| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Walking by Henry David Thoreau: morning, to starve out a garrison to whom you are bound by such
strong ties of sympathy. I wonder that about this time, or say
between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, too late for the
morning papers and too early for the evening ones, there is not a
general explosion heard up and down the street, scattering a
legion of antiquated and house-bred notions and whims to the four
winds for an airing-and so the evil cure itself.
How womankind, who are confined to the house still more than men,
stand it I do not know; but I have ground to suspect that most of
them do not STAND it at all. When, early in a summer afternoon,
we have been shaking the dust of the village from the skirts of
Walking |
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 Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: me, from the fact, perhaps, that my own individuality had never
been respected by any person with whom I had any relation--not even
by my own mother.
After Mr. Uxbridge went, I asked Aunt Eliza if she thought he
looked mean and cunning? She laughed, and replied that she was
bound to think that Mr. Lemorne's lawyer could not look otherwise.
When, on the night of the ball, I presented myself in the rose-
colored moire antique for her inspection, she raised her eyebrows,
but said nothing about it.
"I need not be careful of it, I suppose, aunt?"
"Spill as much wine and ice-cream on it as you like."
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