| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: this, not because she doubted his honesty, but because
she really wished to see the place in which he worked.
It was her workshop now, as well as his.
For a moment her suspicions were sickening.
Suppose he had romanced about his workshop and his
room? Supposed he lived somewhere in the squalid slums
of the lower East Side and his people, after all, were
alive? Perhaps a drunken father and a coarse, brutal
mother--and sisters----
She stopped with a frown and clenched her fists.
She would ask Jim to show her his workshop. That
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Before Adam by Jack London: downstream violently against the bank. The abrupt
stoppage almost whipped us off into the water. The
catamaran was tied to a tree by a rope of twisted
roots. This we untied before shoving off again.
By the time we had paddled well out into the current,
we had drifted so far downstream that we were in full
view of the Fire People's abiding-place. So occupied
were we with our paddling, our eyes fixed upon the
other bank, that we knew nothing until aroused by a
yell from the shore. We looked around. There were the
Fire People, many of them, looking at us and pointing
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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 Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: (based upon Plut. "Lycurg." 17 and Ps. Plut. "Moral." 237), {kai
eis mekos d' an auxanesthai oeto kai eueidesterous} vel {kallious
gignesthai, pros amphotera ton radina ta somata poiousan trophen
mallon sullambanein egesamenos e ten diaplatunousan}. Otherwise I
would suggest to read {kai eis mekos an auxanesthai ten [gar]
radina . . . egesato k.t.l.}, which is closer to the vulgate, and
gives nearly the same sense.
On the other hand, in order to guard against a too great pinch of
starvation, though he did not actually allow the boys to help
themselves without further trouble to what they needed more, he did
give them permission to steal[15] this thing or that in the effort to
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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 Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: suffered a pang of regret at his unrestraint.
Presently she recovered, and she drew only the closer, and
leaned upon him with her face upturned. He felt her hands on
his, and they were soft, clinging, strong, like steel under
velvet. He felt the rise and fall, the warmth of her breast. A
tremor ran over him. He tried to draw back, and if he succeeded
a little her form swayed with him, pressing closer. She held
her face up, and he was compelled to look. It was wonderful
now: white, yet glowing, with the red lips parted, and dark
eyes alluring. But that was not all. There was passion,
unquenchable spirit, woman's resolve deep and mighty.
The Lone Star Ranger |
