Today's Stichomancy for Kate Moss
| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: speechless consternation, and he saw drops of sweat collect on the
miserable face, swell and fall, mingled with two streams of tears.
"Why should you weep, Monsieur de Rubempre? You are, as I have told
you, Mademoiselle Esther's legatee, she having no heirs nor near
relations, and her property amounts to nearly eight millions of francs
if the lost seven hundred and fifty thousand francs are recovered."
This was the last blow to the poor wretch. "If you do not lose your
head for ten minutes," Jacques Collin had said in his note, and Lucien
by keeping cool would have gained all his desire. He might have paid
his debt to Jacques Collin and have cut him adrift, have been rich,
and have married Mademoiselle de Grandlieu. Nothing could more
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: compelled him to exchange it for the right sort, or else went on
to seek it elsewhere. But one ingredient, in particular, seemed
almost impossible to be found. Some chemists plainly admitted
they had never seen it; others denied that such a drug existed,
excepting in the imagination of crazy alchemists; and most of
them attempted to satisfy their customer, by producing some
substitute, which, when rejected by Wayland, as not being what he
had asked for, they maintained possessed, in a superior degree,
the self-same qualities. In general they all displayed some
curiosity concerning the purpose for which he wanted it. One
old, meagre chemist, to whom the artist put the usual question,
Kenilworth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Contrast by Royall Tyler: close application, may learn to laugh as gracefully as
if they were born and bred to it.
JONATHAN
Mercy on my soul! A gamut for laughing--just
like fa, la, sol?
JEREMY
Yes. It comprises every possible display of jocu-
larity, from an affettuoso smile to a piano titter, or full
chorus fortissimo ha, ha, ha! My master employs his
leisure hours in marking out the plays, like a cathedral
chanting-book, that the ignorant may know where to
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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 Christ in Flanders by Honore de Balzac: yet he was always ready to laugh, and went his way merrily, happy when
he could drown his glory in the depths of a pot of beer, or could tell
tales of the wars to the children who admired him, leaving his future
with a light heart in the hands of God. Lastly, there were the two
peasants, used to hardships and toil, labor incarnate, the labor by
which the world lives. These simple folk were indifferent to thought
and its treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their faith
was but so much the more vigorous because they had never disputed
about it nor analyzed it. Such a nature is a virgin soil, conscience
has not been tampered with, feeling is deep and strong; repentance,
trouble, love, and work have developed, purified, concentrated, and
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