| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson: and our paths began to separate in the bush, twice cried to me with
a sort of gentle ecstasy, 'I like you too much!' From the
beginning he had made no secret of his terror of the king; would
not sit down nor speak above a whisper till he had put the whole
breadth of the isle between himself and his monarch, then
harmlessly asleep; and even there, even within a stone-cast of the
outer sea, our talk covered by the sound of the surf and the rattle
of the wind among the palms, continued to speak guardedly,
softening his silver voice (which rang loud enough in the chorus)
and looking about him like a man in fear of spies. The strange
thing is that I should have beheld him no more. In any other
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: both sides, listening to their theorizings and witnessing their
demonstrations. Never, by word or sign, did I convey to either the slightest
hint of the other's progress, and they respected me for the seal I put upon my
lips.
Lloyd Inwood, after prolonged and unintermittent application, when the tension
upon his mind and body became too great to bear, had a strange way of
obtaining relief. He attended prize fights. It was at one of these brutal
exhibitions, whither he had dragged me in order to tell his latest results,
that his theory received striking confirmation.
"Do you see that red-whiskered man?" he asked, pointing across the ring to the
fifth tier of seats on the opposite side. "And do you see the next man to him,
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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 Rescue by Joseph Conrad: lookers-on aboard the brig something sad and disappointing in the
yacht's aspect as she lay perfectly still in an attitude that in
a seaman's mind is associated with the idea of rapid motion.
"Here she is!" said Shaw, who, clad in a spotless white suit,
came just then from forward where he had been busy with the
anchors. "She is well on, sir--isn't she? Looks like a mudflat to
me from here."
"Yes. It is a mudflat," said Lingard, slowly, raising the long
glass to his eye. "Haul the mainsail up, Mr. Shaw," he went on
while he took a steady look at the yacht. "We will have to work
in short tacks here."
The Rescue |
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 Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson: Begin to slay the folk, and spoil the land.'
And when she came to Almesbury she spake
There to the nuns, and said, `Mine enemies
Pursue me, but, O peaceful Sisterhood,
Receive, and yield me sanctuary, nor ask
Her name to whom ye yield it, till her time
To tell you:' and her beauty, grace and power,
Wrought as a charm upon them, and they spared
To ask it.
So the stately Queen abode
For many a week, unknown, among the nuns;
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