The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: Marsh smiled grimly.
"I reckon I'd have known it," said he. "No, sir! It sounds wild,
but it's the only possible guess. That last sea must've lifted us
bodily right over the corner of the pier."
"Well--maybe," assented Orde doubtfully.
"Sure thing," repeated Marsh with conviction.
"Well, you'd better not tell 'em so unless you want to rank in with
Old Man Ananias," ended Orde. "It was a good job. Pretty dusty out
there, wasn't it?"
"Pretty dusty," grinned Marsh.
They turned away together and were at once pounced on by Leopold
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Summer by Edith Wharton: by, and at last the sky paled and dawn threw a cold
blue beam into the room. She lay in her corner staring
at the dirty floor, the clothes-line hung with decaying
rags, the old woman huddled against the cold stove, and
the light gradually spreading across the wintry world,
and bringing with it a new day in which she would have
to live, to choose, to act, to make herself a
place among these people--or to go back to the life she
had left. A mortal lassitude weighed on her. There
were moments when she felt that all she asked was to go
on lying there unnoticed; then her mind revolted at the
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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 King James Bible: Ghost, set his eyes on him.
ACT 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child
of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord?
ACT 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou
shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there
fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to
lead him by the hand.
ACT 13:12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being
astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
ACT 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came
 King James Bible |
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 Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: chance, hear the hollow sound of his footsteps, and call the
attention of his officer to the circumstance. That would
bring about a discovery which would inevitably lead to our
being separated. Go, then, and set about this work, in
which, unhappily, I can offer you no assistance; keep at it
all night, if necessary, and do not return here to-morrow
till after the jailer his visited me. I shall have something
of the greatest importance to communicate to you."
Dantes took the hand of the abbe in his, and affectionately
pressed it. Faria smiled encouragingly on him, and the young
man retired to his task, in the spirit of obedience and
 The Count of Monte Cristo |