| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: crushed laundry and held out his fat chubby hand.
"Give me the letter," he groaned.
"Here you are," said Zoie, taking Jimmy's acquiescence as a
matter of course; and she thrust the letter into the pocket of
Jimmy's ulster. "Now, when you get back with the baby," she
continued, "don't come in all of a sudden; just wait outside and
whistle. You CAN WHISTLE, can't you?" she asked with a doubtful
air.
For answer, Jimmy placed two fingers between his lips and
produced a shrill whistle that made both Zoie and Aggie glance
nervously toward Alfred's bedroom door.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from King James Bible: end, saith the LORD.
AMO 4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of
Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to
their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
AMO 4:2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days
shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your
posterity with fishhooks.
AMO 4:3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is
before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
AMO 4:4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply
transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes
King James Bible |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: and got good profit of this economy of effort. But the case
is exceptional. Usually in all works of art that have been
conceived from within outwards, and generously nourished from
the author's mind, the moment in which he begins to execute
is one of extreme perplexity and strain. Artists of
indifferent energy and an imperfect devotion to their own
ideal make this ungrateful effort once for all; and, having
formed a style, adhere to it through life. But those of a
higher order cannot rest content with a process which, as
they continue to employ it, must infallibly degenerate
towards the academic and the cut-and-dried. Every fresh work
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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 Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: Bessie Bell: some are Mamas, and some are only just Ladies.''
There. There it was again: Only-Just-Ladies.
Bessie Bell wondered how to tell which were Mamas, and which were
Ladies--just Ladies.
Very often after that day she watched those who passed the cabin
where she and Sister Helen Vincula lived, and wondered which were
Mamas--
And which were Ladies.
There was no rule of old or young by which Bessie Bell could tell.
Nor was it as one could tell Sisters from Just-Ladies by a way of
dress. For Sisters, like Sister Helen Vincula, wore a soft white
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