| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: and all about the price of copra, and chickens being stolen, and
that; and the books of the business and the will I told you of in
the beginning, by both of which the whole thing (stock, lock, and
barrel) appeared to belong to the Samoa woman. It was I that
bought her out at a mighty reasonable figure, for she was in a
hurry to get home. As for Randall and the black, they had to
tramp; got into some kind of a station on the Papa-malulu side; did
very bad business, for the truth is neither of the pair was fit for
it, and lived mostly on fish, which was the means of Randall's
death. It seems there was a nice shoal in one day, and papa went
after them with the dynamite; either the match burned too fast, or
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Emma by Jane Austen: Now I am secure of you for ever."
Harriet had not surmised her own danger, but the idea of it struck
her forcibly.
"You could not have visited me!" she cried, looking aghast.
"No, to be sure you could not; but I never thought of that before.
That would have been too dreadful!--What an escape!--Dear Miss Woodhouse,
I would not give up the pleasure and honour of being intimate with you
for any thing in the world."
"Indeed, Harriet, it would have been a severe pang to lose you;
but it must have been. You would have thrown yourself out of all
good society. I must have given you up."
Emma |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: which she intended to invade and conquer the Land
of Or.
There was no danger but that Ozma, supported by
the magic arts of Glinda the Good and the powerful
Wizard of Oz--both her firm friends--could easily
defeat a far more imposing army than Ann's; but it
would be a shame to have the peace of Oz
interrupted by any sort of quarreling or fighting.
So Glinda did not even mention the matter to Ozma,
or to anyone else. She merely went into a great
chamber of her castle, known as the Magic Room,
Tik-Tok of Oz |
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 Youth by Joseph Conrad: that I would see the East first as commander of a small
boat. I thought it fine; and the fidelity to the old ship
was fine. We should see the last of her. Oh the glamour
of youth! Oh the fire of it, more dazzling than the
flames of the burning ship, throwing a magic light on the
wide earth, leaping audaciously to the sky, presently to
be quenched by time, more cruel, more pitiless, more
bitter than the sea--and like the flames of the burning
ship surrounded by an impenetrable night.
. . . . .
"The old man warned us in his gentle and inflexible
Youth |
