Today's Stichomancy for Michael York
| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: scandals, like those of Gauffredi, Grandier, and Pere Giraud, which
had arisen out of mental disease; with forms of worship which seemed
to them (rightly or wrongly) idolatry, and miracles which seemed to
them (rightly or wrongly) impostures; that the clergy interfered
perpetually with the sanctity of family life, as well as with the
welfare of the state; that their evil counsels, and specially those
of the Jesuits, had been patent and potent causes of much of the
misrule and misery of Louis XIV.'s and XV.'s reigns; and that with
all these heavy counts against them, their morality was not such as
to make other men more moral; and was not--at least among the
hierarchy--improving, or likely to improve. To a Mazarin, a De
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: with a species of affectionate pride. In the meantime, and just
as the clergyman had arranged the bridal company before him, and
seemed about to commence the service, another group of persons,
of whom two or three were officers, entered the church. They
moved, at first, forward, as though they came to witness the
bridal ceremony; but suddenly one of the officers, whose back was
towards the spectators, detached himself from his companions, and
rushed hastily towards the marriage party, when the whole of them
turned towards him, as if attracted by some exclamation which had
accompanied his advance. Suddenly the intruder drew his sword;
the bridegroom unsheathed his own, and made towards him; swords
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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 Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: occurs in New England or in Georgia, in Pennsylvania or in the
State of Illinois? A kind of analogy may very readily be
perceived between certain budgets in the two countries; but as
the elements of which they are composed always differ more or
less, no fair comparison can be instituted between them. [The
same difficulty exists, perhaps to a greater degree at the
present time, when the taxation of America has largely increased.
- 1874.]]
[Footnote m: Even if we knew the exact pecuniary contributions of
every French and American citizen to the coffers of the State, we
should only come at a portion of the truth. Governments do not
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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 Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: Eve protested with a vehement gesture of denial.
"Yes, he does," affirmed old Sechard; "you had to find a wet-nurse for
the child. Come, come, I know all about it, you are in the county
court, and the whole town is talking about you. I was only a 'bear,'
_I_ have no book learning, _I_ was not foreman at the Didots', the
first printers in the world; but yet I never set eyes on a bit of
stamped paper. Do you know what I say to myself as I go to and fro
among my vines, looking after them and getting in my vintage, and
doing my bits of business?--I say to myself, 'You are taking a lot of
trouble, poor old chap; working to pile one silver crown on another,
you will leave a fine property behind you, and the bailiffs and the
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