| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: repent of towards you; I wished to fill you with despair when I ought
to have received you mercifully. Dear, you are kindness itself, and I
alone can appreciate it. Yes, I know there is a kindness prompted by
passion. Men have various ways of being kind; some from contempt,
others from impulse, from calculation, through indolence of nature;
but you, my friend, you have been absolutely kind."
"If that be so," I replied, "remember that all that is good or great
in me comes through you. You know well that I am of your making."
"That word is enough for any woman's happiness," she said, as the
count re-entered the room. "I feel better," she said, rising; "I want
air."
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: are wisest. They are the magi.
End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of THE GIFT OF THE MAGI.
The Gift of the Magi |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: consequence, I had already about me the elements of some worldly
sense.
Rearranging my collar, which, truth to say, ought to have been a
round one above a short jacket, but was not, I observed
felicitously that I had come to say good-bye, being ready to go off
to sea that very night with the Tremolino. Our hostess, slightly
panting yet, and just a shade dishevelled, turned tartly upon J. M.
K. B., desiring to know when HE would be ready to go off by the
Tremolino, or in any other way, in order to join the royal
headquarters. Did he intend, she asked ironically, to wait for the
very eve of the entry into Madrid? Thus by a judicious exercise of
The Mirror of the Sea |
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 Tanach: Jeremiah 41: 10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
Jeremiah 41: 11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
Jeremiah 41: 12 then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
Jeremiah 41: 13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
Jeremiah 41: 14 So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
Jeremiah 41: 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
Jeremiah 41: 16 Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men, even the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the officers, whom he had brought back from Gibeon;
Jeremiah 41: 17 and they departed, and dwelt in Geruth Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
Jeremiah 41: 18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the lan 
The Tanach |
