| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: It was for the instant confounding and bottomless, for if he
WERE innocent, what then on earth was _I_? Paralyzed, while it lasted,
by the mere brush of the question, I let him go a little, so that,
with a deep-drawn sigh, he turned away from me again; which, as he faced
toward the clear window, I suffered, feeling that I had nothing
now there to keep him from. "And did they repeat what you said?"
I went on after a moment.
He was soon at some distance from me, still breathing hard and again with
the air, though now without anger for it, of being confined against his will.
Once more, as he had done before, he looked up at the dim day as if, of what
had hitherto sustained him, nothing was left but an unspeakable anxiety.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: glided to the opening of his grotto like a young adder craving the
sun. He saw the tears of the stricken old man, he recognized the signs
of a true grief, and, seizing his father's hand, he kissed him, saying
in the voice of an angel:--
"Oh, mother! forgive me!"
In the fever of his happiness the old duke lifted his feeble offspring
in his arms and carried him, trembling like an abducted girl, toward
the castle. As he felt the palpitation of his son's body he strove to
reassure him, kissing him with all the caution he might have shown in
touching a delicate flower; and speaking in the gentlest tones he had
ever in his life used, in order to soothe him.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: Small as he is, the monad contains all the powers and possibilities
needful to his evolution into a German philosopher of the first class
-- altogether a very capable little fellow. He is not to be
confounded with the microbe, or bacillus; by its inability to discern
him, a good microscope shows him to be of an entirely distinct
species.
MONARCH, n. A person engaged in reigning. Formerly the monarch
ruled, as the derivation of the word attests, and as many subjects
have had occasion to learn. In Russia and the Orient the monarch has
still a considerable influence in public affairs and in the
disposition of the human head, but in western Europe political
The Devil's Dictionary |
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 Lin McLean by Owen Wister: him boasting of his skill--truthful boasting, to be sure. Had he been
honest in his dealings, the good-will that man's courage and dashing
appearance beget in men would have brought him more employment than he
could have undertaken. He told Jessamine his way of breaking a horse that
few would dare, and she listened eagerly. "Do you remember when I used to
hold the pony for you to get on?" she said. "You always would scare me,
Nate!" And he replied, fluently, Yes, yes; did she see that horse there,
near the fence? He was a four-year-old, an outlaw, and she would find no
one had tried getting on his back since he had been absent. This was the
first question he asked on reaching the cabin, where various neighbors
were waiting the mail-rider; and, finding he was right, he turned in
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