The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: both to the palate and stomach of sick persons. He is to be fished for
with a very small worm, at the bottom; for he very seldom, or never,
rises above the gravel, on which I told you he usually gets his living.
The MILLER'S-THUMB, or BULL-HEAD, is a fish of no pleasing
shape. He is by Gesner compared to the Sea-toad-fish, for his similitude
and shape. It has a head big and flat, much greater than suitable to his
body; a mouth very wide, and usually gaping; he is without teeth, but
his lips are very rough, much like to a file. He hath two fins near to his
gills, which be roundish or crested; two fins also under the belly; two
on the back; one below the vent; and the fin of his tail is round. Nature
hath painted the body of this fish with whitish, blackish, brownish
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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 Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: A hidden mirror in a crumbling old castle of Dawna broke loose from
its fastenings and fell crashing on the stone pavement of the deserted
hall. And from amid the ruins rose the gigantic form of a man. His
hair and beard were a fiery red, and he gazed at the desolation around
him in absolute amazement.
It was the Red Rogue of Dawna, set free from his imprisonment.
He wandered out and found strange scenes confronting him, for during
the hundred years a great change had taken place in the Enchanted
Island. Great cities had been built and great kingdoms established.
Civilization had won the people, and they no longer robbed or fought
or indulged in magical arts, but were busily employed and leading
 The Enchanted Island of Yew |