A singular mode of divination practised at the period of the harvest moon is thus described in an old chap-book: "When you go to bed, place under your pillow a prayer-book, opened at the part of the matrimonial service 'With this ring I thee wed;' place on it a key, a ring, a flower and a sprig of willow, a small heart-cake, a crust of bread and the following cards—the ten of clubs, nine of hearts, ace of spades and the ace of diamonds. Wrap all these in a thin handkerchief of gauze or muslin, and on getting into bed, cross your hands and say—
"Luna, every woman's friend, To me thy goodness condescend; Let me this night in visions see Emblems of my destiny."
A writer in "Notes and Queries" mentions a species of divination (sent him from Northamptonshire) of the leading events in a man's life, or rather of future employment, drawn from the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs. This consists of thirty-one verses, each of which is supposed to have a mystical reference to each of the corresponding days of the month. Thus, a person born on the 14th will be prognosticated "to get their food from afar." This was so fully believed in by some, that a boy was actually apprenticed to a _linen_-draper, for no other reason than because he was born on the 24th of the month, the twenty-fourth verse of the chapter mentioning "fine linen."
Spitting for "luck's sake," and as a charm against all kinds of fascinations, was regarded with importance by the ancients. Theocritus says—
"Thrice on my breast I spit to guard me safe From fascinating charms."
Among the Greeks it was customary to spit three times into their bosoms at the sight of a mad man, or one troubled with an epilepsy. Children were lustrated with spittle by their nurses or relations; the old grandmother, or aunt, moved around in a circle, and rubbed the child's forehead with spittle, selecting her middle finger, to preserve it from witchcraft. Persius alludes to this custom—
"See how old beldams expiation make, To atone the gods the bantling up they take His lips are wet with lustrous spittle; thus They think to make the gods propitious."
Spitting, as an Irish luck superstition, is noticed by Camden: "It is by no means allowable to praise a horse or any other animal, unless you say, 'God save him,' or spit upon him. If any ill-luck befalls the horse three days after, they hunt up the person who praised him, that he may whisper the Lord's prayer into the animal's right ear."