Today's Stichomancy for James Cameron

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

Leviticus 4: 21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bullock; it is the sin-offering for the assembly.

Leviticus 4: 22 When a ruler sinneth, and doeth through error any one of all the things which the LORD his God hath commanded not to be done, and is guilty:

Leviticus 4: 23 if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, be known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a male without blemish.

Leviticus 4: 24 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt-offering before the LORD; it is a sin-offering.

Leviticus 4: 25 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and the remaining blood thereof shall he pour out at the base of the altar of burnt-offering.

Leviticus 4: 26 And all the fat thereof shall he make smoke upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace-offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him as concerning his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

Leviticus 4: 27 And if any one of the common people sin through error, in doing any of the things which the LORD hath commanded not to be done, and be guilty:

Leviticus 4: 28 if his sin, which he hath sinned, be known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.

Leviticus 4: 29 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and kill the sin-offering in the place of burnt-offering.

The Tanach

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Golden Threshold by Sarojini Naidu:

We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Softly, O softly we bear her along, She hangs like a star in the dew of our song; She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide, She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride. Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing, We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

WANDERING SINGERS (Written to one of their Tunes)

Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street,

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot:

to Philip of Spain:

In the afternoon we were in a barge, watching the games on the river. (The queen) was alone with Lord Robert and myself on the poop, when they began to talk nonsense, and went so far that Lord Robert at last said, as I was on the spot there was no reason why they should not be married if the queen pleased.

293. Cf. PURGATORIO, v. 133:

'Ricorditi di me, che son la Pia; Siena mi fe', disfecemi Maremma.'

307. _V._ St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS: 'to Carthage then I came, where a cauldron of unholy loves sang all about mine ears'.

The Waste Land

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 Charmides by Plato:

But as he had a reputation to maintain, he was ashamed to admit before the company that he could not answer my challenge or determine the question at issue; and he made an unintelligible attempt to hide his perplexity. In order that the argument might proceed, I said to him, Well then Critias, if you like, let us assume that there is this science of science; whether the assumption is right or wrong may hereafter be investigated. Admitting the existence of it, will you tell me how such a science enables us to distinguish what we know or do not know, which, as we were saying, is self-knowledge or wisdom: so we were saying?

Yes, Socrates, he said; and that I think is certainly true: for he who has this science or knowledge which knows itself will become like the knowledge