| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: on the hillside is decked with this ineradicable plant-life, which
springs up along the cracks afresh with new wreaths for every time of
year.
The worm-eaten gate gives into a little garden, a strip of turf, a few
trees, and a wilderness of flowers and rose bushes--a garden won from
the rock on the highest terrace of all, with the dark, old balustrade
along its edge. Opposite the gateway, a wooden summer-house stands
against the neighboring wall, the posts are covered with jessamine and
honeysuckle, vines and clematis.
The house itself stands in the middle of this highest garden, above a
vine-covered flight of steps, with an arched doorway beneath that
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: agreed he should have. So he's shaking this bill over them, which would
allow the city to build its own water-plant, and of course run the
present company out of business. Not a thing in it! All bluff. He'll get
the stock, I suppose. What's that?' he broke off to a clerk who came with
a message. 'Wants 500 preferred does he? Buyer 30? Very well, he can't
have it. Say so from me. Now,' he resumed to me, 'take a cigar by the
way. And don't buy any more Petunias until I tell you the right moment.
Do you see where your Amalgamated Electric has gone to?'"
"I had seen this. It had scored a 20-point rise since my purchase of it;
and I felt very sorry that I had not taken Mr. Beverly's advice and
bought a thousand shares. It had been on a day when I had felt
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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 The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: at its source three drops of holy water, for him and for him only
the river shall turn to gold. But no one failing in his first can
succeed in a second attempt, and if anyone shall cast unholy water
into the river, it will overwhelm him and he will become a black
stone." So saying, the King of the Golden River turned away and
deliberately walked into the center of the hottest flame of the
furnace. His figure became red, white, transparent, dazzling,--a
blaze of intense light,--rose, trembled, and disappeared. The King
of the Golden River had evaporated.
"Oh!" cried poor Gluck, running to look up the chimney after
him, "O dear, dear, dear me! My mug! my mug! my mug!"
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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 The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: in a spirit of aggression to which the armies opposed to them
were not accustomed. Selected only according to merit,
and hampered by no traditions, no routine, they quickly succeeded
in working out a tactics suited to the new necessities.
Of soldiers without experience opposed to seasoned professional
troops, drilled and trained according to the methods in use
everywhere since the Seven Years' War, one could not expect
complicated manoeuvres.
Attacks were delivered simply by great masses of troops. Thanks
to the numbers of the men at the disposal of their generals, the
considerable gaps provoked by this efficacious but barbarous
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