| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: and the waves of the rising tide were creeping up the
long, sloping stretches of the sand with a lazy,
soothing rush. A winter gull poised above their heads
and soared seaward. The smoke of an ocean liner
streaked the horizon as she swept toward the channel
off Sandy Hook.
Jim looked at the girl by his side and tried to
speak. She caught the strained expression in his
strong face and lowered her eyes.
He began to trace letters in the sand.
She knew with unerring instinct that he had made
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged
the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea.
A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored
one had plunged in after me and was swimming rapidly
in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close up
the distance between us in short order, for at best I
could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft,
which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I
desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was
expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course.
I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became
At the Earth's Core |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: with a reim, they took their assegais and sticks, and started. I would
have gone too, only I knew that somebody must look after the waggon, and
I did not like to leave either of the boys with it at night. I was in a
very bad temper, indeed, although I was pretty well used to these sort
of occurrences, and soothed myself by taking a rifle and going to kill
something. For a couple of hours I poked about without seeing anything
that I could get a shot at, but at last, just as I was again within
seventy yards of the waggon, I put up an old Impala ram from behind a
mimosa thorn. He ran straight for the waggon, and it was not till he
was passing within a few feet of it that I could get a decent shot at
him. Then I pulled, and caught him half-way down the spine. Over he
Long Odds |
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 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: fro the quarterdeck loftily, keeping a triumphant eye on them.
They had come to buy potatoes.
"These chaps have been waiting here in the sun for hours," Burns
whispered to me excitedly. "They have drank the water-cask dry.
Don't you throw away your chances, sir. You are too good-natured."
I selected a man with thick legs and a man with a cast in his eye
to negotiate with; simply because they were easily distinguishable
from the rest. "You have the money on you?" I inquired, before
taking them down into the cabin.
"Yes, sir," they answered in one voice, slapping their pockets. I
liked their air of quiet determination. Long before the end of the
'Twixt Land & Sea |
