| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Enter Prince Eskales, with his Traine.
Prince. Rebellious Subiects, Enemies to peace,
Prophaners of this Neighbor-stained Steele,
Will they not heare? What hoe, you Men, you Beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernitious Rage,
With purple Fountaines issuing from your Veines:
On paine of Torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistemper'd Weapons to the ground,
And heare the Sentence of your mooued Prince.
Three ciuill Broyles, bred of an Ayery word,
By thee old Capulet and Mountague,
Romeo and Juliet |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: workmen, being at first awkward in the art, were constantly
breaking their oars; indeed it was no uncommon thing to see
the broken blades of a pair of oars floating astern, in the
course of a passage from the rock to the vessel. The men,
upon the whole, had but little work to perform in the course
of a day; for though they exerted themselves extremely hard
while on the rock, yet, in the early state of the operations,
this could not be continued for more than three or four hours
at a time, and as their rations were large - consisting of one
pound and a half of beef, one pound of ship biscuit, eight
ounces oatmeal, two ounces barley, two ounces butter, three
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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 Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: box, and slipped his card into a second envelope, on
which he wrote the name of the Countess Olenska;
then, just as he was turning away, he drew the card out
again, and left the empty envelope on the box.
"They'll go at once?" he enquired, pointing to the
roses.
The florist assured him that they would.
X.
The next day he persuaded May to escape for a walk
in the Park after luncheon. As was the custom in
old-fashioned Episcopalian New York, she usually
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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 Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: descended and broke upon his shoulder. Had he not moved swiftly
aside as the blow fell it must have taken him across the head, and
possibly stunned him. As he moved, he dropped his hand to his
pocket, and swift upon the cracking of Binet's breaking cane came
the crack of the pistol with which Andre-Louis replied.
"You had your warning, you filthy pander!" he cried. And on the
word he shot him through the body.
Binet went down screaming, whilst the fierce Polichinelle, fiercer
than ever in that moment of fierce reality, spoke quickly into
Andre-Louis' ear:
"Fool! So much was not necessary! Away with you now, or you'll
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