Divination Tool

A divination tool made from an empty tortoise shell. It has a silk cord and three coins attached which read: 寛永通寳 (kan'ei tsuho). This indicates they are from Japan and date to the Edo Period. This would have been used by an old sorcerer for divination or fortune-telling. The coins were placed in the shell and then it was shaken and the coins were ejected from the shell. The number of coins with the reverse side was noted and this process was repeated a few times. The fortune teller would then use the bagua (八卦) and the five elements to make a prediction based on the orientations of the coins. The device was purchased from a sorcerer who had it on a portico in a temple in Canton (current day Guangzhou in Guangdong province, China). A tag with the object read: "Temple of Horrors." This likely refers to a portion of the Chenghuang Temple 城隍庙 or "City God Temple" in Guangzhou that featured depictions of various punishments in Hell.