Today's Stichomancy for Fritz Lang

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

The Economist 1 On Horsemanship 1 The Sportsman 1 The Cavalry General 1 The Apology 1 On Revenues 1 The Hiero 1 The Agesilaus 1 The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2

Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad:

"Do you expect me to agree to all this?" I interrupted.

"No, it isn't necessary," said Marlow, feeling the check to his eloquence but with a great effort at amiability. "You need not even understand it. I continue: with such disposition what prevents women--to use the phrase an old boatswain of my acquaintance applied descriptively to his captain--what prevents them from "coming on deck and playing hell with the ship" generally, is that something in them precise and mysterious, acting both as restraint and as inspiration; their femininity in short which they think they can get rid of by trying hard, but can't, and never will. Therefore we may conclude that, for all their enterprises, the world is and remains

Chance

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon:

{khrusokhalinon patagon psalion} (Aristoph. "Peace," 155) implies. "Curb" would be misleading.

[3] "Near the withers."

[4] Or, "as soon as he has got the springing poise preliminary to mounting."

[5] "Give himself simultaneously a lift." Reading {ekteinon}, or if {enteinon}, "keeping his right arm stiff."

[6] Or, "a style of mounting which will obviate an ungainly attitude behind."

[7] Lit. "lower his buttocks on to the horse's back."

To meet the case in which the horseman may chance to be leading his

On Horsemanship

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 Koran:

Said he, 'O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good promise? Has the time seemed too long for you, or do you desire that wrath should light on you from your Lord, that ye have broken your promise to me?'

They said, 'We have not broken our promise to thee of our own accord. But we were made to carry loads of the ornaments of the people, and we hurled them down, and so did es Samariy cast; and he brought forth for the people a corporeal calf which lowed.' And they said, 'This is your god and the god of Moses, but he has forgotten!' What! do they not see that it does not return them any speech, and cannot control for them harm or profit? Aaron too told them before, 'O

The Koran