| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling: John horsed, in half-armour, his pennon flying; behind
him thirty stout Brightling knaves, five abreast; behind
them four wool-wains, and behind them four trumpets
to triumph over the jest, blowing: Our King went forth to
Normandie. When we halted and rolled the ringing guns
out of the tower, 'twas for all the world like Friar Roger's
picture of the French siege in the Queen's Missal-book.'
'And what did we - I mean, what did our village do?' said Dan.
'Oh! Bore it nobly - nobly,' cried Hal. 'Though they
had tricked me, I was proud of them. They came out of
their housen, looked at that little army as though it had
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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 Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: they MUST work, and they DID. . . until the Lord took them!'
''Ope you made 'em jump,' said Huish.
'When it was necessary, Mr Whish, I made them jump,' said
Attwater.
'You bet you did,' cried the captain. He was a good deal
flushed, but not so much with wine as admiration; and his eyes
drank in the huge proportions of the other with delight. 'You bet
you did, and you bet that I can see you doing it! By God,
you're a man, and you can say I said so.'
'Too good of you, I'm sure,' said Attwater.
'Did you--did you ever have crime here?' asked Herrick,
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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 At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: left me, but another emotion as quickly gripped me--hope
of escape that the demoralized condition of the guards
made possible for the instant.
I thought of Perry, but for the hope that I might better
encompass his release if myself free I should have put
the thought of freedom from me at once. As it was I
hastened on toward the right searching for an exit toward
which no Sagoths were fleeing, and at last I found it--a low,
narrow aperture leading into a dark corridor.
Without thought of the possible consequence, I darted into
the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my way along through
 At the Earth's Core |
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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: me for a weasel? How stupid and ignorant you are, in the Land of Oz,
and what dreadful things you feed upon! Is there nothing that is
decent to eat in this palace?"
The trembling servants sent for the Royal Steward, who came in haste
and said:
"What would your Highness like for dinner?"
"Highness!" repeated Jim, who was unused to such titles.
"You are at least six feet high, and that is higher than any other
animal in this country," said the Steward.
"Well, my Highness would like some oats," declared the horse.
"Oats? We have no whole oats," the Steward replied, with much deference.
 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |