| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: This information was received from one of the oldest inhabitants, a
native himself, and exceedingly fond of missionaries. He is said
also to be very skilful in the CUISINE peculiar to the island.
"During the season of gathering the pepper, the persons employed
are subject to various incommodities, the chief of which is violent
and long-continued sternutation, or sneezing. Such is the
vehemence of these attacks, that the unfortunate subjects of them
are often driven backwards for great distances at immense speed, on
the well-known principle of the aeolipile. Not being able to see
where they are going, these poor creatures dash themselves to
pieces against the rocks or are precipitated over the cliffs and
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: which the events of the morning had plunged us. Admire for a long time
some pretty dove with iridescent colors, perched on a swaying branch
above a spring, and you will give a cry of pain when you see a hawk
swooping down upon her, driving its steel claws into her breast, and
bearing her away with murderous rapidity. When we had advanced a step
or two into an open space which lay before what seemed to be a grotto,
a sort of esplanade placed a hundred feet above the ocean, and
protected from its fury by buttresses of rock, we suddenly experienced
an electrical shudder, something resembling the shock of a sudden
noise awaking us in the dead of night.
We saw, sitting on a vast granite boulder, a man who looked at us. His
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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 Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: flight to London, and there, in a fast club, disposed of the bulk
of his considerable patrimony in the space of one winter. For
years thereafter he lived I know not how; always well dressed,
always in good hotels and good society, always with empty pockets.
The charm of his manner may have stood him in good stead; but
though my own manners are very agreeable, I have never found in
them a source of livelihood; and to explain the miracle of his
continued existence, I must fall back upon the theory of the
philosopher, that in his case, as in all of the same kind, "there
was a suffering relative in the background." From this genteel
eclipse he reappeared upon the scene, and presently sought me out
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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 Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: into the apartment through another entrance. It was Jav.
He, too, took in the scene within at a glance.
Carthoris turned to face him, his sword ready in his hand,
and his great body shielding the slender figure of the girl.
"Come, Jav of Lothar!" he cried. "Let us face the
issue at once, for only one of us may leave this chamber
alive with Thuvia of Ptarth." Then, seeing that the man
wore no sword, he exclaimed: "Bring on your bowmen,
then, or come with us as my prisoner until we have
safely passed the outer portals of thy ghostly city."
"You have killed Tario!" exclaimed Jav, ignoring the
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
