain path.
MOON (as a crescent) - prosperity and fortune.
MOUNTAIN - the promise of the realization of a great ambition and of the influence of powerful friends; many mountains indicate obstructions and sometimes powerful enemies in your career.
MUSHROOM - sudden separation of lovers after a quarrel
PALM TREE - a symbol of honor, fame, and victory; increase of wealth, love, and marriage.
PIG - good and bad luck mixed: a faithful lover but envious friends.
QUESTION MARK - need for caution.
RABBIT - fair success in a city or large town.
RING - at top, marriage or an offer of marriage; at bottom, long engagement; if broken, engagement is broken off.
SCALE - legal issues; if balanced a just result; if unbalanced, unjust.
SCISSORS - An unlucky sign of friction between friends; disputing and disagreeableness with married couples; quarrels between lovers; trouble in business.
SHELL - Good luck from an unexpected source.
SHIP - worthwhile journey.
SHOE - change for the better.
STAR - a lucky sign; if surrounded by dots, wealth and honor are foretold.
SWORD - a sign of danger, sudden illness, or even death; it also betokens slander and dangerous gossip.
TREES - a sure indication of prosperity and happiness; surrounded by dots, a fortune in the country.
TRIANGLE - a fortunate meeting, good luck; sometimes an unexpected legacy.
UMBRELLA - if it is open, bad weather and grumbling are foretold; closed, a bit of bad luck which may be avoided.
WINDMILL, success in a venturous enterprise.
WOLF, beware of jealous intrigues.
A long time ago I started compiling different methods of fortune telling with an eye to making a book. Actually, I did make a book, but it's a volume of one that I pull out every once in awhile to have a little fun. But what good is fun if you can't share it? So here I am, sharing it. This is the first in a series of posts I'm doing on some of the more simple methods of fortune telling, the idea being for you to try them out and have some fun.
We start with the age old practice of reading tea leaves.
Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).
To read someone's tea leaves, you must use loose tea leaves. A small, white cup with no designs or patterns on the inside walls is ideal. Have the person drink the tea, leaving a minute amount of liquid in the bottom of the cup, as well as some tea leaves. Holding the cup in the left hand, he or she should slowly swirl the contents of the cup around three times clockwise. Try to make sure that the leaves are moved towards the rim of the tea cup. Then they should place the cup upside down on the saucer, holding it there for 7 seconds while letting the fluids drain. When the tea cup is placed right side up again, the handle should be facing the reader while he or she interprets the symbols and images.
It is traditional to read a cup from the present to the future by starting along the rim at the handle of the cup and following the symbols downward in a spiral manner, until the bottom is reached, which symbolizes the far future.
Below I’ve listed a few of the traditional meanings of some more common symbols you may see. If you’d like to learn more about reading tea leaves or even just a more comprehensive list of meanings, click HERE
AIRCRAFT – a journey; if broken, danger of an accident; can mean a rise in position
ANCHOR - a lucky sign; success in business and constancy in love; the realization of your wishes.
APPLE - achievement
AXE - difficulties; near the top, overcome.
BALL - variable fortunes.
BELL - unexpected news; good if near the top.
BIRDS - good news.
BOAT - visit from a friend, protection.
BOOK - open, good news; closed, a need to investigate something.
BUTTERFLY - fickleness.
CANDLE - help from others.
CAT - deceit, a false friend.
CHAIN - an engagement or wedding; an entangled chain means a; a long, thick chain indicates ties you wish to undo; a broken one, trouble in store.
CHAIR - a small chair shows an arrival; a large one, deliberation over a new plan.
CIRCLE - success, completion; with a dot, a baby.
CROSS - expect to meet with hindrances and obstacles; sorrow and misfortune are also indicated.
CROWN - advancement and honor; the attainment of your highest ambition.
CROWN AND CROSS - signifies good fortune resulting from death.
DAGGAR - danger from self or others, beware of recklessness.
DOG - good friend; if at bottom, friend needs help.
DUCK - money coming.
ELEPHANT - wisdom and strength.
FACE - a change, may be a setback.
FEATHERS - large feathers mean achievement and prosperity; to authors, literary success; small feathers denote something of which you are afraid, but which you will meet with courage.
FISH - good news from abroad; if surrounded by dots, emigration.
FORKED LINE - decision.
GOAT---be careful of enemies.
GRAPES - these signify pleasure, abundance, fulfillment, and a life free from care.
GUN - a sign of discord and slander.
HAND---if open, friendship; if closed, an argument.
HEART - pleasures to come; if surrounded by dots, through money; if accompanied by a ring, through marriage.
HORSE - -if galloping, good news; if head only, a lover.
HOURGLASS - need to decide something.
HOUSE - success in business.
IVY, Patience, understanding, steadfastness, and loyal friends.
KITE - wishes coming true.
KNIFE - a warning of disaster through quarrels and enmity.
LADDER - promotion, a rise in life.
LINES - -straight, progress; wavy, uncertain path.
MOON (as a crescent) - prosperity and fortune.
MOUNTAIN - the promise of the realization of a great ambition and of the influence of powerful friends; many mountains indicate obstructions and sometimes powerful enemies in your career.
MUSHROOM - sudden separation of lovers after a quarrel
PALM TREE - a symbol of honor, fame, and victory; increase of wealth, love, and marriage.
PIG - good and bad luck mixed: a faithful lover but envious friends.
QUESTION MARK - need for caution.
RABBIT - fair success in a city or large town.
RING - at top, marriage or an offer of marriage; at bottom, long engagement; if broken, engagement is broken off.
SCALE - legal issues; if balanced a just result; if unbalanced, unjust.
SCISSORS - An unlucky sign of friction between friends; disputing and disagreeableness with married couples; quarrels between lovers; trouble in business.
SHELL - Good luck from an unexpected source.
SHIP - worthwhile journey.
SHOE - change for the better.
STAR - a lucky sign; if surrounded by dots, wealth and honor are foretold.
SWORD - a sign of danger, sudden illness, or even death; it also betokens slander and dangerous gossip.
TREES - a sure indication of prosperity and happiness; surrounded by dots, a fortune in the country.
TRIANGLE - a fortunate meeting, good luck; sometimes an unexpected legacy.
UMBRELLA - if it is open, bad weather and grumbling are foretold; closed, a bit of bad luck which may be avoided.
WINDMILL, success in a venturous enterprise.
WOLF, beware of jealous intrigues.
Feb 1, 2010
Monster of a Monday
I have to tell you, I'm very glad that January is behind me now. It was not a good month for me. In fact, it was pretty craptacular. I had migraines and computer problems, you might have noticed my comments are now showing at the top of my posts instead of the bottom. I have no idea how this happened and they've been resisting my every effort to fix it.
This week was the worst of all. My cat, Panda, started losing weight again and when it dipped to 4.9 pounds we came to the painful decision it was time to let her go. She fought a good fight, but she let us know it was time. You can read my tribute to her HERE.
So here's hoping February will be kinder.
* * * * * * * * * *
RECAP:
Last week's goals were: random facts about dreaming; a funny story for Whimsical Wednesday; the poetry form of Qasida; chapter 24 of the Space Opera; and a remodel of this blog.
No one is more surprised than me over the fact I reached all my goals. I even managed to get my chapter posted on time. I'm still not 100% sure about the colours of the blog but it's definitely easier on the eyes. And as I mentioned above, somehow my comments ended up at the beginning instead of the end of my posts and that definitely needs to be fixed.
Goals for This Week:
I think for Tuesday I'm going to explore some of the more uncommon methods of fortune telling. Who knows, it might even end up as a series.
I'm not finding much amusing these days, but I'll try to come up with something for Wednesday.
Thursday's Passion For Poetry will be the invented form of the Terzanelle.
And Friday, of course, will be another installment of the never-ending serial. :-)
Random Writing
Be sure to check out today's post over here - it's my offering for the Fight Scene Blogfest. And then follow the link from the post below so you can check out the other posts. Should be lots of good reading.
So, that's my week, such as it is. Anybody else got anything interesting going on? Read any good books lately? Check it out, I'm up to 11 books for the year so far. It'll be interesting to see how many I end up reading in total. :-)
This week was the worst of all. My cat, Panda, started losing weight again and when it dipped to 4.9 pounds we came to the painful decision it was time to let her go. She fought a good fight, but she let us know it was time. You can read my tribute to her HERE.
So here's hoping February will be kinder.
* * * * * * * * * *
RECAP:
Last week's goals were: random facts about dreaming; a funny story for Whimsical Wednesday; the poetry form of Qasida; chapter 24 of the Space Opera; and a remodel of this blog.
No one is more surprised than me over the fact I reached all my goals. I even managed to get my chapter posted on time. I'm still not 100% sure about the colours of the blog but it's definitely easier on the eyes. And as I mentioned above, somehow my comments ended up at the beginning instead of the end of my posts and that definitely needs to be fixed.
Goals for This Week:
I think for Tuesday I'm going to explore some of the more uncommon methods of fortune telling. Who knows, it might even end up as a series.
I'm not finding much amusing these days, but I'll try to come up with something for Wednesday.
Thursday's Passion For Poetry will be the invented form of the Terzanelle.
And Friday, of course, will be another installment of the never-ending serial. :-)
Random Writing
Be sure to check out today's post over here - it's my offering for the Fight Scene Blogfest. And then follow the link from the post below so you can check out the other posts. Should be lots of good reading.
So, that's my week, such as it is. Anybody else got anything interesting going on? Read any good books lately? Check it out, I'm up to 11 books for the year so far. It'll be interesting to see how many I end up reading in total. :-)
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