| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: reigned, and it was the common practice to ask a purchaser upon
which side he meant to fight.
On September 5th, Brandeis published a letter: "To the chiefs of
Tuamasanga, Manono, and Faasaleleanga in the Bush: Chiefs, by
authority of his majesty Tamasese, the king of Samoa, I make known
to you all that the German man-of-war is about to go together with
a Samoan fleet for the purpose of burning Manono. After this
island is all burnt, 'tis good if the people return to Manono and
live quiet. To the people of Faasaleleanga I say, return to your
houses and stop there. The same to those belonging to Tuamasanga.
If you obey this instruction, then you will all be forgiven; if you
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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 Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: his step on the pavement outside.
She did not raise her eyes, but as Mr Verloc, silent, and with his
hat rammed down upon his forehead, made straight for the parlour
door, she said serenely:
"What a wretched day. You've been perhaps to see Stevie?"
"No! I haven't," said Mr Verloc softly, and slammed the glazed
parlour door behind him with unexpected energy.
For some time Mrs Verloc remained quiescent, with her work dropped
in her lap, before she put it away under the counter and got up to
light the gas. This done, she went into the parlour on her way to
the kitchen. Mr Verloc would want his tea presently. Confident of
The Secret Agent |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: passed that way. At last we turned back, and under the walls of
some outbuildings I heard a smothered, wailing cry, so stifled
that it was scarcely audible. The sound seemed to come from a
place that might have been a granary. I went in at all risks, and
there we found Juliette. With the instinct of despair, she had
buried herself deep in the hay, hiding her face in it to deaden
those dreadful cries--pudency even stronger than grief. She was
sobbing and crying like a child, but there was a more poignant,
more piteous sound in the sobs. There was nothing left in the
world for her. The maid pulled the hay from her, her mistress
submitting with the supine listlessness of a dying animal. The
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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 Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: Section 5
Because Belinda Seyffert was in the dicky behind them with
her alert interest in their emotions all too thinly and
obviously veiled, it seemed more convenient to Sir Richmond
and Miss Grammont to talk not of themselves but of Man and
Woman and of that New Age according to the prophet Martineau,
which Sir Richmond had partly described and mainly invented
and ascribed to his departed friend. They talked
anthropologically, philosophically, speculatively, with an
absurd pretence of detachment, they sat side by side in the
little car, scarcely glancing at one another, but side by
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