Today's Stichomancy for Toni Braxton
| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: complete, that other point, which lieth more open,
and falleth within vulgar observation; which is
faithful counsel from a friend. Heraclitus saith
well in one of his enigmas, Dry light is ever the
best. And certain it is, that the light that a man
receiveth by counsel from another, is drier and
purer, than that which cometh from his own
understanding and judgment; which is ever in-
fused, and drenched, in his affections and customs.
So as there is as much difference between the coun-
sel, that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth
Essays of Francis Bacon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: couch of the dawn-nymph, his wife, until he should have
procured and brought to him the sword of light. When Sculloge
reached home, more dead than alive, he saw that his wife knew
all. Bitterly they wept together, but she told him that with
courage all might be set right. She gave him a Druidic horse,
which bore him swiftly over land and sea, like the enchanted
steed of the Arabian Nights, until he reached the castle of
his wife's father who, as Sculloge now learned, was a good
Druid, the brother of the evil Lassa Buaicht. This good Druid
told him that the sword of light was kept by a third brother,
the powerful magician, Fiach O'Duda, who dwelt in an enchanted
Myths and Myth-Makers |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: because faith is the main-spring of such natures. But even if
Miss Bart, after her renewed taste of the amenities of life,
could have returned to the barrenness of a New York August,
mitigated only by poor Gerty's presence, her worldly wisdom would
have counselled her against such an act of abnegation. She knew
that Carry Fisher was right: that an opportune absence might be
the first step toward rehabilitation, and that, at any rate, to
linger on in town out of season was a fatal admission of defeat.
From the Gormers' tumultuous progress across their native
continent, she returned with an altered view of her situation.
The renewed habit of luxury--the daily waking to an assured
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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 Songs of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: Tantira, Tahiti, Nov. 5, 1888.
XXIX - TO KALAKAUA (With a present of a Pearl)
THE Silver Ship, my King - that was her name
In the bright islands whence your fathers came -
The Silver Ship, at rest from winds and tides,
Below your palace in your harbour rides:
And the seafarers, sitting safe on shore,
Like eager merchants count their treasures o'er.
One gift they find, one strange and lovely thing,
Now doubly precious since it pleased a king.
The right, my liege, is ancient as the lyre
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