| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: as her appointed mission. Hester had often fancied that
Providence had a design of justice and retribution, in endowing
the child with this marked propensity; but never, until now, had
she bethought herself to ask, whether, linked with that design,
there might not likewise be a purpose of mercy and beneficence.
If little Pearl were entertained with faith and trust, as a
spirit messenger no less than an earthly child, might it not be
her errand to soothe away the sorrow that lay cold in her
mother's heart, and converted it
 The Scarlet Letter |
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 Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: "So we have killed our mandarin, have we?" said Bianchon one day
as they left the dinner table.
"Not yet," he answered, "but he is at his last gasp."
The medical student took this for a joke, but it was not a jest.
Eugene had dined in the house that night for the first time for a
long while, and had looked thoughtful during the meal. He had
taken his place beside Mlle. Taillefer, and stayed through the
dessert, giving his neighbor an expressive glance from time to
time. A few of the boarders discussed the walnuts at the table,
and others walked about the room, still taking part in the
conversation which had begun among them. People usually went when
 Father Goriot |