As to the modus operandi of eki, of the fifty divining-sticks, forty-nine are taken up and rubbed between both hands; and after muttering an incantation, the fortune-teller parts them at random into two bundles. The bundle in the right hand is put down except a stick, which is held between the ring and little fingers of that hand; and the sticks in the left are counted off in sets of eight. To those remaining after as many such sets as possible have been set aside, the stick in the right hand is added; and according to their number, the simple combination is taken. If the number is one, the combination (A) is taken; if two, (B) is taken; if three, (C), and so on. This determines the combination of the lower half; and the same process is repeated for the upper half. The meaning of the total combination is discovered from the text-book; and the various interpretations there given are applied in a fitting manner. Thus, in this process of divination the combination is obtained from the sticks by chance or inspiration according to our view of the subject, and its signification is next applied with tact and ingenuity to the matter under consultation.
In addition to eki, superstition still finds many votaries in other modes of fortune-telling. Among these are believers in dreams. Dreams have been variously classified. One authority gives five kinds of dreams, namely, (1) divine dreams or visions, in which Gods, Buddhas, historical personages, or ancestors appear and reveal the future; (2) true dreams in which unexpected things occur and are clearly recalled upon waking; these are the only dreams that need be interpreted; (3) dreams of the heart, which merely reproduce in sleep what one has lately heard or has constantly on one’s mind; (4) false dreams, which arise from constitutional weakness or fatigue; and (5) miscellaneous dreams, which originate from one’s cupidity or worldly desires, such as making money, rising in the world, etc. The same authority does not lay down rules for
