| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: Her voice, subdued and low, breathed a sweetness that seemed
almost to be of another world. My ear quivered with the
vibrations, and long after she was silent the last mellow note
floated through my brain.
Suddenly I became conscious of another sound, scarcely less
musical. It, too, was low; so low and faint that at first I
thought my ear deceived me, or that some distant echo was returning
Desiree's song down the dark tunnel.
Gradually, very gradually, it became louder and clearer, until
at length I recognized it. It was the rush of water, unbroken,
still low and at a great distance. I turned to remark on it to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: shoulder.
"Don't mention it!" replied the officer, raising his hat as a parting
salute.
"What number did you say!" the Professor called from the distance.
The officer made a trumpet of his two hands. "Forty!" he shouted in
stentorian tones. "And not piano, by any means!" he added to himself.
"It's a mad world, my masters, a mad world!" He lit another cigar,
and strolled on towards his hotel.
"What a lovely evening!" I said, joining him as he passed me.
"Lovely indeed," he said. "Where did you come from?
Dropped from the clouds?"
Sylvie and Bruno |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: see the Young Lady in Grey, but he knew she was looking at his
back. He dared not look round. Where the devil was the brake? It
must have fallen off. And the bell? Right in front of him was
Guildford. He tried to shout and warn the town to get out of the
way, but his voice was gone as well. Nearer, nearer! it was
fearful! and in another moment the houses were cracking like nuts
and the blood of the inhabitants squirting this way and that. The
streets were black with people running. Right under his wheels he
saw the Young Lady in Grey. A feeling of horror came upon Mr.
Hoopdriver; he flung himself sideways to descend, forgetting how
high he was, and forthwith he began falling; falling, falling.
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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 Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: compliance with the Imperial mandate, we have promptly come to
Augsburg, and -- what we do not mean to say as boasting -- we
were among the first to be here.
Accordingly, since even here at Augsburg at the very beginning
of the Diet, Your Imperial Majesty caused to be proposed to the
Electors, Princes, and other Estates of the Empire, amongst other
things, that the several Estates of the Empire, on the strength
of the Imperial edict, should set forth and submit their opinions
and judgments in the German and the Latin language, and since on
the ensuing Wednesday, answer was given to Your Imperial Majesty,
after due deliberation, that we would submit the Articles of our
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