| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: ye are pursued.'
And Pharaoh sent into the cities to collect; 'Verily, these are a
small company. And, verily, they are enraged with us; but we are a
multitude, wary!
'Turn them- out of gardens and springs, and treasuries, and a
noble station!'- thus,- and we made the children of Israel to
inherit them.
And they followed them at dawn; and when the two hosts saw each
other, Moses' companions said, 'Verily, we are overtaken!' Said he,
'Not so; verily, with me is my Lord, He will guide me.'
And we inspired Moses, 'Strike with thy rod the sea;' and it was
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: of Peace. Whispering Winds led the horse below a stone upon which the invalid
stood, thus enabling him to mount. Then she got on behind him.
The sun was just gilding the horizon when they rode out of the woods into a
wide plain. No living thing could be seen. Along the edge of the forest the
ground was level, and the horse traveled easily. Several times during the
morning Joe dismounted beside a pile of stones or a fallen tree. The miles
were traversed without serious inconvenience to the invalid, except that he
grew tired. Toward the middle of the afternoon, when they had ridden perhaps
twenty-five miles, they crossed a swift, narrow brook. The water was a
beautiful clear brown. Joe made note of this, as it was an unusual
circumstance. Nearly all the streams, when not flooded, were green in color.
The Spirit of the Border |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the butchering of the poor Frenchman by the giant black.
Tarzan met the rush with the fighting smile that the joy of
battle always brought to his lips.
As the Negro closed upon him, steel muscles gripped the
black wrist of the uplifted knife-hand, and a single swift
wrench left the hand dangling below a broken bone.
With the pain and surprise, the madness left the black
man, and as Tarzan dropped back into his chair the fellow
turned, crying with agony, and dashed wildly toward the
native village.
On another occasion as Tarzan and D'Arnot sat at dinner
Tarzan of the Apes |
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 American by Henry James: While she was looking at the ladies she was seeing Valentin de Bellegarde.
He, at all events, was seeing her. He put down the roughly-besmeared canvas
and addressed a little click with his tongue, accompanied by an elevation
of the eyebrows, to Newman.
"Where have you been all these months?" asked Mademoiselle
Noemie of our hero. "You took those great journeys,
you amused yourself well?"
"Oh, yes," said Newman. "I amused myself well enough."
"I am very glad," said Mademoiselle Noemie with extreme gentleness,
and she began to dabble in her colors again. She was singularly pretty,
with the look of serious sympathy that she threw into her face.
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