| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: clean linen; he had also arranged his hair in a pleasing manner, and
chosen a very becoming pair of trousers and red leather slippers with
pointed toes. The family replied with smiles as flattering as those of
the artist. Virginie became the color of her hair, lowered her eyes,
and turned aside her head to look at the sketches. Pierre Grassou
thought these little affectations charming, Virginie had such grace;
happily she didn't look like her father or her mother; but whom did
she look like?
During this sitting there were little skirmishes between the family
and the painter, who had the audacity to call pere Vervelle witty.
This flattery brought the family on the double-quick to the heart of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: Her light gleamed faint and chill.
I thought such wan and lifeless beams
Could ne'er my heart repay
For the bright sun's most transient gleams
That cheered me through the day:
But, as above that mist's control
She rose, and brighter shone,
I felt her light upon my soul;
But now--that light is gone!
Thick vapours snatched her from my sight,
And I was darkling left,
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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 Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: child: shall truth be less truth because the bearer is despised? Is it
the mouth that speaks or the word that is spoken which is eternal?
Nevertheless, if you will have it so, go, and say, 'I, Peter Halket, sinner
among you all, who have desired women and gold, who have loved myself and
hated my fellow, I--'" The stranger looked down at him, and placed his
hand gently on his head. "Peter Simon Halket," he said, "a harder task I
give you than any which has been laid upon you. In that small spot where
alone on earth your will rules, bring there into being the kingdom today.
Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you. Walk ever forward,
looking not to the right hand or the left. Heed not what men shall say of
you. Succour the oppressed; deliver the captive. If thine enemy hunger,
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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 Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: behold all the wonders of a voyage of twenty thousand leagues under the
sea.
One day, the 22nd of June, 1867, these three men, who knew nothing of the
past history of Captain Nemo, succeeded in escaping in one of the
"Nautilus's" boats. But as at this time the "Nautilus" was drawn into the
vortex of the maelstrom, off the coast of Norway, the captain naturally
believed that the fugitives, engulfed in that frightful whirlpool, found
their death at the bottom of the abyss. He was unaware that the Frenchman
and his two companions had been miraculously cast on shore, that the
fishermen of the Lofoten Islands had rendered them assistance, and that the
professor, on his return to France, had published that work in which seven
The Mysterious Island |
