| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: weather; the trees were budding into leaf, the hedges and the grass
were green, the air was musical with songs of birds, and high above
them all the lark poured out her richest melody. In shady spots,
the morning dew sparkled on each young leaf and blade of grass;
and where the sun was shining, some diamond drops yet glistened
brightly, as in unwillingness to leave so fair a world, and have
such brief existence. Even the light wind, whose rustling was as
gentle to the ear as softly-falling water, had its hope and
promise; and, leaving a pleasant fragrance in its track as it went
fluttering by, whispered of its intercourse with Summer, and of his
happy coming.
Barnaby Rudge |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: the care of a good fairy. Tears sometimes rose to her burning eyes as
she watched them play, and thought how they had never caused her the
slightest vexation. Happiness so far-reaching and complete brings such
tears, because for us it represents the dim imaginings of Heaven which
we all of us form in our minds.
Those were delicious hours spent on that sofa in the garden-house, in
looking out on sunny days over the wide stretches of river and the
picturesque landscape, listening to the sound of her children's voices
as they laughed at their own laughter, to the little quarrels that
told most plainly of their union of heart, of Louis' paternal care of
Marie, of the love that both of them felt for her. They spoke English
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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 Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: desires spring up; and the silly taste for ostentation eats out the
heart of pleasure.'
'Then you might be better if you had less,' said the boy.
'Certainly not,' replied the Doctor; but his voice quavered as he
spoke.
'Why?' demanded pitiless innocence.
Doctor Desprez saw all the colours of the rainbow in a moment; the
stable universe appeared to be about capsizing with him.
'Because,' said he - affecting deliberation after an obvious pause
- 'because I have formed my life for my present income. It is not
good for men of my years to be violently dissevered from their
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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 Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: at the very end of the rope and slipped no more.
With a prayer of gratitude upon my lips I scrambled upward toward
the boat's deck. I could not see Thurid and Matai Shang now,
but I heard the sounds of conflict and thus knew that they
still fought--the thern for his life and the black for the
increased buoyancy that relief from the weight of even a single
body would give the craft.
Should Matai Shang die before I reached the deck my chances of
ever reaching it would be slender indeed, for the black dator need
The Warlord of Mars |
