| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: selves, composed a spectacle unknown to man. One of them, proud,
haughty, capricious, with black hair and beautiful hands, was casting
the flame of her glance here and there at random; another, light-
hearted and gay, a smile upon her lips, with chestnut hair and
delicate white hands, was a typical French virgin, thoughtless, and
without hidden thoughts, living her natural real life; a third was
dreamy, melancholy, pale, bending her head like a drooping flower; her
neighbor, on the contrary, tall, indolent, with Asiatic habits, long
eyes, moist and black, said but little, and reflected, glancing
covertly at the head of Antinous.
Among them, like the "jocoso" of a Spanish play, full of wit and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: in length by 8 1/2 inches in diameter, and varies in weight from
200 to 242 pounds. Where destruction pure and simple is desired,
the shell is charged with a high explosive such as picric acid or
T.N.T., the colloquial abbreviation for the devastating agent
scientifically known as "Trinitrotoluene," the base of which, in
common with all the high explosives used by the different powers
and variously known as lyddite, melinite, cheddite, and so forth,
is picric acid. Such a bomb, if it strikes the objective, a
building, for instance, fairly and squarely, may inflict
widespread material damage.
On the other hand, where it is desired to scatter death, as well
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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 Edition of The Ambassadors by Henry James: wonder of wonders, of her own. To this tune and nothing less,
accordingly, was his surrender made good. It sufficiently lighted
up at least the folly of holding off. Ancient proverbs sounded, for
his memory, in the tone of their words and the clink of their
glasses, in the hum of the town and the plash of the river. It WAS
clearly better to suffer as a sheep than as a lamb. One might as
well perish by the sword as by famine.
"Maria's still away?"--that was the first thing she had asked him;
and when he had found the frankness to be cheerful about it in
spite of the meaning he knew her to attach to Miss Gostrey's
absence, she had gone on to enquire if he didn't tremendously miss
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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 King James Bible: nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
JER 27:14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they
prophesy a lie unto you.
JER 27:15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a
lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish,
ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
JER 27:16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying,
Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that
prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall
now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto
King James Bible |
