| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: animated picture of the road swept quite apart from us, as we
lumbered up hill and down dale, under hedge and over stone, among
circuitous byways. Only twice did I receive, as it were, a whiff
of the highway. The first reached my ears alone. I might have
been anywhere. I only knew I was walking in the dark night and
among ruts, when I heard very far off, over the silent country that
surrounded us, the guard's horn wailing its signal to the next
post-house for a change of horses. It was like the voice of the
day heard in darkness, a voice of the world heard in prison, the
note of a cock crowing in the mid-seas - in short, I cannot tell
you what it was like, you will have to fancy for yourself - but I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: rose to my knees--the tunnel was too low to permit of standing--and
gazed intently ahead. I could see nothing save that the stream had
narrowed to half its former width, and was still becoming narrower.
We went faster and faster, and the stream narrowed until the
bank was but a few feet away on either side.
"Watch the stern!" I called to Harry. "Keep her off with your
spear!"
Then a wall loomed up directly ahead. I thought it meant
another bend in the stream, and I strained my eyes intently in the
effort to discover its direction, but I could see nothing save the
black wall. We approached closer; I shouted to Harry and Desiree
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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 Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: contact with the noblesse, would be especially exposed; namely,
wrongs to women.
Everyone who knows the literature of that time, must know what I
mean: what had gone on for more than a century, it may be more than
two, in France, in Italy, and--I am sorry to have to say it--Germany
likewise. All historians know what I mean, and how enormous was the
evil. I only wonder that they have so much overlooked that item in
the causes of the Revolution. It seems to me to have been more
patent and potent in the sight of men, as it surely was in the sight
of Almighty God, than all the political and economic wrongs put
together. They might have issued in a change of dynasty or of laws.
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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 Russia in 1919 by Arthur Ransome: of the decree. In cases where the taxation had been carried
out as intended there had been no difficulty. The most
significant reason for the partial unsuccess was that the
propertied class, as such, had already diminished to a greater
extent than had been supposed, and many of those taxed, for
example, as factory owners were already working, not as
factory owners, but as paid directors in nationalized
factories, and were therefore no longer subject to the
tax. In other words, the partial failure of the tax was a proof
of the successful development of the revolution. (This is
illustrated by the concrete case of "Uncle"
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