Today's Stichomancy for Lizzie Borden

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Meno by Plato:

He may be regarded as standing in the same relation to Gorgias as Hippocrates in the Protagoras to the other great Sophist. He is the sophisticated youth on whom Socrates tries his cross-examining powers, just as in the Charmides, the Lysis, and the Euthydemus, ingenuous boyhood is made the subject of a similar experiment. He is treated by Socrates in a half-playful manner suited to his character; at the same time he appears not quite to understand the process to which he is being subjected. For he is exhibited as ignorant of the very elements of dialectics, in which the Sophists have failed to instruct their disciple. His definition of virtue as 'the power and desire of attaining things honourable,' like the first definition of justice in the Republic, is taken from a poet. His answers

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from War and the Future by H. G. Wells:

of more strikes and struggles after the war, industrialism is sick of competition and anxious for service, everybody is sick of war. But how can they end any of these clashes except by the definition and recognition of a common end which will establish a standard for the trial of every conceivable issue, to which, that is, every other issue can be subordinated; and what common end can there be in all the world except this idea of the world kingdom of God? What is the good of orienting one's devotion to a firm, or to class solidarity, or /La Republique Francais/, or Poland, or Albania, or such love and loyalty as people profess for King George or King Albert or the

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Verses 1889-1896 by Rudyard Kipling:

And the wife of my youth shall charm me -- an' the rest can go to Hell! (Dickie, ~he~ will, that's certain.) I'll lie in our standin'-bed, An' Mac'll take her in ballast -- an' she trims best by the head. . . . Down by the head an' sinkin', her fires are drawn and cold, And the water's splashin' hollow on the skin of the empty hold -- Churning an' choking and chuckling, quiet and scummy and dark -- Full to her lower hatches and risin' steady. Hark! That was the after-bulkhead. . . . She's flooded from stem to stern. . . . Never seen death yet, Dickie? . . . Well, now is your time to learn!

Verses 1889-1896

The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo:

arms, came in search of her. Apparently he was having difficulty with the unfastening of baby's collar.

"Aggie," he called sharply, "how on earth do you get this fool pin out?"

"Take him back, Alfred," answered Aggie impatiently; "I'll be there in a minute."

But Alfred had apparently made up his mind that he was not a success as a nurse.

"You'd better take him now, Aggie," he decided, as he offered the small person to the reluctant Aggie. "I'll stay here and talk to Jimmy."