The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: few flowers, but instead prefers profuse decorations of pearls.
Her upper garment extends but little below her knees, and her
lower garment is an accordion-plaited skirt, from beneath which
the pointed toes of her small bound feet appear as she walks or
sways on her "golden lilies," as if she were a flower blown by
the wind, to which the Chinese love to compare her. Her waist is
a "willow waist" in poetry, and her "golden lilies," as her tiny
feet are often called, are not more than two or three inches
long--so small that it not infrequently requires the assistance
of a servant or two to help her to walk at all. And though she
may not need them she affects to be so helpless as to require
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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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: watcher's view for a moment and then, at the far side
of the apartment, Norman of Torn saw him again just
as he roughly grasped the figure of a woman who
evidently was attempting to escape him. As she turned
to face her tormentor all the devil in the Devil of Torn
surged in his aching head, for the face he saw was
that of Joan de Tany.
With a muttered oath the imprisoned man turned to
hurl himself against the bolted door, but ere he had
taken a single step the sound of heavy feet without
brought him to a stop, and the jingle of keys as one was
The Outlaw of Torn |
The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: What had become of his predecessor?
The Englishman was living in a mansion in the Rue Ferou, near Saint-
Sulpice--a gloomy, dark, damp, and cold abode. The Rue Ferou itself is
one of the most dismal streets in Paris; it has a north aspect like
all the streets that lie at right angles to the left bank of the
Seine, and the houses are in keeping with the site. As Castanier stood
on the threshold he found that the door itself, like the vaulted roof,
was hung with black; rows of lighted tapers shone brilliantly as
though some king were lying in state; and a priest stood on either
side of a catafalque that had been raised there.
"There is no need to ask why you have come, sir," the old hall porter
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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 Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: had the Love Magnet, you know, which was the reason Button-Bright had
loved him at once. They started on, with Dorothy on one side, and Toto
on the other, the little party trudging along more cheerfully than you
might have supposed. The girl was getting used to queer adventures,
which interested her very much. Wherever Dorothy went Toto was sure
to go, like Mary's little lamb. Button-Bright didn't seem a bit
afraid or worried because he was lost, and the shaggy man had no home,
perhaps, and was as happy in one place as in another.
Before long they saw ahead of them a fine big arch spanning the
road, and when they came nearer they found that the arch was
beautifully carved and decorated with rich colors. A row of peacocks
The Road to Oz |