Today's Stichomancy for H. P. Lovecraft

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus:

saith he, `when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man' (to wit, by the grace of baptism) `he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none.' But enduring not for long to wander homeless and hearthless, he saith, `I will return to my house whence I came out.' And, when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished, but empty and unoccupied, not having received the operation of grace, nor having filled itself with the riches of the virtues. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.' For baptism burieth in the water and completely blotteth

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

Prthivi and Air's mid-region, Accordant Deities shall bless our worship and make our sacrifice's ensign lofty.

9 Like swan's that flee in lengthened line, the Pillars have come to us arrayed in brilliant coIour. They, lifted up on high, by sages, eastward, go forth as Gods to the God's dwelling-places.

10 Those Stakes upon the earth with rings that deck them seem

The Rig Veda

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Several Works by Edgar Allan Poe:

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door-- Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-- Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my sour within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.

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 Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac:

be merely a repetition of Boileau, and we know him by heart. Still, I'll forgive your absurd idea if you will promise me to marry "en grand seigneur"; to entail your property; to have two legitimate children, to give your wife a house and household absolutely distinct from yours; to meet her only in society, and never to return from a journey without sending her a courier to announce it. Two hundred thousand francs a year will suffice for such a life and your antecedents will enable you to marry some rich English woman hungry for a title. That's an aristocratic life which seems to me thoroughly French; the only life in which we can retain the respect and friendship of a woman; the only life which distinguishes a man from