Today's Stichomancy for Saddam Hussein

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon:

devised, on which the despotic ruler may rely with confidence.[9]

[5] {koinon}, i.e. making demands upon the eneriges of all the citizens in common, as opposed to the personal character of war as conducted by a despot = "public," "patriotic," "national" war. Al. borne by the particular {polis} as member of a league, whether of states united for the time being in a {summakhia}, or permanently in a confederacy = a "federal" war.

[6] "Even if serving on a campaign in the enemy's country."

[7] Or, "he has to exercise the utmost vigilance."

[8] "With those who are 'absolutely governed,' not to say tyrannically ruled."

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

A gay-hued Stone set in the midst of heaven, he hath gone forth and guards mid-air's two limits.

4 Four bear him up and give him rest and quiet, and ten invigorate the Babe for travel. His kine most excellent, of threefold nature, pass swiftly round the boundaries of heaven.

5 Wondrous, O people, is the mystic knowledge that while the waters

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 Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot:

And cigarettes in corridors And cocktail smells in bars."

The lamp said, "Four o’clock, Here is the number on the door. Memory! You have the key, The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair, Mount. The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life."

Prufrock/Other Observations

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 Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy:

made her nervous, and when, suddenly, at her feet, on the very doorstep, she saw something white lying there--a letter evidently--she hardly dared touch it. It seemed so ghostlike. It certainly was not there when she came upstairs; had Louise dropped it? or was some tantalising spook at play, showing her fairy letters where none existed?

At last she stooped to pick it up, and, amazed, puzzled beyond measure, she saw that the letter was addressed to herself in her husband's large, businesslike-looking hand. What could he have to say to her, in the middle of the night, which could not be put off until the morning?

The Scarlet Pimpernel