Today's Stichomancy for Steve Martin

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells:

not merely that God is to be made and declared the head of the world, but that the kingdom of God is to be present throughout the whole fabric of the world, that the Kingdom of God is to be in the teaching at the village school, in the planning of the railway siding of the market town, in the mixing of the mortar at the building of the workman's house. It means that ultimately no effigy of intrusive king or emperor is to disfigure our coins and stamps any more; God himself and no delegate is to be represented wherever men buy or sell, on our letters and our receipts, a perpetual witness, a perpetual reminder. There is no act altogether without significance, no power so humble that it may not be used for or

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon:

soul? Without self-restraint who can lay any good lesson to heart or practise it when learnt in any degree worth speaking of? Or, to put it conversely, what slave of pleasure will not suffer degeneracy of soul and body? By Hera,[5] well may every free man pray to be saved from the service of such a slave; and well too may he who is in bondage to such pleasures supplicate Heaven to send him good masters, seeing that is the one hope of salvation left him."

[1] Lit. "a beautiful and brave possesion."

[2] {proubibaze}.

[3] Or, "how should the master himself beware lest he fall into that category."

The Memorabilia

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley:

him a whole jar of wine. And Theseus stood and called him, 'Holla, thou valiant wrestler, wilt thou wrestle a fall to- day?'

And Kerkuon looked up and laughed, and answered, 'I will wrestle a fall to-day; but come in, for I am lonely and thou weary, and eat and drink before thou die.'

Then Theseus went up boldly, and sat down before Kerkuon at the board; and he ate his fill of the sheep's flesh, and drank his fill of the wine; and Theseus ate enough for three men, but Kerkuon ate enough for seven.

But neither spoke a word to the other, though they looked

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 Richard III by William Shakespeare:

THIRD MESSENGER. My lord, the army of great Buckingham- KING RICHARD. Out on you, owls! Nothing but songs of death? [He strikes him] There, take thou that till thou bring better news. THIRD MESSENGER. The news I have to tell your Majesty Is that by sudden floods and fall of waters Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd; And he himself wand'red away alone, No man knows whither. KING RICHARD. I cry thee mercy. There is my purse to cure that blow of thine.

Richard III