| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: upon the youth who immediately turned and ran for the
road.
The momentum of the bear carried him past the body
of his intended victim who, frightened but uninjured,
scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the rear of the
mill in the direction of the woods and distant swamp.
Beppo, recovering from his charge, wheeled in time to
catch a glimpse of his quarry after whom he made with
all the awkwardness that was his birthright and with
the speed of a race horse.
Columbus Blackie, casting a terrified glance rear-
The Oakdale Affair |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Horse's Tale by Mark Twain: fearlessly. She doesn't know anything about side-saddles. Does
that distress you? And she is a fine performer, without any saddle
at all. Does that discomfort you? Do not let it; she is not in
any danger, I give you my word.
You said that if my heart was old and tired she would refresh it,
and you said truly. I do not know how I got along without her,
before. I was a forlorn old tree, but now that this blossoming
vine has wound itself about me and become the life of my life, it
is very different. As a furnisher of business for me and for Mammy
Dorcas she is exhaustlessly competent, but I like my share of it
and of course Dorcas likes hers, for Dorcas "raised" George, and
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: gar, is that which doth the good. Solomon saith,
He that praiseth his friend aloud, rising early, it
shall be to him no better than a curse. Too much
magnifying of man or matter, doth irritate con-
tradiction, and procure envy and scorn. To praise
a man's self, cannot be decent, except it be in rare
cases; but to praise a man's office or profession, he
may do it with good grace, and with a kind of mag-
nanimity. The cardinals of Rome, which are theo-
logues, and friars, and Schoolmen, have a phrase
of notable contempt and scorn towards civil busi-
Essays of Francis Bacon |
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 Blix by Frank Norris: could offer him--noblesse oblige."
"Well, then, I COULDN'T offer him a dime, don't you see? I'll tell
him we are broke this time."
They started home, not as they had come, but climbing the hill and
going across a breezy open down, radiant with blue iris, wild
heliotrope, yellow poppies, and even a violet here and there. A
little further on they gained one of the roads of the Reservation,
red earth smooth as a billiard table; and just at an angle where
the road made a sharp elbow and trended cityward, they paused for
|
