| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: it is the people that expect things--and then go out and take
them--that inherit the earth these days. The meek have been
dispossessed."
"I'm glad I have your good wishes."
"I didn't say you had, but you'll get along just as well without
them,'' she answered with a cool little laugh as she rose.
"I'd like to discuss that proposition with you more at length.
May I call on you some evening this week, Miss Mackenzie?"
There was a sparkle of hidden malice in her answer. "You're too
late, Mr. Collins. We'll have to leave it undiscussed. I'm going
to leave to-day for my uncle s ranch, the Rocking Chair."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: and unloading of vessels. Alongside them were clippers of all sizes,
steamers of all nationalities, and the steamboats, with several decks
rising one above the other, which ply on the Sacramento and its tributaries.
There were also heaped up the products of a commerce which extends to Mexico,
Chili, Peru, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and all the Pacific islands.
Passepartout, in his joy on reaching at last the American continent,
thought he would manifest it by executing a perilous vault in fine style;
but, tumbling upon some worm-eaten planks, he fell through them.
Put out of countenance by the manner in which he thus "set foot"
upon the New World, he uttered a loud cry, which so frightened
the innumerable cormorants and pelicans that are always perched
Around the World in 80 Days |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: each corner.
3. The Arrival Of The Wizard
The doorway of the glass palace was quite big enough for the horse and
buggy to enter, so Zeb drove straight through it and the children
found themselves in a lofty hall that was very beautiful. The people
at once followed and formed a circle around the sides of the spacious
room, leaving the horse and buggy and the man with the star to occupy
the center of the hall.
"Come to us, oh, Gwig!" called the man, in a loud voice.
Instantly a cloud of smoke appeared and rolled over the floor; then it
slowly spread and ascended into the dome, disclosing a strange
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
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 Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: l1th, when the moon flooded the mysterious hillocks with a curious
pallor.
Wandering somewhat beyond my usual limits, I came upon
a great stone which seemed to differ markedly from any we had
yet encountered. It was almost wholly covered, but I stooped and
cleared away the sand with my hands, later studying the object
carefully and supplementing the moonlight with my electric torch.
Unlike the other very large rocks, this one was perfectly square-cut,
with no convex or concave surface. It seemed, too, to be of a
dark basaltic substance, wholly dissimilar to the granite and
sandstone and occasional concrete of the now familiar fragments.
Shadow out of Time |
