Tell Me Your Fortune - Part IX

While I’m sure most people are familiar with palmistry, having your fortune told by someone reading the lines in the palm of your hand, did you know you your feet can also hold the key to your fortune?

Podomancy, or solistry, has been around for ages, having its roots in China and Iran. Someone skilled in this art can divine a person’s future by looking at the size, shape, and lines of the foot.

Take your big toe, for instance.

If you have a very large big toe, you probably like to talk, but most of what you say isn’t based in reality. If it stands away from your other toes, it means you take time before expression your innermost thoughts and feelings to the outside world. If your big toe is painful, it means you tend to hang onto things that affect your life in a negative way. If the toe is short it means you have trouble expressing yourself altogether. But you express yourself in a sensitive and tactful way if this toe is rounded.

And there’s more! If your toes naturally cross, it means that you have little faith in yourself and find it hard to trust. Webbed second and third toes show that your self-esteem tends to be firmly linked to your activities or career, however you are a potential genius.

If you have a longer second toe you’re among the many who have great vision and like to be in charge. You can, however, be a little opinionated. A toe bending towards the big toe means you look back too often to the past and are hanging onto it. But a toe bending towards the little toe means you’re in a rush to reach the future.

Crooked toes are a sign you tend to modify your thinking to please others even though this encourages devious thoughts. Bent toes show your thinking is self-conscious and you often fear failure and responsibility. Twisted toes mean you like to avoid the truth, and look to others for reassurance.

Little toes that are tightly squeezed under the toe beside them mean you have little faith in yourself. You find it hard to trust and let go, and you may be reluctant to take on responsibility, particularly within a family.

As for the feet themselves . . . Swollen puffy feet indicate you’re troubled by past issues and problems they may create in the future. You’re holding back and having trouble expressing your emotions. If you’re feeling indecisive and pulled in too many directions at once, you probably have cracks in your heels. Your psyche feels “cracked.”

High arches mean you’re highly motivated, although sometimes you can be a bit of a dreamer. You learned to be self-sufficient at an early age. You’re a positive person and prefer to work through issue from a logical standpoint. Low arches indicate you’re a practical realist, more prone to the negative rather than the positive aspects of life. You’re more apt to rely on others instead of yourself – you need to let go and dream a little more.

Silent Treatment

Once again I got little writing done other than my prompt story, which once again ran a little long so we’ll just get right to it. The only thing I might mention, this was not written to the current prompt but one I had in reserve. If I don’t get a story written to the current one next week I’ll put up a new prompt.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The boy hadn’t spoken since his twin had gone. Not that he’d really spoken before that. He and his brother communicated with each other using grunts and growls, they didn’t communicate with us at all.

The disappearance was a complete mystery. They’d been kept in a locked room, for their own safety, so he couldn’t have just wandered off. Someone must have taken him, but the remaining boy wouldn’t, or couldn’t, tell us who.

The boys had been found up on the mountain by a group sent to retrieve the group of survivalists who were conducting an experiment on total isolation. It was to be a ten year experiment to see if the group could survive on their own without any outside assistance or technology. They staked out a section of the mountain and the rangers were to steer clear.

For the most part the group seemed no worse than any other back to nature group. But after several harsh winters in a row when game became scarce, the university that was sponsoring the group became concerned and requested an official check on them.

The two rangers who drew the short straws made their way up the mountain and were back down in the same day. They were unable to do a head count of the group – when they reached the edge of the group’s territory, they were met by several angry, bearded, emaciated figures carrying spears.

Not knowing what to expect at the end of the tenth year, the university sent an entire team to let the group know their time was up. This time there were no spear carrying figures, in fact, there was no one at all to meet them. They reached the main camp without seeing a single soul.

Although there were signs it had once been used by a large group, it was obvious no one had been there in several years. There was, however, a trail leading away through the woods and they followed it to a cave where they found the two boys.

This was obviously where the group had moved to. Judging by the detritus left behind, they’d been living there for several years. There were bundles of spears leaning against the walls along with heaps of other crude tools, remnants of cloth and animal skins piled haphazardly. Off to the side was a pile of bones that had been gnawed clean. One of the rangers accompanying the group picked one of the bones up for a closer look and let it drop with a shudder. It looked too human for comfort.

In the back of the cave’s large chamber they found the two boys, curled together like puppies in a nest of bone, animal skins, and leaves. They were naked and filthy, scratched and bruised and bloody. And totally wild. They snapped and snarled at the team and had to be forcibly subdued.

The team could find nothing to show where the adults had gone. Surely they wouldn’t have just left their children behind. There were no graves, no bodies, no trails to indicate where they might have headed. The boys certainly weren’t talking. And though they were badly emaciated, they wouldn’t touch the food they were offered.

By the time the team got back with the only survivors of the experiment, it was late. The man in charge made the decision to keep the boys in one of the utilitarian bedrooms in the basement of the university, usually reserved for grad students pulling all nighters. The windows were barred and the doors locked – it seemed the safest place. In the morning they’d call in a bevy of experts to deal with them.

But in the morning, there was only one boy in the room and the mystery as to where he’d disappeared to was as strange as the mystery of what happened to the group. One last time they questioned the remaining boy. He opened his mouth, they leaned forward to hear his answer, and he let out a very satisfied belch.

Fortune Telling – Part VIII

While not exactly a method of telling fortunes, Graphology can still offer insights into a person’s psyche, which is why many employers have used it to weed out potential candidates. Graphology is the study of handwriting and the connection it has to a person’s behaviour. It’s been used in compiling profiles of everything from employment to marital compatibility. In Switzerland, approximately 80 percent of large corporations use graphology in their hiring procedures. There are approximately 300 features to be found in handwriting, but I’m only going to explore a few of the basic ones here.

Line Direction
People who write in convex (bowed downwards) lines tend to start a project with ambition and enthusiasm only to lose interest and give up before the task has been completed. People who write with concave (bowed upwards) lines approach a task with little optimism but gain self confidence as the task nears completion. Writing in descending lines may be caused by depression or pessimism. People in a mood swing may temporarily write in descending lines whereas an ascending line indicates optimism. Someone who writes a straight line may go straight toward his daily aim. If a person writes in a precisely straight line it is said that person is unyielding.

Slant
The right slant is the most common and most natural slant. The right slant is found in people in a hurry - impatient people and the active writer. A left slant tendency shows both emotion and reserve. If the handwriting is generally upright, this indicates independence.

Size
Large size handwriting can indicate someone who’s an extravert and outgoing, or it can mean that the writer puts on an act of confidence. Small size handwriting indicates a thinker and an academic. If the writing is small and delicate, the writer is unlikely to be a good communicator with anyone other than those on their own particular wavelength. These people do not generally find it easy to break new ground socially.

Spacing
Wide spaces between words are saying - 'give me breathing space'. Narrow spaces between words indicate a wish to be with others. Sometimes the words of a sentence are both widely and narrowly spaced. This writer is usually unstable in both thinking and emotions.

Space between letters show the extent the writer relies upon their own intuition. When all letters are connected it indicates a person with logical and systematic thinking. When only some letters are unconnected it shows an artistic and intuitive thinker. When most letters are unconnected it shows a person who is an egocentric.

A person who writes with widely spaced lines may live a life of order and system. These are reasonable people with executive ability.. But if the space between the lines becomes too wide it may indicate a person who likes to keep their distance. Small spaces between the lines may indicate a person who likes to be around other people. Overlapping lines may indicate a person who suffers from an emotional or mental disorder.

Margins
The width of the left margin is indicative of the distance we wish to maintain to other people. Wide left margins are often in handwriting of proud or shy people. Pathologically self-conscious people will watch and control both the left and right margin. Narrow upper margins betray informality and wide ones show withdrawal. No margins is indicative of a person who wants no distance between other people. They want to be one with the world. Wide margins are indicative of a withdrawn person.

Letters
Tall capitals are people who tower above the rest. Small capitals are people who are modest in nature. They concentrate on facts, not ideas. Wide letters are extroverted people. Narrow letters come from loners. Lack of end strokes indicates a shy person. When the first letter stands apart it shows a cautious person.

Tall upper strokes are reaching towards goals and ambitions or, if they are very extended, there may be unrealistic expectations of what the person feels they must achieve. Reasonably proportioned upper loops indicate someone who likes to think things through and use their imagination in a sensible way. Wider upper loops indicate more of a tendency to dream up ideas and mull them over. If the up-stroke goes up and then returns on top of itself, the writer may be squeezing out imagination and keeping to the basic requirement of getting down to the job in hand.

A straight stroke shows impatience to get the job done. A full lower loop with heavy pressure indicates energy/money-making/sensuality possibilities. A full lower loop with light pressure indicates a need or wish for security. If there are many and varied shapes in the letters, the writer may feel unsettled and unfocused emotionally.

Pressure
Heavy pressure indicates commitment and taking things seriously, but if the pressure is excessively heavy, that writer gets very uptight at times and can react quickly to what they might see as criticism, even though none may have been intended. These writers react first and ask questions afterwards.

Light pressure shows sensitivity to atmosphere and empathy to people, but can also, if the pressure is uneven, show lack of vitality.

Legible hand-writers make good teachers and speakers. They are sincere and co-operative. But beware of the person whose writing is impressively legible, these people are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Mightier Than the Sword

Other than the story I'm sharing below, I didn't get a whole lot of writing done last week. So, since the story ran kind of long anyway, that's all you're getting today.

This story came from the prompt I tried in place of the actual prompt a couple of weeks ago, then abandoned because I couldn't get it off the ground. Looks like I finally figured it out. :-D

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The pen hadn't been worth stealing. Well, maybe for somebody else, but not as far as I’m concerned. I gotta tell you, I’m sorry I did. But maybe I should start at the beginning, then you’ll understand.

I was trying to turn over a new leaf, see, but growing up on the streets the way I did as a kid leaves a kind of aura around a person, you know what I mean? Anyways, the only legit jobs I could get were pretty much scraping the bottom the barrel, and I didn’t want to stay there the rest of my life.

So there I was, contemplating my future, and Marty got this bright idea to go visit this psychic he knows. Marty was always getting bright ideas which should have warned me what it might lead to ‘cause Marty’s bright ideas generally get us into a fix.

You gotta understand, I don’t hold with all that woo-woo stuff, but I went with Marty to see the aunt of his friend’s cousin’s brother’s wife. She has this little table set up in the back of a pawn shop over on the north side of town.

Anyway, she starts out telling me the usual stuff like, “You lost your father when you were very young,” and “You are having financial problems.” – no brainer stuff, you know? I mean, I never knew my father, and I wouldn’t have been there if I wasn’t down on my luck. Then she finishes up with stuff about how my luck’s about to change, and she sees money in my future. Wraps the whole thing up by telling me to remember the pen is mightier than the sword. Where do they get this crap?

Afterwards, me and Marty went to Checky’s Bar for a drink and run into Butch. He tells us about these gems they’re gonna have at the museum, put them on display or something. His girlfriend’s brother’s cousin’s girlfriend works there and said the gems are there now, in a store room, and security won’t be in place for two more days.

Marty’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “She was right! Goddamn she was right!”

“Who was right?” Butch asked.

“That fortune teller we just saw.” He turned to me. “She done told you your luck’s about to change, and you got money in your future. This must be what she was talkin’ about.”

Well, it sounded right to me. Next thing I know we’re creeping though the museum, breaking in was dead easy, looking for that store room. Marty was right in front of me and stopped dead – I almost ran into him.

“What is it?” I hissed.

With a grin he pointed at a display we were about to pass. The light was so low it took me a minute to figure out what was behind the glass, but when I did I had to grin too. It was a display of fancy pens – some collection someone had donated. Only took a second to crack open the case. I gotta say, most of those pens were pretty weird looking, but I picked one that looked like it was made of blue stone. I like blue.

“The pen is mightier than the sword,” I whispered, holding it up. Then I stuck it in my pocket, for good luck, don’t you know.

Turns out the pen was the only thing we came out with. Butch tripped an alarm while we were still looking for the store room so we hot footed it outta there. It was too late to go back and have another beer at Checky’s, so we parted ways and I headed for home. Home at that point was a one room basement apartment over on Cedarview.

I hadn’t even been home long enough to crack open a cold one when I got the urge to pull out that pen and have a look at it. Then I thought to try it out, see if it still worked, and pulled out a blank notebook. Well, next thing I know, I had that notebook filled with scribbling, then another one and another.

Marty came by to see why I hadn’t been around and he started reading those notebooks, I had about a dozen of 'em by then - who knew he was a reader? I was only half listening when he told me how good my story was, so he ups and gives the notebooks to his brother’s sister-in-law’s cousin’s kid to type up, then he sends it to some publisher on my behalf.

Well, you know the rest. Instant best seller. Instant fame. Now here I am in a high rise apartment, all the money in the world, and I can’t enjoy a minute of it ‘cause I can’t stop writing. I’m pretty sure this pen is cursed. I’ve tried to stop, believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve tried throwing that damned pen away but it always reappears.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful pen, but I sure wish I’d left it in that display case.

Fortune Telling – Part VII

The history of pendulum divination, or radiesthesia can be traced back over 5,000 years to the ancient Orient. The pendulum is the main instrument used for this area of divination, although wooden rods are also used (better known as dowsing). This practice became very popular in the Middle Ages and was a favored practice of divination through to the early nineteenth century. The practice lost favor after that but then there was a great renewal of interest in the twentieth century.

The pendulum is a simple tool. The basic design is a weight of some sort suspended on a fine chain or a thin silk thread.

To make your own pendulum, you'll need a crystal or other stone, jeweler’s wire, and a lightweight. Take the crystal and wrap it in a length of jeweler's wire. When you're done wrapping it, leave a loop at the top. Attach one end of the chain to the loop. The chain is usually between 10 and 14 inches long. (You can also use a ring suspended from a silk thread)

Next, you’ll want to charge your pendulum by placing it overnight in water or salt. Remember that some crystals will degrade in salt, so be sure to check before you do this. Another option is to leave the pendulum outside overnight in the moonlight.

After it’s charged, hold the chain between the thumb and forefinger and let the pendulum hang down about an inch above a flat surface. It should not touch anything; make sure your hand and arm are completely still.

Wait until the crystal or ring has stopped swinging at the end of the chain before you begin. Ask a question to which you know the answer is yes. The crystal should begin to move either side to side, back and forth or clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Whatever pattern the movement follows, make a note that this would always be your 'yes' answer. (You can verify by repeating the question, to make sure). Follow the same steps, this time asking a question to which you know the answer is NO. Again, note the movements and this should always be your own 'no' answer. Then you can start asking questions that you don't have an answer to.

If you are having any trouble discerning an answer, it may be that the question asked is too ambiguous and need rephrasing. It's also possible that the question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Consider the wording of the questions carefully. You do not have to speak the question out loud, just focus on it as you begin.

After you have worked with your pendulum for awhile, you might want to determine more than yes and no answers. This is where things get really interesting. A variety of things can be used for pendulum divination: maps, a calendar, pictures . . .

You can put the letters of the alphabet in a semicircle on paper, and place it on the table to have the pendulum spell an answer out, much like a Ouiji board. A calendar can be used to find the accurate date for a birth by laying it on the table and suspending the pendulum in the center above it. Maps can be used in the same way for a number of questions – like finding something that has been lost.

Just remember, as with all forms of divination, to take the answers you receive with a grain of salt.

Goblins

I’m not liking all the non-writing I’ve been doing lately, and I’d really like to do something about that this week. But you know as well as I that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

I can’t even use the weather as an excuse for my lack of ambition. Or at least I can’t blame the lack of sun. We had quite a few sunny days last week. And then the temperature took a nosedive and we got SNOW on the weekend.

Snow. In May. Makes me glad I listened to my neighbour – I was thinking of getting my garden started last week but she told me to hold off for a couple of weeks. There are a lot of people who didn’t wait and it remains to be seen whether the shoots coming up in their gardens will survive or not.

The other thing I can’t use as an excuse for not writing is reading. I finished my last Nora Roberts book on Monday or Tuesday and haven’t read anything since. I was supposed to get a couple of books I’d ordered on Thursday but . . . nothing. I’ve got two more scheduled to arrive at the end of the month, but I won’t hold my breath.

It’s not like I don’t have other books to read, I just don’t wanna.

Looks like I need to give myself another stern talking to. And this time I need to listen

Once again we’ll see how it goes.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

After the goblin invasion we realized all the dark lords were dead.

It’s easy to forget what life was like before the coming of the dark lords. Heroes were few and far between, there weren’t enough to go around. The woods were filled with ogres and there was a troll under every bridge. Goblins were thick as thieves but more meddlesome. Life was hard.

Then the dark lords came with their promises and magic. They would gladly drive back the ogres for us, happily clear the trolls out so it was safe to travel across the bridges again. They could control the goblin hoards. But of course there was a price to pay. If only we had known how that price would increase over the years.

At first it was just a few gold coins, a sheep or two, maybe a goat – certainly not as much as the trolls and ogres took. Likewise the occasional request for a virgin seemed reasonable enough if it meant they no longer had to worry about dragons.

They were called dark lords for a reason, however. They demanded complete obedience, total subjugation. Before long we were nothing more than slaves, toiling for their gain, living and dying at their whim. We’d made a poor bargain.

They built a tower of black stone where they lived and worked their magic. Those they considered most useful were forced to live in the lower level to serve their needs, the rest of us were allowed to bring our tribute and return to our homes.

But the thing about a small group with a great deal of power is that there’s never enough power to go around and each individual thinks they should be the one in charge. It was bad enough the yoke we were under threatened to break us, but we were also expected to pick a lord and swear allegiance to him, aiding him in the struggle for power.

We began to meet in secret and we formed a plan to set them against each other. A nudge here, a whisper there, and they began to look at each other with suspicion. Those dwelling in the tower reported the dark lords were becoming increasingly paranoid, and soon enough even the servants were banished from the tower.

There were several disappearances, unearthly screams heard from within the tower, but we saw no sign of the dark lords for several weeks. Then the goblins came and we knew the dark lords had killed each other off. We would have congratulated ourselves for a job well done, but we were too busy defending ourselves from the goblins.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Wordage Report

Wandering Wizards – 0 words
I cannot tell a lie, I got zero words written last week. None. Nada. Zip.

Weekly Prompt – 442 words
Considering the amount of time I sat with my lap top on my lap to work on this thing, I would have expected a better story. But at least I made the effort.

New Prompt
Use this as your first line:
The text message simply said 'very clever'.

Happy Writing!

Fortune Telling – Part VI

It’s a dark and stormy night. A group of friends are huddled around a table in a room lit only by candlelight. There’s a board with writing on it on the table, and in the center of the board a triangle shaped planchette. The friends rest their fingertips on the planchette and ask a question. Suddenly, the planchette begins to move! Cue scary music.

The Ouija board has been around a lot longer than you might think. It’s believed to have been used as a form of divination by the Greeks before the time of Christ, and could also be found in the time of the Roman Emperor Valens in the fourth century. Historical documents from the Song Dynasty in China record the use of planchette writing as a form of divination in 1100 AD.

Fast forward to 1891 when a patent was granted to Elijah J Bond for the first modern Ouija board. The following year the rights to the Ouija board were purchased by William Fuld. It was regarded as an innocent parlor game unrelated to the occult until American Spiritualist Pearl Curran popularized its use as a divining tool during World War I. In 1966 the Parker Brothers purchased the rights to the Ouija board and shifted its manufacturing facilities to Salem, Massachusetts.

The purpose of the Ouija board is as a conduit to spirits you wish to communicate with. Typically the board is set on a table in the center of a group and everyone rests their fingertips lightly on the planchette. The spirits who are called upon to answer your questions move the planchette around the board to spell out the answers, letter by letter.

Some believe benevolent spirits are at work here, while others believe the Ouija board is a dangerous occult gateway that can lead to demonic possession. And of course there are those who believe it’s all complete bunkum.

There is, in fact, a scientific explanation for the mysterious movement of the Ouija board planchette – it’s called the ideomotor, which is simply a way for your body to talk to itself. The ideomotor effect is an involuntary, unconscious, physical movement. Your subconscious creates images and memories when you ask the board questions. Your body responds by causing the muscles in your hands and arms to move the planchette to the answers you unconsciously want to receive.

So technically, you are communicating with something mysterious – your subconscious mind. Psychologists believe that it may offer a link between the known and the unknown.

If you’d like to give it a try without going to the expense of buying one, you can easily make your own Ouija board. All you need is a smooth table or board to work from and small pieces of paper to write on. The best layout is to place the word yes at the top and the word no at the bottom.

The letters of the alphabet are placed in a circle starting with the letter A next to the word yes and continuing around until the final letter Z ends up on the other side of the word yes. The numbers from one to nine should be placed at the bottom next to the no.

Any glass will do for the planchette , although a wine glass is the most effective. The responses you get from the Ouija board will really depend on your attitude and commitment.

The Ouija board usually requires a minimum of two people to operate it. The two people should sit opposite each other and place the tip of only one finger on the glass. The fingertip should only gently touch the glass.

Someone starts by asking a simple question, such as "is there a spirit present?" If there is no response the question should continued to be asked. The glass eventually moves and answers the question. Once you have your first answer, you can take turns asking simple questions and awaiting the answers.

Once you become experienced at the Ouija board you will find the pace of responses coming from the glass will increase. In fact sometimes the glass will speed across the table at such great speeds it is almost impossible to keep up.

OUIJA BOARD TRIVIA:

The Ouija board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem. Over two million copies of the Ouija board were shipped.

Aleister Crowley advocated the use of Ouija boards, and they played a major role in many of his magickal workings.

Poet James Merrill used a Ouija board for years, and even encouraged entrance of spirits into his body. He wrote the poem The Changing Light at Sandover with the help of a Ouija board. Before he died, he recommended people not to use the Ouija board.

Alice Cooper claims that an Ouija board suggested that he was the reincarnation of a 17th century witch with the name Alice Cooper, which is why he uses that name.