oneiromancy, but gives particular examples. The best dreams are those of Mount Fuji, a hawk, and the fruit of an egg-plant; the reason is not known though their pre-eminence as good omens has become proverbial. Among lucky dreams are those in which one is struck by lightning, climbs a precipice, is confined underground or in a cave, crosses a sea, eats rice, carries a big log, worships a god, meets a man of high rank, sharpens a sword, sees a hermit, casts a net, vomits gold and silver, sits or walks on a bridge, reads a book, rides in a palanquin, sheds tears, or is bitten by a centipede; and among the bad are those in which the ground is covered with frost, trees grow in a room, a landslip takes place, one perspires, a looking-glass is cracked, a room is invaded by ants, or one is dressed in mourning. If caught in a rain in a dream, there will before long be an invitation to a dinner; if the sun and moon fall, the dreamer’s parents will die; and if a black cloud comes spinning down, there will be an illness in his house. Folding a screen presages longevity, and drinking water in a gully is a promise of wealth. Equally lucky are the dreams of sowing or climbing a mountain, while a marriage follows the sight of a running stream.
In casting a nativity, use is made of the twelve zodiacal signs which in Japan and China are animals, namely, the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, fowl, dog and boar. Every year, month, day, and hour is known by these signs, and is also, except the hours, marked by one of the five elements wood, fire, earth, water, and metal. As each year is marked by one of the signs and one of the elements at the same time, sixty years form a complete cycle, after which the same combinations of the signs and elements are repeated. In horoscopy, every one of these sixty years has distinctive features. The elemental nature of the years is of importance in determining the disposition of those born therein. The relations between a husband
