Today's Stichomancy for Nick Nolte
| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: tearing their garments from their bodies--leaping--waving their arms--
were become MANIACS!
"We will now release the ripe spores of giant entpusa,"
continued the wicked voice. "The air of the second cellar
being super-charged with oxygen, they immediately germinate.
Ah! it is a triumph! That process is the scientific triumph
of my life!"
Like powdered snow the white spores fell from the roof,
frosting the writhing shapes of the already poisoned men.
Before my horrified gaze, THE FUNGUS GREW; it spread
from the head to the, feet of those it touched; it enveloped
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: and those to which I have alluded, does the particular wit abound
which gives an agreeable and changeful unity to all these social
qualities, an indescribable river-like flow which makes this profusion
of ideas, of definitions, of anecdotes, of historical incidents,
meander with ease. Paris, the capital of taste, alone possesses the
science which makes conversation a tourney in which each type of wit
is condensed into a shaft, each speaker utters his phrase and casts
his experience in a word, in which every one finds amusement,
relaxation, and exercise. Here, then, alone, will you exchange ideas;
here you need not, like the dolphin in the fable, carry a monkey on
your shoulders; here you will be understood, and will not risk staking
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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 Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: He tumbled in, rolled over on his back, and flung one arm across his eyes.
And then, with his face nearly hidden, he must have looked exactly as I used
to look in that bed. I gazed upon my other self for a while before drawing
across carefully the two green serge curtains which ran on a brass rod.
I thought for a moment of pinning them together for greater safety,
but I sat down on the couch, and once there I felt unwilling to rise
and hunt for a pin. I would do it in a moment. I was extremely tired,
in a peculiarly intimate way, by the strain of stealthiness,
by the effort of whispering and the general secrecy of this excitement.
It was three o'clock by now and I had been on my feet since nine,
but I was not sleepy; I could not have gone to sleep. I sat there,
The Secret Sharer |
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 Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: sake. She seemed both happy and sorry.
When near at hand he saw that the rancher was a thrifty farmer.
And thrift spoke for honesty. There were fields of alfalfa,
fruit-trees, corrals, windmill pumps, irrigation-ditches, all
surrounding a neat little adobe house. Some children were
playing in the yard. The way they ran at sight of Duane hinted
of both the loneliness and the fear of their isolated lives.
Duane saw a woman come to the door, then a man. The latter
looked keenly, then stepped outside. He was a sandy-haired,
freckled Texan.
"Howdy, stranger," he called, as Duane halted. "Get down, you
The Lone Star Ranger |
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