| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Juana by Honore de Balzac: night as one would kiss a mother for the last time, saying in my
heart: 'To-morrow I will kill myself.' But I do not die. Suicides go
to hell, you know, and I am so afraid of hell that I resign myself to
live, to get up in the morning and go to bed at night, and work the
same hours, and do the same things. I am not so weary of it, but I
suffer--And yet, my father and mother adore me. Oh! I am bad, I am
bad; I say so to my confessor."
"Do you always live here alone, without amusement, without pleasures?"
"Oh! I have not always been like this. Till I was fifteen the
festivals of the church, the chants, the music gave me pleasure. I was
happy, feeling myself like the angels without sin and able to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Davis: was beautiful and pure, that his soul sickened with disgust at
her deformity, even when his words were kindest. Through this
dull consciousness, which never left her, came, like a sting,
the recollection of the dark blue eyes and lithe figure of the
little Irish girl she had left in the cellar. The recollection
struck through even her stupid intellect with a vivid glow of
beauty and of grace. Little Janey, timid, helpless, clinging to
Hugh as her only friend: that was the sharp thought, the bitter
thought, that drove into the glazed eyes a fierce light of pain.
You laugh at it? Are pain and jealousy less savage realities
down here in this place I am taking you to than in your own
Life in the Iron-Mills |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: had passed. Then I crept out to approach the fortress walls
in search of a way within.
Either through carelessness or over-confidence in the supposed
inaccessibility of their hiding place, the triple-barred gate
stood ajar. Beyond were a handful of guards, laughing and
talking over one of their incomprehensible Barsoomian games.
I saw that none of the guardsmen had been of the party that
accompanied Thurid and Matai Shang; and so, relying entirely upon
my disguise, I walked boldly through the gateway and up to the
The Warlord of Mars |
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 Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: chained in the passage with his head in the
cavern, but when he saw the King making toward him
he crouched as low as he could and dropped his
chin to the floor, leaving a small space between
his body and the roof of the passage.
Ruggedo did not hesitate an instant. Impelled
by fear, he leaped to the dragon's nose and then
scrambled to his back, where he succeeded in
squeezing himself through the opening. After
the head was passed there was more room and
he slid along the dragon's scales to his tail and
Tik-Tok of Oz |
