| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: "But that gentleman is not in the camp, or at least I
have not seen him here," observed Blount.
"He will come. He will not fail to do that. He must
join the Emir. Siberia is cut in two now, and very cer-
tainly Feofar's army is only waiting for him to advance on
Irkutsk."
"And once free, what shall we do?"
"Once free, we will continue our campaign, and follow
the Tartars, until the time comes when we can make our
way into the Russian camp. We must not give up the
game. No, indeed; we have only just begun. You, friend,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: "Monsieur Brunet, who is a very good fellow, would much rather find
nothing but their dung," answered Vermichel. "A man who is obliged to
be out and about day and night had better be careful."
"If he is, he has good reason to be," said Tonsard, sententiously.
"So," continued Vermichel, "he said to Monsieur Michaud, 'I'll go as
soon as the court is up.' If he had wanted to find the cows he'd have
gone at seven o'clock in the morning. But that didn't suit Michaud,
and Brunet has had to be off. You can't take in Michaud, he's a
trained hound! Ha, the brigand!"
"Ought to have stayed in the army, a swaggerer like that," said
Tonsard; "he is only fit to deal with enemies. I wish he would come
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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 Time Machine by H. G. Wells: movement.' `Still they could move a little up and down,' said
the Medical Man.
`Easier, far easier down than up.'
`And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from
the present moment.'
`My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just
where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away
from the present movement. Our mental existences, which are
immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the
Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the
grave. Just as we should travel DOWN if we began our existence
The Time Machine |
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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of the hut.
Tarzan drew back silently to the far wall, and his hand
sought the long, keen hunting knife of his father. The woman
came quickly to the center of the hut. There she paused for
an instant feeling about with her hands for the thing she
sought. Evidently it was not in its accustomed place, for she
explored ever nearer and nearer the wall where Tarzan stood.
So close was she now that the ape-man felt the animal
warmth of her naked body. Up went the hunting knife, and
then the woman turned to one side and soon a guttural "ah"
proclaimed that her search had at last been successful.
Tarzan of the Apes |
