| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aeneid by Virgil: Continue still your hospitable way,
And still invent occasions of their stay,
Till storms and winter winds shall cease to threat,
And planks and oars repair their shatter'd fleet."
These words, which from a friend and sister came,
With ease resolv'd the scruples of her fame,
And added fury to the kindled flame.
Inspir'd with hope, the project they pursue;
On ev'ry altar sacrifice renew:
A chosen ewe of two years old they pay
To Ceres, Bacchus, and the God of Day;
Aeneid |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: that lavish, among our romantic solitudes, unheeded beauties enough
to fill the sketch-book of a hunter of the picturesque. Sometimes
it would leap down rocky shelves, making small cascades, over which
the trees threw their broad balancing sprays, and long nameless
weeds hung in fringes from the impending banks, dripping with
diamond drops. Sometimes it would brawl and fret along a ravine in
the matted shade of a forest, filling it with murmurs; and, after
this termagant career, would steal forth into open day, with the
most placid, demure face imaginable; as I have seen some pestilent
shrew of a housewife, after filling her home with uproar and ill-
humour, come dimpling out of doors, swimming and courtesying, and
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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 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette
silence and fixity are forms of deference.
The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about
thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might
judge from his habit, which was that of a planter. His
features were good -- a straight nose, firm mouth, broad
forehead, from which his long, dark hair was combed straight
back, falling behind his ears to the collar of his well
fitting frock coat. He wore a moustache and pointed beard,
but no whiskers; his eyes were large and dark gray, and had a
kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
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 Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: explanation.
"When a man is pronounced incapable of the control of his own affairs,
a trustee has to be appointed. Who will be the trustee?"
"His brother," said the Marquise.
The Chevalier bowed. There was a short silence, very uncomfortable for
the five persons who were present. The judge, in sport as it were, had
laid open the woman's sore place. Popinot's countenance of common,
clumsy good-nature, at which the Marquise, the Chevalier, and
Rastignac had been inclined to laugh, had gained importance in their
eyes. As they stole a look at him, they discerned the various
expressions of that eloquent mouth. The ridiculous mortal was a judge
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