| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: any whom he had taken under his protection; and it is, on the
contrary, one of the highest points of honour amongst them to risk
their fortunes and their lives in the defence of their dependants
who have implored their protection. But neither law nor justice was
of any advantage to us, and the customs of the country were doomed
to be broken when they would have contributed to our security.
We were obliged to march in the extremity of the hot season, and had
certainly perished by the fatigue had we not entered the woods,
which shaded us from the scorching sun. The day before our arrival
at the place where we were to be delivered to the Turks, we met with
five elephants, that pursued us, and if they could have come to us
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: his toothache.' - 'The whole of the paying out and lifting
machinery must be designed and ordered in two or three days, and I
am half crazy with work. I like it though: it's like a good ball,
the excitement carries you through.' - 'I was running to and from
the ships and warehouse through fierce gusts of rain and wind till
near eleven, and you cannot think what a pleasure it was to be
blown about and think of you in your pretty dress.' - 'I am at the
works till ten and sometimes till eleven. But I have a nice office
to sit in, with a fire to myself, and bright brass scientific
instruments all round me, and books to read, and experiments to
make, and enjoy myself amazingly. I find the study of electricity
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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 Adieu by Honore de Balzac: and the lips of Major de Sucy stiffened. Silence reigned, broken only
by the moans which came from the house, and the dull sound made by the
major's horse as it chewed in a fury of hunger the icy bark of the
trees with which the house was built. Monsieur de Sucy replaced his
sabre in its scabbard, took the bridle of the precious horse he had
hitherto been able to preserve, and led it, in spite of the animal's
resistance, from the wretched fodder it appeared to think excellent.
"We'll start, Bichette, we'll start! There's none but you, my beauty,
who can save Stephanie. Ha! by and bye you and I may be able to rest--
and die," he added.
Philippe, wrapped in a fur pelisse, to which he owed his preservation
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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 The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: stamped Popinot an absent-minded man, a distinguishing mark of
scientific attainment, of art passionately pursued, of a perpetually
active mind? To complete this portrait, it will be enough to add that
Popinot was one of the few judges of the Court of the Seine on whom
the ribbon of the Legion of Honor had not been conferred.
Such was the man who had been instructed by the President of the
Second Chamber of the Court--to which Popinot had belonged since his
reinstatement among the judges in civil law--to examine the Marquis
d'Espard at the request of his wife, who sued for a Commission in
Lunacy.
The Rue du Fouarre, where so many unhappy wretches swarmed in the
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