| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: us from the toil of bearing it. If we were told
that such a man, so honoured, and so honourable,
suddenly casting away regard for his character, his
vows, his brethren, and his prospects, had associated
to himself a Jewish damsel, wandered in this
lewd company, through solitary places, defended her
person in preference to his own, and, finally, was so
utterly blinded and besotted by his folly, as to
bring her even to one of our own Preceptories, what
should we say but that the noble knight was possessed
by some evil demon, or influenced by some
Ivanhoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: fish-sacks and fed them slyly. But it was not food that Buck and
the huskies needed, but rest. And though they were making poor
time, the heavy load they dragged sapped their strength severely.
Then came the underfeeding. Hal awoke one day to the fact that
his dog-food was half gone and the distance only quarter covered;
further, that for love or money no additional dog-food was to be
obtained. So he cut down even the orthodox ration and tried to
increase the day's travel. His sister and brother-in-law seconded
him; but they were frustrated by their heavy outfit and their own
incompetence. It was a simple matter to give the dogs less food;
but it was impossible to make the dogs travel faster, while their
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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 The Door in the Wall, et. al. by H. G. Wells: scientific manager suddenly stopped writing, and walked down the
shed to the endmost of the dynamos, and began to examine the
brushes.
Azuma-zi hesitated, and then slipped across noiselessly into
shadow by the switch. There he waited. Presently the manager's
footsteps could be heard returning. He stopped in his old
position, unconscious of the stoker crouching ten feet away from
him. Then the big dynamo suddenly fizzled, and in another moment
Azuma-zi had sprung out of the darkness upon him.
First, the scientific manager was gripped round the body and
swung towards the big dynamo, then, kicking with his knee and
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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 Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: Gave itself like a bride
Once more to you.
Message
I heard a cry in the night,
A thousand miles it came,
Sharp as a flash of light,
My name, my name!
It was your voice I heard,
You waked and loved me so --
I send you back this word,
I know, I know!
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