| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: cognita Gallorum infirmitate quantum iam apud eos hostes uno proelio
auctoritatis essent consecuti sentiebat; quibus ad consilia capienda nihil
spatii dandum existimabat. His constitutis rebus et consilio cum legatis
et quaestore communicato, ne quem diem pugnae praetermitteret,
oportunissima res accidit, quod postridie eius diei mane eadem et perfidia
et simulatione usi Germani frequentes, omnibus principibus maioribusque
natu adhibitis, ad eum in castra venerunt, simul, ut dicebatur, sui
purgandi causa, quod contra atque esset dictum et ipsi petissent, proelium
pridie commisissent, simul ut, si quid possent, de indutiis fallendo
impetrarent. Quos sibi Caesar oblatos gavisus illos retineri iussit; ipse
omnes copias castris D eduxit equitatumque, quod recenti proelio
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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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: ceilings, the slight irregularities of structure peculiar to the
rather rule-of-thumb methods of the earlier builders, the deep
window embrasures due to the thickness of the walls, the unexpected
passages leading to unsuspected rooms, and the fact that many of
these apartments were approached by a step or so up or a step or so
down--these lent to it a quaint, old-fashioned atmosphere enhanced
further by the steel engravings, the antique furnishings, the many-
paned windows, and all the belongings of old people who have passed
from a previous generation untouched by modern ideas.
To this house and these people Orde came direct from the greatness
of the wilderness and the ferocity of Hell's Half-Mile. Such
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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 The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: wash widened and opened out into a sandy flat. Link crossed this
and turned up on the opposite side. Rocks impeded the progress of
the car, and these had to be rolled out of the way. The shelves
of silt, apparently ready to slide with the slightest weight, the
little tributary washes, the boulder-strewn stretches of slope,
the narrow spaces allowing no more than a foot for the outside
wheels, the spear-pointed cactus that had to be avoided--all
these obstacles were as nothing to the cowboy driver. He kept
on, and when he came to the road again he made up for the lost
time by speed.
Another height was reached, and here Madeline fancied that Link
The Light of Western Stars |
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 Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare: That love-sick Love by pleading may be blest; 328
For lovers say, the heart hath treble wrong
When it is barr'd the aidance of the tongue.
An oven that is stopp'd, or river stay'd,
Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage: 332
So of concealed sorrow may be said;
Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage;
But when the heart's attorney once is mute
The client breaks, as desperate in his suit. 336
He sees her coming, and begins to glow,--
Even as a dying coal revives with wind,--
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