\documentstyle[twocolumn]{article}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0in}
\setlength{\textwidth}{6.5in}
\setlength{\topmargin}{-1in}
\setlength{\textheight}{9in}
\begin{document}
\parindent=20pt
\setcounter{page}{10}

\title{Tarot for Prophecy in Roleplaying}
\author{\copyright1991 Mark Grundy}
\date{mark@arp.anu.edu.au}
\maketitle

{\it \noindent
{\Large A}mong mystics, tarot has been widely
held to have prophetic  powers.  Though most roleplayers don't subscribe
to this belief, you can easily use tarot in a roleplaying game to make
story-like prophecies. Mark shows us how with detailed examples
and a bale full of flair.\\}

{\noindent I}f  you've  ever  tried  GMing  prophesies  in  roleplaying,  you'll
    probably recognize the problem:

        You want to put in  a prophecy to spice things  up and to focus  the
    players' attention,  but you  also want  to keep  the game  challenging.
    Maybe the players have come up to a prophet looking for some answers  to
    a quest, or  perhaps they just  hear about a  prophecy concerning  them.
    Players being what they are, how can you make the prophecy  interesting,
    spontaneous and accurate  without taking  away the  players' freedom  of
    choice?

\begin{center}
{\Large \bf Prophetic Dreams}
\end{center}
        Here is a solution that works for me.  I normally use it whenever  a
    player wants an important divination performed.  To use this method, you
    need a tarot deck with ``suggestive'' pictures on ``relevant  subjects''
    (i.e., the pictures on the cards should suggest stories that fit in with
    your game).   If you don't  have  such a  tarot deck and  don't want  to
    acquire one, then you  can equally well  collect relevant pictures  from
    magazines etc\ldots and paste these onto standard cards.  Here's how  it
    works:

        My divinations are mostly done through drug-induced dreaming  (this
    is for the  {\it characters} ---  not the {\it  players}!) Usually,  the
    player character ({\it PC})  dreams the dream,  and then some  prophetic
    non-played-character ({\it NPC}) interprets the  dream for them.   The
    use of cards makes the prophecy nice and moody for the players, and this
    can be enhanced with low lighting, music and incense.

\begin{center}
{\large \bf State the Question}
\end{center}
        I ask the player to state the question.  Some questions give  better
    answers than others.  ``How can I find my long lost brother?'' is better
    than ``Where is my long lost  brother?'', because it admits more  shades
    of meaning, and because it gives the player more to do when the dream is
    over.  So first, the prophet usually advises the PC on the best form  of
    the question.

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Symbolize the Question}
\end{center}
        In the world of dreams, everything  is a symbol.  In the  narrative,
    the PC begins in a void, as  will without body.  Their consciousness  is
    focussed around a box,  and in the  box is a  symbol of their  question.
    First, I ask the player to describe the box: its size, its shape,  its
    construction, any ornamentation, how it is opened, etc\ldots The  player
    can provide any answer they want, as  long as it is vivid and  detailed.
    Eg.  ``The box is made of dark brown wood, ancient and highly  polished.
    It has two hinges of  gold and a golden  lock shaped like an  oak-leaf.
    The box is unusual, because it has six sides.''

        Second, I ask the player to describe what is in the box.  I remind
    them that this is the  symbol of their question.   They must not  forget
    the question,  or  else they  will  be lost  in  dreams until  they  can
    remember.  I ask the players lots of detail about the symbol.  Eg.   ``A
    bronze fish-hook  stuck  in an  apple.   The  apple  is young,  green  and
    perfect.   The bronze  fish-hook  is old  and rusty.    There is  no  line
    attached to it; the apple has no leaves and no stalk.''

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Invent a Little Story}
\end{center}
        These descriptions are  written down  in keyword form,  and now  the
    tarot comes into play.  I draw five cards, one at a time.  Each time,  I
    describe the scene on the card and ask the player for a response.  I try
    and describe the scene in a way  that makes sense to the player and  his
    problem, but this isn't  strictly necessary.   Each card represents  one
    facet of the problem.  The facets are:

\begin{description}
\item{Earth (I  have):} Family,  possessions,  physical health,  and  wealth.
            Usually, a place where the question or problem begins.

\item{Fire (I will):}  Will, ambition,  aggression.  Usually,  how the  PC's
            desires affect the question.

\item{Air (I think):} Thoughts,  communication, society, travel.   Usually,
            secret knowledge about the problem or a place where the PC must
            go in order to solve the question.

\item{Water (I feel):} Dreams, intuitions, emotions, love.  How the  problem
            affects the PC or the PC's loved ones.

\item{Outcome:} The resolution of these things.
\end{description}

        This method is based on a  simple tarot system called the  Elemental
    Tarot (by C. Smith and J.  Astrop; published 1988 by  Viking) ---  so
    called because it is based on the  four elements.  I've found the  cards
    useful for  roleplaying purposes, and I'll  use them  for the  following
    examples without describing the cards in  great detail.  Any other  deck
    that has suggestive pictures will also work with this method.

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Example}
\end{center}

\begin{description}

    \item{First card is:} Daughter of Earth, with keywords Artist/Poseur

\begin{description}
\item{GM:} You come upon  a sunny hillside where  a young naked woman  plays
      with a golden ball.  She spins the ball upon her fingertip, then kicks
      it over toward you.  She says ``Hello.  What are you doing here?''

\item{PC:} I pick up the ball and throw it back to her.  ``I am looking  for
      my brother,'' I say.
\end{description}

    \item{Second card is:} Father of Air, keywords Evangelist/Dictator

\begin{description}
\item{GM:} The girl laughs, and snatches the  ball out of the air.  ``He  is
      in the sky,'' she says.   She points into  the sky, where dark  clouds
      are gathering.  It begins to rain, and the ball hisses and melts  into
      the ground.  ``I am cold,'' she says, as her naked body trembles.

\item{PC:} I cover her  with my cloak.   ``How can I get  into the sky?''  I
      ask.
\end{description}

    \item{Third card is:} 2 of Earth ``Plant'', Choice/Vacillation

\begin{description}
\item{GM:} She smiles in  gratitude at your gesture  and ceases to  shiver.
      ``Climb the tree,  silly,'' she  laughs.   Where before  the ball  had
      melted into the ground, now a  great tree stands with golden  leaves.
      It has many boughs and seems to reach all the way into the sky.

\item{PC:} ``Thank you,'' I say to the woman.  I carefully climb the tree.
\end{description}

    \item{Fourth card is:} 1 of Earth ``Seed'', Win/Bright Prospect

\begin{description}
\item{GM:} You climb and  climb.  Finally,  you reach the  tip of the  tree.
      The clouds are still above you, and it is no longer raining.

\item{PC:} ``I look around, calling my brother's name.''

\item{GM:} ``The wind snatches the words from your mouth, and the sky  seems
      to howl  its laughter  at  you.   As you  begin  to descend  the  tree
      despondently, you see a little nut: a yellow acorn.''

\item{PC:} ``I pluck it and continue down the tree.''
\end{description}

    \item{Final card is:} 2 of Air ``Zephyr'',  Discussion/Impasse

\begin{description}
\item{GM:} ``The wind screams its outrage and snatches the little acorn from
      your hand.   Your  cries chase  the gale  into the  distance, and  you
      awaken.''
\end{description}

\end{description}

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Interpretation}
\end{center}
        As the  little story  progresses,  I make  notes about  each  scene.
    Interpretation can be  difficult and  sometimes has to  wait until  the
    next game-session.  At  other times, you can  interpret it all straight
    off.  This one is being done off the top of my head as I write, and I've
    tried  to   keep   the  symbolism   simple.     Before   describing   my
    interpretation, it will help to explain how I arrive at it:

        The Box represents the environment  of the problem.  Any long-range
    or general statements  about the problem  can be seen  in the shape  and
    qualities of the box.  The player  usually has no conscious idea of  the
    significance of the box, but invariably, every player makes a  different
    box for each problem.

        The Object inside the box represents the true nature of the problem.
    Perhaps the player meant for  the apple to be  the brother and for  the
    fish-hook to be a way  of bringing him back.   But the fish-hook is old  and
    rusty, suggesting perhaps that the  player fears that something sinister  and
    barbed lies  behind  his  brother's disappearance.    We,  however,  can
    interpret the symbol as it appears to us.

        Each of the phases of the  story represent elements of the  solution
    to the  problem.   We interpret  these in  the light  of insights  we've
    developed through  the  Box  and  the  Object.   For  the  thing  to  be
    convincing, we try  and find  a meaning  for every  image that  occurred
    during the dream.   To give the  interpretation further credibility,  we
    present it in the words of an interesting NPC.  Here's an example:

\newpage

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Example}
\end{center}
        Phelps sweats beneath the Egyptian sun and waits as the old prophet
    wipes his hands upon his grubby  jellaba, takes a puff from his  hookah,
    and speaks:

        ``There is an old family who have  taken your brother.  The wood  of
    the box is the wood of their  homeland.  Remember it, for when you  have
    found this wood, you will have found  them.  There are six sides to  the
    box, and so six members of this family were party to the plan.  The  two
    hinges of gold  were the two well-paid men  who did the  deed, and  the
    golden oakleaf is  a countryman  of yours  who concealed  it.   He is  a
    countryman because the oak is a tree of your homeland, but we see  that
    the wood of the box is not oak,  and so your brother is not in  England,
    effendi.

        ``The apple is your brother as he was, young and perfect, yet  green
    and not mature.  The rusty hook tells  us that he was taken at sea,  but
    there is no line  in the hook,  and so you shall  learn nothing by  this
    fact.

        ``The naked woman is one whom you  shall soon meet.  She is  wealthy
    and passionate, yet she  is also capricious and  she will toy with  you.
    She will offer you riches, and you will reject them.  She will offer you
    love, and you will refuse  it.  In time, she  will face a great  trouble,
    and you will aid her.  Only then can you win her confidence.

        ``Your brother is in  the keeping of a  great lord, far beyond  your
    station.  His words roll about the sky, and lesser lords tremble.   Only
    through the woman can you get close enough to recover your brother.  The
    wind smacks of intrigue and  deceit.  The box  was old, effendi, and  so
    your brother's abduction is part  of a plan that  has been years in  the
    making.

        ``If you follow my words, you  will win your brother, effendi.   You
    will find that he is less than once he was, and yet more.  The  youthful
    flesh of the green apple  is gone, but his  seed is golden.   However,
    the great lord and his minions will snatch your brother away again.   If
    you would  regain him,  you must  arm yourself  with knowledge,  and  be
    prepared to speak with a clear mind and with great wisdom.

        ``Of my own wisdom, I have no more to give you.  Allah preserve  you
    effendi, for we shall not meet again in this life.''

\begin{center}
{\Large \bf The Celtic Cross}
\end{center}
        The  Elemental   pattern   (or   {\it   spread})   is   simple   and
    straightforward, but you can also  use more traditional tarot  spreads.
    The most popular spread is known as the Celtic Cross.  It gives you more
    information, and so it's best  used when you want  to generate a lot  of
    story from a single prophecy.  The Celtic Cross spread also works  with
    any deck, but  is most commonly  used with the  Rider/A.E.  Waite  deck.
    For simplicity, I'll stick to using the Elemental deck in my examples.

        In the Celtic Cross spread, ten cards are laid out in the  following
    pattern:


%				     5      10
%					     9
%				 4  1,2  6
%					     8
%				     3       7

\begin{center}
\begin{picture}(140,180)(0,0)
\put(40,75){\framebox(20,30){1,2}}
\put(35,80){\framebox(30,20){}}
\put(40,20){\framebox(20,30){3}}
\put(0,75){\framebox(20,30){4}}
\put(40,130){\framebox(20,30){5}}
\put(80,75){\framebox(20,30){6}}
\put(120,0){\framebox(20,30){7}}
\put(120,50){\framebox(20,30){8}}
\put(120,100){\framebox(20,30){9}}
\put(120,150){\framebox(20,30){10}}
\end{picture}
\end{center}

        The first card is placed vertically, and the second card crosses  it;
    the other cards are arrayed around the center as shown.  The meanings of
    the card positions are as follows:

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{rlrl}
	1&	Question&		6 & Near future\\
	2&	Influence&		7 & The querent's attitude\\
	3&	Basis of the question&	8 & Environmental effects\\
	4&	Recent past&		9 & Pros \& Cons\\
	5&	Present&		10& Outcome\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Example}
\end{center}
        Sir Tathal is an Arthurian knight  who serves an old holy-woman  in
    Cirencester.  As an orphan, he was raised by the holy-woman who is both
    his family and his liege.  Because of his profound loyalty to her, Tathal
    is often flat-broke and without even a  horse to bear him.  Sir  Tathal
    is a clever tactician and a fearsome foot-fighter with his  two-handed
    maul.   He looks  fierce and  cunning, but  is actually  very staid  and
    homey.  He loves arguing pointlessly about religion with his liege,  and
    cannot conceive of life without her.

        But his  liege is  getting old,  and spends  more and  more time  in
    Cirencester.  Of late, she  is subject to uncontrollable coughing  fits,
    and Tathal is concerned that she may  die soon.  He has never known  any
    other family or liege but the old woman;  Tathal fears for his future.

        One day, as he is traveling  alone on an errand to St.   Albans,
    he meets an  old crone.   For  one bezant she  offers to  tell him  his
    fortune, and Sir Tathal accepts.   The bent and wizened lady produces  a
    dark, polished bowl of red wood from her  possessions and fills it  with
    still water from  a shady  pool.   She hitches up  her rags,  sits on  a
    lichenous rock and breathes steam onto  the bowl of water.  Through  the
    steam, she peers at  Sir Tathal.  His  question is this: ``Five  Winters
    hence, what liege shall I serve?''

        From the Elemental  deck (which  I posted previously),  we draw  ten
    cards and lay them out in the pattern shown.  The purpose of the pattern
    is to help you remember what each  position means.  It also adds to  the
    mood.  Here are the cards that I drew\ldots

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{rll}
	1& Virgin		&Receptivity\\
	2& 5 Fire: Furnace	&Stimulation/Discontent\\
	3& Mother of Air	&Career Minded/Intriguer\\
	4& 2 Air: Zephyr	&Discussion/Impasse\\
	5& 10 Fire: Flare	&Passion/Revenge\\
	6& 10 Earth: Desert	&Change/Loss\\
	7& Hanged Man		&Vulnerability\\
	8& Mother of Fire	&Business Minded/Liberator\\
	9& Judgement		&Forgiveness\\
	10& Daughter of Fire	&Organizer/Workaholic\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

	And this is the reading:

\begin{description}

\item{The Question:} Virgin

        ``You stand in  fear of your  future, Sir Tathal,''  the hag  rasps.
    ``You know that there will be change within five winters; you hope  that
    all will be well,  but you fear that  it shall not.   For now, you  have
    neither the wisdom nor the strength to see to your own welfare.''

\item{The Influence:} Furnace

        ``A powerful force  is coming, and  it shall  do you no  good.   The
    change that you fear will be harsh, and it will take valor and  courage
    to face it.''

\item{The Basis:} Mother of Air

        ``There is intrigue here.  One  with ambition seeks to separate  you
    from your  liege.   While you  are naive  and passive,  your enemy  will
    likely succeed.''

\item{The Recent Past:} Zephyr

        ``The message  that  you  bear  to St.    Albans  contains  news  of
    importance to one who can help.  Yet that one shall not act in time.''

\item{The Present:} Flare

        ``Even as  we speak,  Sir Tathal,  your enemies  have enacted  their
    revenge.  Violence has been done that cannot be revoked.''

\item{The Future:} Desert

        ``Alas for you, sir  knight!  That which you most fear will come  to
    pass.  You will lose liege, family and home.''

\item{Attitude:} The Hanged Man

        ``You will seek to redress the  wrongs that have been done with  no
    thought for  yourself.   You  fear loneliness  far  more than  your  own
    death.''

\item{Environment:} Mother of Fire

        ``A woman of power will try and use you in this.  She is cunning and
    bold; beware lest you serve her greed instead of your heart.''

\item{Pro's and Con's:} Judgement

        ``You will have  the chance  to visit  justice upon  those who  have
    wronged you and your liege; your future will depend upon the forgiveness
    that is in your heart.  If  you can show mercy, then from this  calamity
    you will  triumph.   Yet  if you  seek  vengeance, your  suffering  will
    increase.''

\item{Outcome:} Daughter of Fire

        ``For the enemy of your liege has  a daughter.  She has the  passion
    of her mother, but also that  kindness and sensitivity which belongs  to
    the best of maidens.  If you cause harm to her mother, the damsel  will
    work tirelessly to your downfall; but if you show mercy, her heart  will
    reach out to you.   She will work to restore  order from the chaos  that
    her mother has made, and she will become your liege.''

\end{description}

        With that, the  old crone empties  her bowl and  limps off into  the
    forest.   His  face ashen,  Sir Tathal  stares  after her,  not  knowing
    whether her prophecy is demon-spawned lies or mystic truth.


\begin{center}
{\Large \bf Discussion}
\end{center}
        What makes these  methods better  than the usual  systems of  Twenty
    Questions and Pokey Little Rhymes?

\begin{itemize}
\item The usual systems tend to  bind players and the GM to  pre-determined
      plot ideas.  This system builds  story ideas for both the players  and
      GM, and so  it offers more  flexibility for story  development.   Thus,
      the players and the GM are less likely to feel ``forced''.

\item The interactive nature of this  system allows players and GMs to  swap
      story ideas without ever leaving the realm of the story-world.   This
      greatly enriches the possibilities for future play without hurting the
      mood of the game being run.

\item By the nature  of their development, the  prophecies tend to come  out
      sounding enigmatic and mysterious.  This is very much in keeping  with
      the prophesies that you find in literature.

\item Because the players interact  during the prophecy's development,  they
      are more  likely to  remember the  prophecy, and  hence will  be  more
      likely to  use it  in deciding  what to  do next.   Pokey  Rhymes  are
      quickly forgotten, but  interactive stories are  remembered much  more
      easily.

\item The prophesies are  great for ambience.   The mood  can last for  many
      sessions, and the use of pictures saves the GM from having to work too
      hard on the narrative.

\item Because the prophecy is created only a bit at a time, and because most
      of the images  come from the  player or  from the tarot  deck, the  GM
      doesn't have to be brilliant at  story improvisation or poetry.  As  a
      GM, you can do interesting, full  prophesies on short (or no)  notice,
      and not commit  yourself to nonsense  that you don't  know how to  run
      later. 
\end{itemize}

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Further Suggestions}
\end{center}
        For roleplaying, there are some principles to follow that will  help
    you produce a good prophecy:

\begin{itemize}
\item Make it of personal relevance to the characters concerned.  Tie it  in
      to their motives and their lives to date.

\item Try not to mention  names.  Let the players  work out who is  referred
      to.  The greedy, intriguing woman of Tathal's prophecy {\em might}  be
      Morgan le Fay or might be  someone else.  Let later events  determine
      this.  That way, if  you want to change  things to suit the  prophecy,
      you aren't stuck.

\item {\it Never}  tell the  players ``you  shall do  this''; instead,  talk
      about the  consequences of  various  actions, so  that they  get  some
      freedom of choice.  That also  gives {\em you} freedom to work  around
      the PCs' actions if they do something unexpected.

\item Tie your prophecy into as many current story elements as possible, and
      provide reasons for why the prophecy will go a certain way.  The  more
      you do this, the less arbitrary it  will seem.  The more you can  make
      the players believe in the prophecy,  the more that they will work  to
      make it come true.

\item Use only  as much detail  as the story  requires.  A  dream or  vision
      about tomorrow's joust may not need as much detail as the loss of  Sir
      Tathal's liege.   If that is  so, use  a smaller spread,  such as  the
      Elemental spread that I  mentioned earlier.  In  some cases, a  single
      card can  be  sufficient.   Eg.   ``2  of  Earth: Plant.    Keep  your
      lance-point away from the earth, or you will be undone.''

\item Make  sure that  the questions  in your  spread are  pertinent to  the
      prophecy; they should be  aimed at answering {\em  how} and {\em  why}
      questions, rather than {\em who} and  {\em which}.  The {\em who}  and
      {\em which} should  come from  your interpretation,  rather than  from
      any particular position in the spread.

\item Keep your mind open.   {\em Don't} do a  tarot reading if you  already
      know what you  want; it'll  likely produce a  conflicting result  that
      will confuse you.  The best time to use it is when you've got lots  of
      half-baked ideas but nothing coherent.

\item When  you  read a  spread,  start  with lots  of  little,  unconnected
      observations; then draw them together toward  the end.  Don't look  for
      one immediate, obvious answer.  In the Elemental spread, I often  keep
      the last card face-down until I have drawn all the observations  that
      I can from earlier cards. In the Celtic Cross  spread, I keep cards  9
      and 10 face-down for the same reason.  This is also good for suspense
      value.

\item Be prepared to look for  non-obvious interpretations of the cards.   For
      instance, in  card 10  of the  Celtic Cross  example, I  noticed  that
      Daughter of Fire was in the same  suit as Mother of Fire.   Therefore,
      the  mother   had   a  daughter.      I  also   chose   to   interpret
      ``organizer/workaholic'' as  a person  who would  either  re-construct
      Tathal's life from the carnage  or work incessantly for his  downfall.
      These interpretation are  consistent with  the cards,  but needn't  be
      obvious.

\item Make sure that you tie  everything into the original question.   Don't
      let your free-association run away too far.

\item Be prepared to re-work some of your interpretations if new ideas come
      to light; sometimes you need to do  this to make things fit.  This  is
      true both for the reading and for the story that comes from it.   For
      instance, the  Daughter  of  Fire  mentioned above  could  be  a  real
      daughter living with  the mother, but  she could also  be adopted,  or
      exiled, or even some stranger who inherits the Mother's wealth.   It's
      useful to keep these  things in mind if  Tathal accidentally kills  or
      alienates the NPC that you have created to fulfill the prophecy.

\item A good prophecy is a story-contract between you and your players.  If
      you use prophecies to walk all over your players, or if you break  the
      terms of the prophecy, then the players will stop trusting you and get
      bored with your crystal ball-gazing.  So write your prophecy down (as
      well as your ideas for making story out of it), and after you have run
      the story, make sure that your players understand how each element  of
      the prophecy  came  true.   Ideally,  at least  half  of the  way  the
      prophecy works out should come  from player contributions.  If this is
      not happening, it  means that  you aren't giving  your players  enough
      freedom.
\end{itemize}

\begin{center}
{\large \bf Final Comments}
\end{center}
        So far, I've discussed a method for creating improvised  prophecies,
    and how to turn them into story.   In concluding, I'd like to make  some
    observations about how to integrate this method into effective play.

        I've found prophecies to be especially useful during the early  days
    of a PC's development.  They help  give a direction and purpose for  the
    PC, and  if you  do it  flexibly enough,  it doesn't  overconstrain  the
    developing personality.   If Tathal  were a new  PC, you  could use  his
    prophecy to direct some solo play  before introducing him to other  PCs.
    You could  fulfill some  of  the prophecy  then,  and leave  other  bits
    hanging for later use.

        The dream part of the prophecy  usually takes about half an hour  of
    intensive play with  a single  PC.  Usually,  the other  players in  the
    group are  happy to  watch this  develop, but  it's possible  that  some
    players will find the Fruedian gymnastics boring.  So it's normally best
    to run prophecies toward the end of a game session.  That also saves you
    from having to interpret the prophecy on  the spot, and it forms a  nice
    breaking point for the session.  Your interpretation often benefits from
    a good night's sleep, too.

        Prophesies are  a lot  of fun,  but it's  possible to  overdo  them.
    Running multiple prophesies concurrently for the same group of PCs is  a
    recipe for disaster --- there's simply too much to keep track of.

        Frivolous use of prophesying devalues it  and wears out the GM.   To
    discourage its over-use, my NPC prophets normally impress upon the  PCs
    how dangerous prophesying is.   Firstly, because  the dream-world is  a
    dangerous place and  it's easy to  get lost, or  to meet something  {\it
    nasty} that  may dog  your  footsteps all  your  days.   Secondly, these
    prophecies are {\it always} supposed to come true.  Prophets often  warn
    that not everyone has the courage  or wisdom to use prophetic  knowledge
    wisely.

        In play terms, the prophetic system  I've described is a bit like  a
    credit-card: you  trade  off  some immediate  satisfaction  against  an
    undertaking to pay up later  in terms of story.   It's a mature tool  to
    help direct stories improvised  by  the whole  group.   It  {\it  isn't}
    suitable for  providing plot  short-cuts  for lazy  players.   As  with
    credit-cards, players looking for cheap gratification from this  method
    are liable to get in over their heads.

\vspace{3in}

\begin{quote}
``Isn't it strange? The same people who laugh at gypsy fortune-tellers take
economists seriously.''\\

\ \ \ --- Cincinnati Enquirer\\
\end{quote}

\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{c}
\hline
\hspace*{2.5in}\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

\begin{quote}
``Looking into the cakes is like looking
into the future.  Until you've tasted
it, what do you really know? And by
then, it's too late."\\

\ \ \ --- Merlin (Excalibur)\\
\end{quote}


\end{document}

