“Aila Kar!” chanted Rahula. “Affirm it a third time. One-two-three!” and the ring once more hung motionless over the center of the magic plate.
“Thou standest faint-hearted at the Temple of Love newly erected in thy heart, Orondo,” declared Rahula, with a searching glance.
“Yes. And I fain would know if I may enter,” said he simply.
“The tarot gives us wisdom here,” was her reply, as she returned to the recess, and brought a sandal-wood box filled with small ivory cards. When she drew off the sliding lid, there were three packages, two of which she placed in a flattened disk-shaped basket of fine weave, which divided in two. Each side was furnished with a ring for a handle, and when she had unwound the linen coverings of the cards, she closed it.
“Hold the two rings firmly and shake the basket well,” she directed her visitor.
The third package contained the twenty-two keys of Divine Wisdom, and these Rahula shuffled thoroughly, keeping a square of fine linen over her hands in the process.
At the four cardinal points outside the metal disk in the center of the table were: on the north, a square of inlaid topazes; on the east, a similar setting of emeralds; on the south, a duplicate of sapphires; while on the west was a square of rubies. From each of these was a trine—numbered for the yellow, on the yellow disks, 2, 7, 12; on the green, on disks of green, 3, 8, 9; for the blue, on blue circles, 5, 4, 10; for the red, on red disks, 1, 6, 11. These trines were so interlaced that the rows of numerals made an outside circle, corresponding to the signs of the zodiac.
“Lay the basket on the metal disk,” commanded Rahula. “Then I will open the book of fate for thee.” Orondo did as he was bidden. Rahula emptied the ivories into her lap, and quickly arranged the cards in order, face upward, without changing their relative positions. When she had taken out the four aces (one representing a blossoming rod—the modern clubs; the second, a royal chalice—the modern diamonds; the third, a sword piercing a crown—ace of swords; and a circle inclosing a lotus-flower—the ace of cups), she handed them to Orondo, and told him to shuffle them well.
“The astral key to arcane knowledge is in thy hands. As thou valuest happiness, let no unclean thought steal in and pollute the fountain-head,” solemnly warned the reader of magic, as she invoked the genii of the day and hour.
The signs by which Orondo sought to divine the future, are found to-day in the scepter of Osiris, long the prerogative of kings and emperors. The pontifical staff, the eucharistic chalice, the cross and Divine Host, the patera cup containing the manna, and the dish of offerings were borrowed from the four aces of the ancient tarot and its central disk. These cards were never used for games of chance or for amusement but always for purposes of divination, and they were held sacred.