| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: sticks of dead greasewood and mesquite, and, wrapping his
blanket round his shoulders he sat down to warm himself and to
wait till it was time to bring in the horse and tie him up.
The fire was inadequate and Gale was cold and wet with dew.
Hunger and thirst were with him. His bones ached, and there was
a dull, deep-seated pain throbbing in his unhealed wound. For days
unshaven, his beard seemed like a million pricking needles in his
blistered skin. He was so tired that once having settled himself,
he did not move hand or foot. The night was dark, dismal, cloudy,
windy, growing colder. A moan of wind in the mesquite was
occasionally pierced by the high-keyed yelp of a coyote. There
Desert Gold |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mayflower Compact: the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country,
a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne Parts
of Virginia; doe, by these Presents, solemnly and mutually
in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and
combine ourselves together into a civill Body Politick,
for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance
of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof do enact,
constitute, and frame, such just and equall Laws, Ordinances,
Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time,
as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the
Generall Good of the Colonie; unto which we promise
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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 Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: entered the great back above the right shoulder, and, passing
entirely through the body, had pierced the savage heart.
Jane Porter had risen to her feet; as Clayton turned back
to her she staggered in weakness. He put out his arms to
save her from falling, and then drew her close to
him--pressing her head against his shoulder, he stooped
to kiss her in thanksgiving.
Gently the girl pushed him away.
"Please do not do that, William," she said. "I have lived a
thousand years in the past brief moments. I have learned in
the face of death how to live. I do not wish to hurt you more
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: Paris to be clerk with a color-merchant (formerly of Mayenne and a
distant connection of the Orgemonts) made himself a painter simply by
the fact of an obstinacy which constitutes the Breton character. What
he suffered, the manner in which he lived during those years of study,
God only knows. He suffered as much as great men suffer when they are
hounded by poverty and hunted like wild beasts by the pack of
commonplace minds and by troops of vanities athirst for vengeance.
As soon as he thought himself able to fly on his own wings, Fougeres
took a studio in the upper part of the rue des Martyrs, where he began
to delve his way. He made his first appearance in 1819. The first
picture he presented to the jury of the Exhibition at the Louvre
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