Showing posts with label tarot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tarot. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Hieroglyphical Fortune Teller: Now Available!
In a stroke of good luck I happened upon this work while researching the early 1900s Oraculum; the Dream Book version, as opposed to Tousey's far better Book of Fate version.
A slimmed down work, it contains an expansive oracle in place of Tousey's shorter oracle twain with other content. As a pure fortune telling manuscript, it revolves around asking one of 26 questions, then choosing one of 26 letters to represent the answer- this works better when ascribing the numbers 1 through 26 on a random number generator to this purpose, or when the letters have been placed on cards and turned facing down so the user is able to eliminate the possibility of guesswork based on prior usage (the original text merely instructs the user to choose a Hebraic symbol for their answer- useless if they have used it more than a few times.)
Altogether an interesting work.
35 pages.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
A Comparison Of Five Overlapping Occult Books
What follows is a comparison of five different occult works from two overlapping traditions; the Oraculum and the Fortune Telling hand guide. What might have otherwise been two disparate traditions overlaps so significantly that each time I encountered one of the texts I was surprised to a fairly large degree.
What culminates is a fusion and evolution of two literary traditions; the late 1700s fortune teller and the early 1800s oracle book. I intend to release an edition of Mrs. Bridget's Fortune Teller, although I am hesitant to bother releasing the second version of the Oraculum when Tousey's version is so much more interesting; the former version, from the early 1900s, is heavily stripped down.
It is worth noting a second layer of interesting comparison: Fortey released a work in 1860 alongside his version of the Universal Fortune Teller on dream interpretation containing a similar catalog of interpretations to the 1790 work of Mrs. Bridget, while there is also a work from 1823 which stylistically is almost identical to the Philosophical Merlin and also contains an expose on the meaning of moles on the body.
Here, thus, are the comparisons based upon content:
Napoleon's Oraculum Version 2: Fisher and Brothers (1908?) NOFB
Napoleon's Oraculum: Tousey (1884) NOF
Universal Fortune Teller: Fortey (1860) UFTT
Universal Fortune Teller: Mrs. Bridget (1790) UFTB
Philosophical Merlin: (1822) PM
----
An Oraculum
NOFB: Yes, expansive question oracle
NOF: Yes, shortened question oracle
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: Yes, a nativity casting oracle
Prognostication for Children
NOFB: Yes, simple
NOF: Yes, simple
UFTT: Yes, simple
UFTB: Yes, expansive
PM: No
Charms And Rites Section
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PPM: No
Dream Interpretation
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, very expansive
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moderately expansive
PM: No
Tricks with cards
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, several tricks
UFTT: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
UFTB: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
PM: No
Tricks with Dominoes
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: No
Tricks with Dice
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: No
Choosing a Husband by the Hair
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM: No
Astrology
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTT: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTB: Yes, complex horoscopes and astronomy
PM: Technically yes
Palmistry
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes, complex
UFTB: Yes, simple with illustration
PM: No
Tea Leaf Reading
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PM: No
Moles and their Importance
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, moles and their meanings
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moles and their meanings
PM: Yes, their likely presence as determined via Oraculum
Largely Fictional Backstory Regarding Origin
NOFB: Yes, of Napoleon
NOF: No
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, of the Norwood Gypsy
PM: Yes, of Napoleon
Unlucky Days List
NOFB: No
NOF: No, but contains a list of days not to cast the oracle
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM: No
Origin
NOFB: United States
NOF: United States
UFTT: England
UFTB: England
PM: England
What culminates is a fusion and evolution of two literary traditions; the late 1700s fortune teller and the early 1800s oracle book. I intend to release an edition of Mrs. Bridget's Fortune Teller, although I am hesitant to bother releasing the second version of the Oraculum when Tousey's version is so much more interesting; the former version, from the early 1900s, is heavily stripped down.
It is worth noting a second layer of interesting comparison: Fortey released a work in 1860 alongside his version of the Universal Fortune Teller on dream interpretation containing a similar catalog of interpretations to the 1790 work of Mrs. Bridget, while there is also a work from 1823 which stylistically is almost identical to the Philosophical Merlin and also contains an expose on the meaning of moles on the body.
Here, thus, are the comparisons based upon content:
Napoleon's Oraculum Version 2: Fisher and Brothers (1908?) NOFB
Napoleon's Oraculum: Tousey (1884) NOF
Universal Fortune Teller: Fortey (1860) UFTT
Universal Fortune Teller: Mrs. Bridget (1790) UFTB
Philosophical Merlin: (1822) PM
----
An Oraculum
NOFB: Yes, expansive question oracle
NOF: Yes, shortened question oracle
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: Yes, a nativity casting oracle
Prognostication for Children
NOFB: Yes, simple
NOF: Yes, simple
UFTT: Yes, simple
UFTB: Yes, expansive
PM: No
Charms And Rites Section
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PPM: No
Dream Interpretation
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, very expansive
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moderately expansive
PM: No
Tricks with cards
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, several tricks
UFTT: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
UFTB: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
PM: No
Tricks with Dominoes
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: No
Tricks with Dice
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM: No
Choosing a Husband by the Hair
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM: No
Astrology
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTT: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTB: Yes, complex horoscopes and astronomy
PM: Technically yes
Palmistry
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes, complex
UFTB: Yes, simple with illustration
PM: No
Tea Leaf Reading
NOFB: No
NOF: No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PM: No
Moles and their Importance
NOFB: No
NOF: Yes, moles and their meanings
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moles and their meanings
PM: Yes, their likely presence as determined via Oraculum
Largely Fictional Backstory Regarding Origin
NOFB: Yes, of Napoleon
NOF: No
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, of the Norwood Gypsy
PM: Yes, of Napoleon
Unlucky Days List
NOFB: No
NOF: No, but contains a list of days not to cast the oracle
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM: No
Origin
NOFB: United States
NOF: United States
UFTT: England
UFTB: England
PM: England
Friday, July 1, 2016
Napoleon's Oraculum - Now Available!
At long last one of the best writings ever made on the topic of fortune telling and divination is available. Having reviewed other variants of the work available for sale, they are all substantially more expensive and most are primitive facsimiles. My works are never facsimile copies and are always fully edited by hand. I'd by lying if I said I didn't feel proud of this slower, more thorough effort.
The Oraculum stands at 76 pages; some variants are longer because they're mostly filler or else contain the longer but less varied Oraculum of the 1890s- the latter version does not contain most of the vaguely folk-tradition spells and rites of this version. The 1884 Tousey version is also notable for its expansive section on dream interpretation; I happen to agree with most of his inclusions here over those made by new age groups and posted on the internet- his version of interpretation, whatever its source, is more authentic.
It's a fine work, made finer by being completely overhauled for a modern audience.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Napoleon's Oraculum - Coming Soon! (Plus General Announcement)
It's a happy day for those interested in fortune telling, zodiacs, astrology, and general mysticism. One of the best works ever to be crafted that deals with these things (with a surprisingly massive number of types of fortune telling included within its pages) is now virtually done- I have completed my edition of the famous Oraculum of Napoleon; also called the Dream Book, or Book of Fate. This work, released three times in three forms, is largely based on, but expands greatly upon, the Philosophical Merlin of 1822 English fame. Two of these editions provide an enormous oraculum (long enough so the resulting pages of fortunes run into symbols) with little else, but the American version from the 1880s adds in numerous sections of additional material; fortune telling and divination by cards, dice, dominoes, moles, and the standard Zodiac as well. Thus, it was this edition I chose, with its simplified, shorter actual Oraculum section.
The Oraculum is 76 pages in length, about half of which is the Oraculum itself, the rest being dedicated to other variants of divination. A very brief half page section on the day of the week a child is born and what it prognosticates, present in the third but not the 1880s American edition, has been added in the notes for continuity as well.
In other, more general news, I have decided how to organize this blog; instead of adding links to each discrete work I have produced (there are too many to add to make the blog still look good) I have decided to break the works into four groups; alchemical works, grimoires, philosophical works, and miscellaneous works in their own fourth category. Thus, four new links will be added to the left hand side of the blog below the video series' own links, and posts will be made collecting the works in each category and briefly summarizing them as in my previous general post of edited works for sale. In this manner, navigation will be substantially improved.
The main sheet of the oraculum.
The Oraculum is 76 pages in length, about half of which is the Oraculum itself, the rest being dedicated to other variants of divination. A very brief half page section on the day of the week a child is born and what it prognosticates, present in the third but not the 1880s American edition, has been added in the notes for continuity as well.
In other, more general news, I have decided how to organize this blog; instead of adding links to each discrete work I have produced (there are too many to add to make the blog still look good) I have decided to break the works into four groups; alchemical works, grimoires, philosophical works, and miscellaneous works in their own fourth category. Thus, four new links will be added to the left hand side of the blog below the video series' own links, and posts will be made collecting the works in each category and briefly summarizing them as in my previous general post of edited works for sale. In this manner, navigation will be substantially improved.
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