| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: The girl's piercing eyes were fixed in a sort of dull amazement on the
stranger, who quietly walked on in front of her.
"Ay, that's it," thought the sailor. "She is following him as a pirate
follows a merchantman. Then, when she has lost sight of him, she will
be in despair at not knowing who it is she is in love with, and
whether he is a marquis or a shopkeeper. Really these young heads need
an old fogy like me always by their side . . ."
He unexpectedly spurred his horse in such a way as to make his niece's
bolt, and rode so hastily between her and the young man on foot that
he obliged him to fall back on to the grassy bank which rose from the
roadside. Then, abruptly drawing up, the Count exclaimed:
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: 'So many have, that never touch'd his hand,
Sweetly suppos'd them mistress of his heart.
My woeful self, that did in freedom stand,
And was my own fee-simple, (not in part,)
What with his heart in youth, and youth in art,
Threw my affections in his charmed power,
Reserv'd the stalk, and gave him all my flower.
'Yet did I not, as some my equals did,
Demand of him, nor being desired yielded;
Finding myself in honour so forbid,
With safest distance I mine honour shielded:
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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 Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: round the latter indicate the training arc of the weapons, each
of which is a complete circle, in the horizontal plane. The
dotted line represents the aviator's line of flight, and it will
be seen that no matter how he twists and turns he is always
within the danger zone while flying over hostile territory. The
moment he outdistances one gun he comes within range of another.
The safety of the aviator under these circumstances depends upon
his maintaining an altitude exceeding the range of the guns
below, the most powerful of which have a range of 8,000 to 10,000
feet, or on speed combined with rapid twisting and turning, or
erratic undulating flight, rendering it extremely difficult for
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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 The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Ozma smiled as she said:
"I do not know your Nimmie Amee, and so I cannot tell
what she most needs to make her happy. But there is no
harm in your going to her and asking her if she still
wishes to marry you. If she does, we will give you a
grand wedding at the Emerald City and, afterward, as
Empress of the Winkies, Nimmie Amee would become one
of the most important ladies in all Oz."
So it was decided that the Tin Woodman would continue
his journey, and that the Scarecrow and Woot the
Wanderer should accompany him, as before. Polychrome
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
