| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: or six times the usual length, a pair of scissors
of unusual size, a saw which is 2 1/2 inches wide
at the broadest point, with ugly looking teeth,
although somewhat rounded at the points, and
several other items quite unknown to the bill-
of-fare of ordinary mortals. A set of ten thin
blades slip easily down her throat and are
removed one at a time.
The sensation of her act is reached when the
point of a bayonet, 23 1/2 inches long, fastened
to the breech of a cannon, is placed in her
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flame and Shadow by Sara Teasdale: In a Garden
Nahant
Winter Stars
A Boy
Winter Dusk
By the Sea
IX
The Unchanging
June Night
"Like Barley Bending"
"Oh Day of Fire and Sun"
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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 Glasses by Henry James: so much of the foreground--I was reminded anew, I say, how our
young lady dazzled by some art that the enumeration of her merits
didn't explain and that the mention of her lapses didn't affect.
Where she was amiss nothing counted, and where she was right
everything did. I say she was wanting in mystery, but that after
all was her secret. This happened to be my first chance of
introducing her to my mother, who had not much left in life but the
quiet look from under the hood of her chair at the things which,
when she should have quitted those she loved, she could still trust
to make the world good for them. I wondered an instant how much
she might be moved to trust Flora Saunt, and then while the chair
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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 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: put together when the usual Compensative Laws of Nature were violated.
A subdued murmur of assent ran through the ranks of the Artisans,
and Chromatistes, in alarm, attempted to step forward
and address them. But he found himself encompassed with guards
and forced to remain silent while the Chief Circle in a few
impassioned words made a final appeal to the Women, exclaiming that,
if the Colour Bill passed, no marriage would henceforth be safe,
no woman's honour secure; fraud, deception, hypocrisy would pervade
every household; domestic bliss would share the fate
of the Constitution and pass to speedy perdition. "Sooner than this,"
he cried, "Come death."
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
