Today's Stichomancy for Arthur E. Waite
| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: me, and I might go at once to the vessel. I obeyed him, but upon
reaching the float-stage, where others [sic] calkers were at work,
I was told that every white man would leave the ship, in her
unfinished condition, if I struck a blow at my trade upon her.
This uncivil, inhuman, and selfish treatment was not so shocking
and scandalous in my eyes at the time as it now appears to me.
Slavery had inured me to hardships that made ordinary trouble sit
lightly upon me. Could I have worked at my trade I could have
earned two dollars a day, but as a common laborer I received but
one dollar. The difference was of great importance to me, but if
I could not get two dollars, I was glad to get one; and so I went
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: had his particular part to perform, either in working the
crane or in laying the stones, it required the closest
application and attention, not only on the part of Mr. Peter
Logan, the foreman, who was constantly on the walls, but also
of the chief workmen. Robert Selkirk, the principal builder,
for example, had every stone to lay in its place. David
Cumming, a mason, had the charge of working the tackle of the
balance-weight, and James Scott, also a mason, took charge of
the purchase with which the stones were laid; while the
pointing the joints of the walls with cement was intrusted to
William Reid and William Kennedy, who stood upon a scaffold
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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 Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: the greatest pleasure, especially because you tell me you are quite
restored in health, than which I could have no better news; for if God
grant life to you, and to me, I hope to make a good man of you if you
are willing to do your share." Then, writing of a new patron, he
continues: "This will turn out well for you, but it is necessary for
you to study; since, then, you have no longer the excuse of illness,
take pains to study letters and music, for you see what honour is done
to me for the little skill I have. Therefore, my son, if you wish to
please me, and to bring success and honour to yourself, do right and
study, because others will help you if you help yourself."
OFFICE
The Prince |
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 Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: sits forever waiting for the world to die. 'Two-thirds of the way up
the mountain you will come to a path that is difficult to climb. You
shall climb the path and enter a gloomy forest. It is very dark in the
forest, but you must push through it till you come to an open place
with a wall of rock behind it. In the wall of rock is a cave, and in
the cave you will find the bones of a man. Bring down the bones in a
bag, and I will give you the club!'
"While she spoke thus people came out of the kraal and listened.
"'Do not heed her, young man,' they said, 'unless you are weary of
life. Do not heed her: she is crazy. The mountain is haunted; it is a
place of ghosts. Look at the stone Witch who sits upon it! Evil
Nada the Lily |
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