| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: become of her? Curiosity prompting him, he asked little Billy about her.
"Mescal's with the sheep," piped Billy.
That she was a shepherdess pleased Hare, and he thought of her as free on
the open range, with the wind blowing her hair.
One day when Hare felt stronger he took his walk round the farm with new
zest. Upon his return to the house he saw Snap's cream pinto in the
yard, and Dave's mustang cropping the grass near by. A dusty pack lay on
the ground. Hare walked down the avenue of cottonwoods and was about to
turn the corner of the old forge when he stopped short.
"Now mind you, I'll take a bead on this white-faced spy if you send him
up there."
The Heritage of the Desert |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: secret to me. I have shown you strange things to-night. I will
unfold all the wonder to you another time. Will you not come back
and sup with me again?"
"Yes," said the prince, "I will come whensoever you bid me;" for
he was curious to know the secret of the statue and the strange
things he had seen.
"And will you not give me a pledge of your coming?" said the
queen, still smiling.
"What pledge shall I give you," said the prince.
"Give me the ring that is upon your finger," said the queen; and
she smiled so bewitchingly that the prince could not have refused
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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 Koran: They are not all alike. Of the people of the Book there is a
nation upright, reciting God's signs throughout the night, as they
adore the while. They believe in God, and in the last day, and bid
what is reasonable, and forbid what is wrong, and vie in charity;
these are among the righteous.
What ye do of good surely God will not deny, for God knows those who
fear.
Verily, those who misbelieve, their wealth is of no service to them,
nor their children either, against God; they are the fellows of the
Fire, and they shall dwell therein for aye.
The likeness of what they expend in this life of the world, is as
The Koran |
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 A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: lines of houses, and said to her mother:
"Mamma, we must go to-morrow for a trip to Montmorency!"
She had scarcely uttered the words, in a tone of glee, when the
Gentleman in Black came by, sadder and more dejected than ever.
Caroline's innocent and ingratiating glance might have been taken for
an invitation. And, in fact, on the following day, when Madame
Crochard, dressed in a pelisse of claret-colored merinos, a silk
bonnet, and striped shawl of an imitation Indian pattern, came out to
choose seats in a chaise at the corner of the Rue du Faubourg Saint-
Denis and the Rue d'Enghien, there she found her Unknown standing like
a man waiting for his wife. A smile of pleasure lighted up the
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