| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: Antipas expressed a long-cherished desire to see the man Jesus perform
some of his so-called miracles. "You should have brought him with
you," he said to the last speaker, who was still standing. "Tell us
what you know about him," he commanded.
Then the stranger said that he himself, whose name was Jacob, having a
daughter who was very ill, had gone to Capernaum to implore the Master
to heal his child. The Master had answered him, saying: "Return to thy
home: she is healed!" And he had found his daughter standing at the
threshold of his house, having risen from her couch when the gnomon
had marked the third hour, the same moment when he had made his
supplication to Jesus.
Herodias |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: Broadway in `East Lynne,' they'd flock to see her, wouldn't they?
Well, Emma McChesney could sell hoop-skirts, I'm telling you.
She could sell bustles. She could sell red-woolen mittens on
Fifth Avenue!"
The title stuck.
It was late in September when Mrs. McChesney, sunburned,
decidedly under weight, but gloriously triumphant, returned from
a four months' tour of South America. Against the earnest
protests of her business partner, T. A. Buck, president of the
Buck Featherloom Petticoat Company, she had invaded the southern
continent and left it abloom with Featherlooms from the Plata to
Emma McChesney & Co. |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: or gained as long as he has listeners, has something to make a
fuss about, and is not late for his train.
An hour later Malahin and Yasha, laden with bags and boxes, go
downstairs from the hotel room to the front door to get into a
sledge and drive to the station. They are seen off by the
hotel-keeper, the waiter, and various women. The old man is
touched. He thrusts ten-kopeck pieces in all directions, and says
in a sing-song voice:
"Good by, good health to you! God grant that all may be well with
you. Please God if we are alive and well we shall come again in
Lent. Good-by. Thank you. God bless you!"
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: "What are your products?" enquired the Wizard.
"Well, I make Assorted Flutters for flags and bunting, and a superior
grade of Rustles for ladies' silk gowns."
"I thought so," said the Wizard, with a sigh. "May we examine some of
these articles?"
"Yes, indeed; come into my shop, please," and the braided man turned
and led the way into a smaller cave, where he evidently lived. Here,
on a broad shelf, were several card-board boxes of various sizes,
each tied with cotton cord.
"This," said the man, taking up a box and handling it gently,
"contains twelve dozen rustles--enough to last any lady a year. Will
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
