Own - Skin

Throughout the ages, impatient singles have sought mystical means in order to foresee their romantic future. Consider these divination practices and internet dating services may not seem like such a bad idea after all:

Love Omens:

If someone sweeping the floor sweeps over your feet, it is a sign that you will never marry.

If you are making a quilt or bedspread and don't finish it, you will never marry.

If a bachelor places a bachelor's buttons plant in his pocket on Valentine's day and it continues to bloom, he will be lucky in love all the year through.

If you catch a falling leaf on Valentine's day before it hits the ground, you'll have a year of happy relationships.

Gypsies who wanted to know if they would marry would ask a mule. If both the mule's ears twitched, it meant yes. If only one twitched, it meant maybe. If the mule's ears were still, the answer was no.

Take two chestnuts. Name one for yourself and one for your love. Place them on a fire log. If they burn quietly, you will have a harmonious relationship. If the one named for your love pops or sputters, your love will be tumultuous. If the one named for you pops or sputters, you will lose interest in your love.

To Find Out Whom You Will Wed:

Find a four leaf clover and cut it in half. Place the half in your shoe and go for a walk. The first person you meet will have the same initials as your future spouse.

Make a list of the names of all the people you might possibly wed. Hold an apple by the stem and spin it, calling out the names. The name you speak when the stem breaks and the apple falls will be the one you will marry.

Peel an apple skin in one, long strip and toss it over your left shoulder. The letter it forms is the initial of your future love's Christian name.

Beneath the moon on Valentine's day, crack an egg into a bowl of water. The shape the white takes will hint at the occupation of the one you will wed.

Place a knife on a table before you and spin it clockwise. If the blade faces towards you when it stops, your future mate will have dark hair. If it faces away from you, your future mate will be fair.

To find out who you will marry, write the names of all the men or women you know on hazelnuts (one name per nut). Roast them over an open fire. The first one to pop is the one with whom you are destined to be.

With an apple and a knife, stand before a mirror. Slice the apple into pieces. Stick a pieces on the point of the knife and hold it over your left shoulder. As you gaze into the mirror, you will see a vision of your future spouse appear behind you to take the apple.

Go to a church at midnight on Midsummer's Eve. Walk around it 9 times while sprinkling hemp seeds and saying, "As the hemp seeds I do sow, who will follow me and mow?" You will see a vision of your future life partner. Unfortunately, since hemp (marijuana) is illegal, don't be surprised if it is a police officer.

To Dream Of Your Future Mate:

Wear your nightgown inside-out.

Place a mirror under your pillow.

Rub your head with citrus peel before retiring.

Place two bay leaves under your pillow in a cross.

Place a sprig of cinquefoil with seven leaflets under your pillow.

Place a sprig of thyme in your left shoe and a sprig of rosemary in your right; place your shoes at the foot of your bed for the night to dream of your future lover.