| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Collection of Antiquities by Honore de Balzac: added the Marquis, turning suddenly round upon Mlle. Armande. He never
addressed her as Mlle. d'Esgrignon except when he was vexed; usually
she was called "my sister."
"Why, monsieur, when a young man is full of life and spirits, and
leads an idle life in a town like this, what else can you expect?"
asked Mlle. d'Esgrignon. She could not understand her brother's anger.
"Debts! eh! why, hang it all!" added the Chevalier. "He plays cards,
he has little adventures, he shoots,--all these things are horribly
expensive nowadays."
"Come," said the Marquis, "it is time to send him to the King. I will
spend to-morrow morning in writing to our kinsmen."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: the full extent of her power, rears her offspring unaided, and performs at
the same time severe social labour in other directions (and who is,
undoubtedly, wherever found, the most productive toiler known to the race);
it is but one step, though a long one, from this woman to the woman who
produces offspring freely but does not herself rear them, and performs no
compensatory social labour. While from this woman, again, to the one who
bears few or no children, but who, whether as a wife or mistress, lives by
the exercise of her sex function alone, the step is short. There is but
one step farther to the prostitute, who affects no form of productive
labour, and who, in place of life, is recognised as producing disease and
death, but who exists parasitically through her sexual attribute. Enormous
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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 Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: little plug of wood, and no sooner had Ill-Luck entered the nut
than he stuck the plug in the hole, and there was man's enemy as
tight as fly in a bottle.
"So!" says St. Nicholas, "that's a piece of work well done." Then
he tossed the hazel-nut under the roots of an oak-tree near by,
and went his way.
And that is how this story begins.
Well, the hazel-nut lay and lay and lay, and all the time that it
lay there nobody met with ill-luck; but, one day, who should come
travelling that way but a rogue of a Fiddler, with his fiddle
under his arm. The day was warm, and he was tired; so down he sat
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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 Travels and Researches in South Africa by Dr. David Livingstone: formerly alight@mercury.interpath.net). To assure a high quality text,
the original was typed in (manually) twice and electronically compared.
[Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are CAPITALIZED.
Some obvious errors have been corrected.]
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa.
Also called, Travels and Researches in South Africa;
or, Journeys and Researches in South Africa.
By David Livingstone [British (Scot) Missionary and Explorer--1813-1873.]
David Livingstone was born in Scotland, received his medical degree
from the University of Glasgow, and was sent to South Africa
by the London Missionary Society. Circumstances led him to try to meet
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