| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: met even the patrol of horse police going their usual suburban round.
At last we reached the wall of the churchyard, which we climbed over.
With some little difficulty, for it was very dark, and the whole place seemed
so strange to us, we found the Westenra tomb. The Professor took the key,
opened the creaky door, and standing back, politely, but quite unconsciously,
motioned me to precede him. There was a delicious irony in the offer,
in the courtliness of giving preference on such a ghastly occasion.
My companion followed me quickly, and cautiously drew the door to,
after carefully ascertaining that the lock was a falling, and not a
spring one. In the latter case we should have been in a bad plight.
Then he fumbled in his bag, and taking out a matchbox and a piece of candle,
Dracula |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: too full, and some tears stood in her eyes.] "Speak out, my dear,"
said I; "are you willing I should go?" - "No," says she, very
affectionately, "I am far from willing; but if you are resolved to
go," says she, "rather than I would be the only hindrance, I will
go with you: for though I think it a most preposterous thing for
one of your years, and in your condition, yet, if it must be," said
she, again weeping, "I would not leave you; for if it be of Heaven
you must do it, there is no resisting it; and if Heaven make it
your duty to go, He will also make it mine to go with you, or
otherwise dispose of me, that I may not obstruct it."
This affectionate behaviour of my wife's brought me a little out of
Robinson Crusoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: the passive order. It was his natural bent to
rouse his foes to combat, rather than wait for
their attack, to put on the defensive every false-
hood and every wrong of which he was cognisant.
Truth in himself and in others was what he most
desired, and that to which he strove at all costs
to attain. He was his own severest critic, weigh-
ing his own actions, analysing his own thoughts,
and baring himself to the eyes of the world with
unflinching candour. Greatest of autobiogra-
phers, he extenuates nothing: you see the whole
The Forged Coupon |
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 Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: "I've been here eight whole days, Uncle Martin," she announced
firmly, "eight whole days and haven't tried to get a thing. It's
terrible, isn't it, Aunt Rose, how lazy I am. I'm going to have
Bill take me in right straight after breakfast."
"If you're so set on it, I'll see about your position this
afternoon," conceded Martin reluctantly. "We'll drive in in the
car."
"Oh, Uncle Martin," she coaxed innocently, "let me try my luck
alone first. Bill can tell me who the different men are and if I
know he's waiting for me outside in the buggy, it will keep me
from being scared." And her young cousin, only too pleased with
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