Today's Stichomancy for Ridley Scott

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

Ezekiel 30: 16 And I will set a fire in Egypt; Sin shall be in great convulsion, and No shall be rent asunder; and in Noph shall come adversaries in the day-time.

Ezekiel 30: 17 The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity.

Ezekiel 30: 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her; as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

Ezekiel 30: 19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the LORD.'

Ezekiel 30: 20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

Ezekiel 30: 21 'Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it hath not been bound up to be healed, to put a roller, that it be bound up and wax strong, that it hold the sword.

Ezekiel 30: 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

Ezekiel 30: 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

The Tanach

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout:

prayer, when suddenly one of the Incas turned, facing us squarely, and gave a start of surprise. We leaped forward.

Half a dozen bounds and we were upon them, before they had had time to realize their danger or move to escape it. With a ferocity taught us by the Incas themselves we gripped their throats and bore them to the floor.

No time then for the decencies; we had work to do, and we crushed and pounded their lives out against the stone floor. There had not been a sound. They quivered and lay still; and then, looking up at some slight sound in the doorway, we saw Desiree.

She stood in the doorway, regarding us with an expression of

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac:

"But, my dear, I have just been told that all she is able to keep is twenty-five thousand francs a year, and what is that to her?"

"Penury!"

"Yes, she has robbed herself for Natalie. Monsieur de Manerville has been so exacting--"

"Extremely exacting," put in Maitre Solonet. "But before long he will be peer of France. The Maulincours and the Vidame de Pamiers will use their influence. He belongs to the faubourg Saint-Germain."

"Oh! he is received there, and that is all," said a lady, who had tried to obtain him as a son-in-law. "Mademoiselle Evangelista, as the daughter of a merchant, will certainly not open the doors of the

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 A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest:

He'll stick, I'll bet, in less than five Brief minutes any man alive.

ETERNAL FRIENDSHIP

Who once has had a friend has found The link 'twixt mortal and divine; Though now he sleeps in hallowed ground, He lives in memory's sacret shrine; And there he freely moves about, A spirit that has quit the clay, And in the times of stress and doubt Sustains his friend throughout the day.

A Heap O' Livin'