| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: They would now and then, to be sure, get a little warm in
argument; but their disputes were always adjusted by reference
to a worthy old umbrellamaker, in a double chin, who, never
exactly comprehending the subject, managed somehow or other
to decide in favor of both parties.
All empires, however, says some philosopher or historian, are
doomed to changes and revolutions. Luxury and innovation
creep in; factions arise; and families now and then spring up,
whose ambition and intrigues throw the whole system into
confusion. Thus in latter days has the tranquillity of Little
Britain been grievously disturbed, and its golden simplicity of
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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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: my fear vanished. It went off swiftly, like a bad
dream. Only that a dream leaves no shame be-
hind it, and that I felt a momentary shame at my
unworthy suspicions.
Yes, there she was. Her hull, her rigging filled
my eye with a great content. That feeling of life-
emptiness which had made me so restless for the
last few months lost its bitter plausibility, its evil
influence, dissolved in a flow of joyous emotion.
At first glance I saw that she was a high-class
vessel, a harmonious creature in the lines of her
 The Shadow Line |