| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: than one flask of virtuous wine of Alicant. But he was not so
selfish, good man, as to enjoy either ice or wine alone; Don Pedro,
colonel of the soldiers on board, Don Alverez, intendant of his
Catholic majesty's customs at Santa Marta, and Don Paul, captain of
mariners in The City of the True Cross, had, by his especial
request, come to his assistance that evening, and with two friars,
who sat at the lower end of the table, were doing their best to
prevent the good man from taking too bitterly to heart the present
unsatisfactory state of his cathedral town, which had just been
sacked and burnt by an old friend of ours, Sir Francis Drake.
"We have been great sufferers, senors,--ah, great sufferers,"
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: My whole future depended upon the decision of this conductor.
Agitated though I was while this ceremony was proceeding, still,
externally, at least, I was apparently calm and self-possessed.
He went on with his duty--examining several colored passengers
before reaching me. He was somewhat harsh in tome and peremptory
in manner until he reached me, when, strange enough, and to my surprise
and relief, his whole manner changed. Seeing that I did not readily
produce my free papers, as the other colored persons in the car had done,
he said to me, in friendly contrast with his bearing toward the others:
"I suppose you have your free papers?"
To which I answered:
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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 Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: often, by those sudden whims, which seem inexplicable in young girls,
she kept aloof and scarcely ever appeared; she complained of having to
share her father's and mother's heart with too many people; she was
jealous of every one, even of her brothers and sisters. Then, after
creating a desert about her, the strange girl accused all nature of
her unreal solitude and her wilful griefs. Strong in the experience of
her twenty years, she blamed fate, because, not knowing that the
mainspring of happiness is in ourselves, she demanded it of the
circumstances of life. She would have fled to the ends of the earth to
escape a marriage such as those of her two sisters, and nevertheless
her heart was full of horrible jealousy at seeing them married, rich,
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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 Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.'
And he said unto Jesus, 'Lord, remember me
when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.' And Je-
sus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, to-day
shalt thou be with Me in paradise.'"
Stepan did not say anything, and was sitting
in thought, as if he were listening.
Now he knew what the true faith was. Those
only will be saved who have given food and drink
to the poor and visited the prisoners; those who
have not done it, go to hell. And yet the male-
The Forged Coupon |
