| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: when the field of corn had been planted, to choose the first dark
or
overclouded evening to perform a secret circuit, sans
habillement,
around the field. For this purpose she slipped out of the lodge
in
the evening, unobserved, to some obscure nook, where she
completely
disrobed. Then, taking her matchecota, or principal garment, in
one
hand, she dragged it around the field. This was thought 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 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: praying. From habit he went toward the house,
where he was used to being soothed when he had
worked himself into a frenzy, but at the sight
of the black, open door, he started back. He
knew that he had murdered somebody, that a
woman was bleeding and moaning in the or-
chard, but he had not realized before that it
was his wife. The gate stared him in the face.
He threw his hands over his head. Which way
to turn? He lifted his tormented face and
looked at the sky. "Holy Mother of God, not to
O Pioneers! |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: British ground, is sacred in the eyes of all true English Whigs;
and close by stands the castle of the settler of Newfoundland, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert, Raleigh's half-brother, most learned of all
Elizabeth's admirals in life, most pious and heroic in death. And
as for scenery, though it can boast of neither mountain peak nor
dark fiord, and would seem tame enough in the eyes of a western
Scot or Irishman, yet Torbay surely has a soft beauty of its own.
The rounded hills slope gently to the sea, spotted with squares of
emerald grass, and rich red fallow fields, and parks full of
stately timber trees. Long lines of tall elms run down to the very
water's edge, their boughs unwarped by any blast; here and there
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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 Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: After handing it over the counter she set out briskly for home,
stopping at a baker's to buy three penny-worth of new buns.
Later, in her tiny cubicle at the top of the house she munched
buns and reflected on the future. What was the Esthonia
Glassware Co., and what earthly need could it have for her
services? A pleasurable thrill of excitement made Tuppence
tingle. At any rate, the country vicarage had retreated into the
background again. The morrow held possibilities.
It was a long time before Tuppence went to sleep that night, and,
when at length she did, she dreamed that Mr. Whittington had set
her to washing up a pile of Esthonia Glassware, which bore an
Secret Adversary |
