| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw: cross the river to the Bankside. But since you are a queen and will
none of me, nor of Philip of Spain, nor of any other mortal man, I
must een contain myself as best I may, and ask you only for a boon of
State.
ELIZABETH. A boon of State already! You are becoming a courtier like
the rest of them. You lack advancement.
SHAKESPEAR. "Lack advancement." By your Majesty's leave: a queenly
phrase. _[He is about to write it down]._
ELIZABETH. _[striking the tablets from his hand]_ Your tables begin
to anger me, sir. I am not here to write your plays for you.
SHAKESPEAR. You are here to inspire them, madam. For this, among the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: Wither on the other.
Meanwhile, those books that were advocates for the Moderns, chose
out one from among them to make a progress through the whole
library, examine the number and strength of their party, and
concert their affairs. This messenger performed all things very
industriously, and brought back with him a list of their forces, in
all, fifty thousand, consisting chiefly of light-horse, heavy-armed
foot, and mercenaries; whereof the foot were in general but sorrily
armed and worse clad; their horses large, but extremely out of case
and heart; however, some few, by trading among the Ancients, had
furnished themselves tolerably enough.
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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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: together with the problem for the day, "Does man have a purpose?" had
taken complete occupation of the young man's mind, not because of any
intrinsic interest, but because the professor was in the habit of
calling on students and expecting a thoughtful response. So deeply
meditative was the young man that he neglected to observe his path
adequately, with the result that he soon bounced his head off an
unhappily placed tree in the middle of the lawn.
Picking himself up and dusting himself off, the young man looked
around to see if anyone had witnessed his inadvertent folly. The
only people nearby were two men, who, although they were just a dozen
feet away, were completely oblivious to the young man's accident, for
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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 Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: There was another conference in the little house that morning, but
Henri's prisoner could tell little. He had heard nothing of an advance.
Further along the line it was said that there was much fighting. He sat
there, pale and bewildered and very civil, and in the end his frightened
politeness brought about a change in the attitude of the men who
questioned him. Hate all Germans as they must, who had suffered so
grossly, this boy was not of those who had outraged them.
They sent him on at last, and Sara Lee was free to tell Henri her news.
But she had grown very wise as to Henri's moods, and she hesitated. A
certain dissatisfaction had been growing in the boy for some time, a
sense of hopelessness. Further along the spring had brought renewed
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