Consult the Oracle: A Victorian Guide to Folklore and Fortune Telling
Consult the Oracle: A Victorian Guide to Folklore and Fortune Telling by Gabriel Nostradamus
English | September 10th, 2013 | ASIN: B01DPPXE90, ISBN: 1908402733 | 168 pages | EPUB | 7.13 MB
English | September 10th, 2013 | ASIN: B01DPPXE90, ISBN: 1908402733 | 168 pages | EPUB | 7.13 MB
"If you sing before breakfast you will cry before supper…' In their own words, what it meant for Victorians to dream of actors, April Fools, herrings or a railway ticket – why it was advised to throw a black snail by its horns over the left shoulder for good luck – and why it is essential to inform bees of a death in the family. "If one drops a knife, a woman is coming; a fork, a man is coming; a spoon, a fool.”
Tappings on tables, questionable curatives, old wives' tales and whispers from beyond the grave – Victorians were fascinated by the supernatural. Consult the Oracle was where they might have turned when they needed to identify a witch, interpret an omen or dream, required a natural cure or wanted to divine their future with a pack of cards – or simply wished to understand what the supernatural meant to them and their ancestors. First published in 1899, it offered a layman's guide to 'matters magical and mysterious', and today is a quirky glimpse of a supernatural age now lost, by turns haunting and hilarious.
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