| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: Frenchman, complimented his young visitor upon his discretion.
M. de Champignelles hurried off at once to Courcelles, with that
eagerness to serve a pretty woman which belongs to his time of life.
In the Vicomtesse de Beauseant's position, such a message was likely
to arouse keen curiosity; so, although her memory supplied no reason
at all that could bring M. de Nueil to her house, she saw no objection
to his visit--after some prudent inquiries as to his family and
condition. At the same time, she began by a refusal. Then she
discussed the propriety of the matter with M. de Champignelles,
directing her questions so as to discover, if possible, whether he
knew the motives for the visit, and finally revoked her negative
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: The house looked as though it had been long untenanted.
The windows were encrusted with dust, and the shutters were up.
All the framework was black with time, and from the iron the paint
had mostly scaled away. It was evident that up to lately
there had been a large notice board in front of the balcony.
It had, however, been roughly torn away, the uprights which had
supported it still remaining. Behind the rails of the balcony I
saw there were some loose boards, whose raw edges looked white.
I would have given a good deal to have been able to see the notice
board intact, as it would, perhaps, have given some clue to the ownership
of the house. I remembered my experience of the investigation
Dracula |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare: Then kings' misdeeds cannot be hid in clay.
'This deed will make thee only lov'd for fear,
But happy monarchs still are fear'd for love:
With foul offenders thou perforce must bear,
When they in thee the like offences prove:
If but for fear of this, thy will remove;
For princes are the glass, the school, the book,
Where subjects eyes do learn, do read, do look.
'And wilt thou be the school where Lust shall learn?
Must he in thee read lectures of such shame:
Wilt thou be glass, wherein it shall discern
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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 Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: "He must be crafty indeed, that fellow!" exclaimed Louis, wagging his
head.
"Oh, yes!" replied the silversmith, bitterly. "But methinks he'd have
snared you yourself. How could I distrust a beggar recommended to me
by Oosterlinck, one hundred thousand francs of whose money I hold in
my hands. I will wager the Jew's letter and seal were forged! In
short, sire, I found myself this morning robbed of those jewels you
admired so much. They have been ravished from me, sire! To steal the
jewels of the Elector of Bavaria! those scoundrels respect nothing!
they'll steal your kingdom if you don't take care. As soon as I missed
the jewels I went up to the room of that apprentice, who is,
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