| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: We soon found out. Proceeding along the bank to the left,
within fifty feet we came to the wall. There the stream entered
and disappeared. But, unlike the others we had seen, above this
there was a wide and high arch, which made it appear as though the
stream were passing under a massive bridge. The current was swift
but not turbulent, and there was something about the surface of
that stream flowing straight through the mountain ahead of us--
Harry and I glanced at each other quickly, moved by the same
thought. There was an electric thrill in that glance.
But we did not speak--then.
For suddenly, startlingly, a voice sounded throughout the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: lofty and enshrouded figure of the lady Madeline of Usher. There
was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter
struggle upon every portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment
she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold,--
then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person
of her brother, and in her violent and now final death-agonies,
bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he
had anticipated.
From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast.
The storm was still abroad in all its wrath as I found myself
crossing the old causeway. Suddenly there shot along the path a
The Fall of the House of Usher |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: carnage he smiled upon one side.
"Despatch these horses," he said; "they keep you from your vantage.
Richard Shelton," he added, "ye have pleased me. Kneel."
The Lancastrians had already resumed their archery, and the shafts
fell thick in the mouth of the street; but the duke, minding them
not at all, deliberately drew his sword and dubbed Richard a knight
upon the spot.
"And now, Sir Richard," he continued, "if that ye see Lord
Risingham, send me an express upon the instant. Were it your last
man, let me hear of it incontinently. I had rather venture the
post than lose my stroke at him. For mark me, all of ye," he
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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 Koran: the people who said our signs were lies; verily, they were a bad
people, so we drowned them all together.
And David and Solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field,
when some people's sheep had strayed therein at night; and we
testified to their judgment; and this we gave Solomon to understand.
To each of them we gave judgment and knowledge; and to David we
subjected the mountains to celebrate our praises, and the birds
too,-it was we who did it.
And we taught him the art of making coats of mail for you, to shield
you from each other's violence; are ye then grateful?
And to Solomon (we subjected) the wind blowing stormily, to run on
The Koran |
