| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: which raised the question of a yacht in his mind.
Did he want a yacht? He could recall having once dwelt
with great fondness upon such a project: doubtless it
would still be full of attractions for him. He liked
the water, and the water liked him--and he was better able
now than formerly to understand how luxurious existence
can be made in modern private ships. He decided that he
would have a yacht--and then perceived that the decision
brought no exhilaration. He was no happier than before.
He could decide that he would have anything he chose
to name--and it would in no whit lighten his mood.
The Market-Place |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: "Well, and does Nicholl understand what that means?"
"Of course, Michel," replied the captain. "All these signs,
which seem cabalistic to you, form the plainest, the clearest,
and the most logical language to those who know how to read it."
"And you pretend, Nicholl," asked Michel, "that by means of
these hieroglyphics, more incomprehensible than the Egyptian
Ibis, you can find what initiatory speed it was necessary to
give the projectile?"
"Incontestably," replied Nicholl; "and even by this same formula
I can always tell you its speed at any point of its transit."
"On your word?"
From the Earth to the Moon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: Then the Fairy Queen spoke to him in this way: "If you consent to Ak's
request I will see that no harm comes to your deer while they are away
from the Forest."
And the Prince of the Ryls added: "For my part I will allow to every
deer that assists Claus the privilege of eating my casa plants, which
give strength, and my grawle plants, which give fleetness of foot, and
my marbon plants, which give long life."
And the Queen of the Nymphs said: "The deer which draw the sledge of
Claus will be permitted to bathe in the Forest pool of Nares, which
will give them sleek coats and wonderful beauty."
The Prince of the Knooks, hearing these promises, shifted uneasily on
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
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 When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: it with chalk or shining pigment. I observed also what I had not
been able to see before, that a thin white line ran across the
floor, no doubt to give the precise direction of this painted
rise of rock, and that the glare of the search-light now lay
exactly over that line.
The monstrous, flaming gyroscope fashioned in Nature's
workshop, for such without doubt it was, was drawing near,
emitting as it came a tumult of sounds which, with the echoes
that they caused, almost over-whelmed our senses. Poor little
Tommy, already cowed, although he was a bold-natured beast, broke
down entirely, and I could see from his open mouth that he was
When the World Shook |
