| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: other side to make haste to get their places, forget their cares,
and be children again.
Over the tops of the tents, the lurid light of the distant red
fire shot into the sky, accompanied by the cries of the peanut
"butchers," the popcorn boys, the lemonade venders,{sic} and the
exhortations of the side-show "spieler," whose flying banners
bore the painted reproductions of his "freaks." Here and there
stood unhitched chariots, half filled trunks, trapeze tackle,
paper hoops, stake pullers or other "properties" necessary to the
show.
Torches flamed at the tent entrances, while oil lamps and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield: could think of, so terrific was his love that he couldn't help hoping.
Well, was it hope? Or was this queer, timid longing to have the chance of
looking after her, of making it his job to see that she had everything she
wanted, and that nothing came near her that wasn't perfect--just love? How
he loved her! He squeezed hard against the chest of drawers and murmured
to it, "I love her, I love her!" And just for the moment he was with her
on the way to Umtali. It was night. She sat in a corner asleep. Her soft
chin was tucked into her soft collar, her gold-brown lashes lay on her
cheeks. He doted on her delicate little nose, her perfect lips, her ear
like a baby's, and the gold-brown curl that half covered it. They were
passing through the jungle. It was warm and dark and far away. Then she
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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 A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: his rivals will take the field upon the other part; just as before.
In so far as he is the holder of any of the five NAMES, in short,
he is a man to be reckoned with; in so far as he is king of Samoa,
I cannot find but what the president of a college debating society
is a far more formidable officer. And unfortunately, although the
credit side of the account proves thus imaginary, the debit side is
actual and heavy. For he is now set up to be the mark of consuls;
he will be badgered to raise taxes, to make roads, to punish crime,
to quell rebellion: and how he is to do it is not asked.
If I am in the least right in my presentation of this obscure
matter, no one need be surprised to hear that the land is full of
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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 Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: performed without grumbling; who begin by refusing what they desire,
and end by getting angry when taken at their word; whose restless
activity is carried into the kitchen and into the counting-room, into
the gravest matters of business, and into the invisible darns of the
household linen; who love while scolding, who conceive no ideas but
the simplest (the small change of the mind); who argue about
everything, fear everything, calculate everything, and fret
perpetually over the future. Her cold but ingenuous beauty, her
touching expression, her freshness and purity, prevented Birotteau
from thinking of her defects, which moreover were more than
compensated by a delicate sense of honor natural to women, by an
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
