| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paradise Lost by John Milton: Engaging me to emulate; but, short
Of thy perfection, how shall I attain,
Adam, from whose dear side I boast me sprung,
And gladly of our union hear thee speak,
One heart, one soul in both; whereof good proof
This day affords, declaring thee resolved,
Rather than death, or aught than death more dread,
Shall separate us, linked in love so dear,
To undergo with me one guilt, one crime,
If any be, of tasting this fair fruit;
Whose virtue for of good still good proceeds,
Paradise Lost |
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: present biographer, because he wrote so many letters and
conveyed so little information, summed up this first period of
affliction in a letter to Miss Smith: `Your dear sister but a
little while ago had a full nursery, and the dear blooming
creatures sitting around her table filled her breast with hope
that one day they should fill active stations in society and
become an ornament in the Church below. But ah!'
Near a hundred years ago these little creatures ceased to
be, and for not much less a period the tears have been dried.
And to this day, looking in these stitched sheaves of letters,
we hear the sound of many soft-hearted women sobbing for the
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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 Heroes by Charles Kingsley: 'Ah, poor souls!' said the stranger. 'Well for them that I
looked back and saw them! And well for me too, for I shall
have the more guests at my feast. Wait awhile till I go down
and call them, and we will eat and drink together the
livelong night. Happy am I, to whom Heaven sends so many
guests at once!'
And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting,
to the merchants, while Theseus went slowly up the steep
pass.
But as he went up he met an aged man, who had been gathering
driftwood in the torrent-bed. He had laid down his faggot in
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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 Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: haired women, and he turned Roman, etc. After two years of marriage
what man would ever care about the color of his wife's hair? Beauty
fades,--but ugliness remains! Money is one-half of all happiness. That
night when he went to bed the painter had come to think Virginie
Vervelle charming.
When the three Vervelles arrived on the day of the second sitting the
artist received them with smiles. The rascal had shaved and put on
clean linen; he had also arranged his hair in a pleasing manner, and
chosen a very becoming pair of trousers and red leather slippers with
pointed toes. The family replied with smiles as flattering as those of
the artist. Virginie became the color of her hair, lowered her eyes,
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