| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: and merciful, the hope of the hopeless, and the help of the
helpless, remember me thine unprofitable servant at this hour,
and look upon me with a gracious countenance, and deliver my soul
from the sword of the devil, and my darling from the paw of the
dog: suffer me not to fall into the hands of mine enemies, and
let not them that hate me triumph over me. Leave me not to be
destroyed in iniquities, and to dishonour my body which I swore
to present unto thee chaste. For for thee I yearn; thee I
worship, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now and for
evermore, and world without end." When he had added the Amen, he
felt heavenly comfort stealing over him from above, and the evil
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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 Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: Royalist party. The envoy was, in fact, arrested on the very day he
landed--for he traveled by boat, disguised as a master mariner.
However, as a man of practical intelligence, he had calculated all the
risks of the undertaking; his passport and papers were all in order,
and the men told off to take him were afraid of blundering.
"The Chevalier de Beauvoir--I now remember his name--had studied his
part well; he appealed to the family whose name he had borrowed,
persisted in his false address, and stood his examination so boldly
that he would have been set at large but for the blind belief that the
spies had in their instructions, which were unfortunately only too
minute. In this dilemma the authorities were more ready to risk an
The Muse of the Department |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: excellent shot. As each arrow landed a good handbreadth closer to
the center of the target than any of those of Sir Fassade, the smiles
on the faces of the princess and her favorite knight grew less and
less until they had been completely replaced by somber looks on the
knight and what might be described as silent hysteria on the face of
the princess. The look on Sir Bargle's face at the conclusion of his
shooting is a little too carnal for me to describe.
As he shot his set of arrows, Sir Philo was forced more than once,
after he had fully drawn his bow, to pause, and to wait until a
little tremble--attributed by the crowd to nervousness and eagerness
to win Jennifrella--left his hands. As each arrow hit the target,
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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 Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: in distress. She regretted that he had spoken as he had and
he, too, regretted it almost instantly as he saw the shadow
cross her face and realized that he had unwittingly added to
the difficulties of her already almost unbearable situation.
"Forgive me," he said quickly. "Please forget what that
remark implied. I promise you that I will not offend again,
if it does offend you, until after we are both safely out of this
mess."
She smiled and thanked him, but the thing had been said
and could never be unsaid, and Bertha Kircher knew even
more surely than as though he had fallen upon his knees and
Tarzan the Untamed |
