Today's Stichomancy for Brittany Murphy
The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And all day long on the sea the jaws are crushing the meat,
The steersman eats at the helm, the rowers munch at the oar,
And at length, when their bellies are full, overboard with the store!"
Now was the word made true, and soon as the bait was bare,
All the pigs of Taiarapu raised their snouts in the air.
Songs were recited, and kinship was counted, and tales were told
How war had severed of late but peace had cemented of old
The clans of the island. "To war," said they, "now set we an end,
And hie to the Namunu-ura even as a friend to a friend."
So judged, and a day was named; and soon as the morning broke,
Canoes were thrust in the sea and the houses emptied of folk.
 Ballads |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: had asked for aid in his behalf, and that it could only redound to
his, Lange's, credit if it were understood that he had sent to
Vienna for expert assistance in this case. It would be a proof of
his conscientious attention to duty, and would insure praise for
him, whichever way the case turned out. Commissioner Lange saw the
force of this argument, and finally gave Muller permission to handle
the case as he thought best, rather relieved than otherwise for his
own part. The detective's next errand was to the prison, where he
now stood looking up into the deep-set, dark eyes of a tall,
broad-shouldered, black-bearded man, who had arisen from the cot at
his entrance. Albert Graumann had a strong, self-reliant face and
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The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: inflamed men's passions at the time, rendered apt to join in
perilous enterprise. The men of rank and substance were not many
in number; for almost all the large proprietors stood aloof, and
most of the smaller gentry and yeomanry were of the Presbyterian
persuasion, and therefore, however displeased with the Union,
unwilling to engage in a Jacobite conspiracy. But there were
some gentlemen of property, who, either from early principle,
from religious motives, or sharing the ambitious views of
Ellieslaw, had given countenance to his scheme; and there were,
also, some fiery young men, like Mareschal, desirous of
signalizing themselves by engaging in a dangerous enterprise, by
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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 The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: His first glimpse of her always told him the story. At the
beginning he had insisted on talking about Dick, but he saw that
it hurt her, and of late they had fallen into the habit of long
silences.
The determination to live on until that return which he never ceased
to expect only carried him so far, however. He felt no incentive to
activity. There were times when he tried Lucy sorely, when she felt
that if he would only move about, go downstairs and attend to his
office practice, get out into the sun and air, he would grow
stronger. But there were times, too, when she felt that only the
will to live was carrying him on.
 The Breaking Point |
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