| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: she shines upon the tropics, but even that bore no
comparison. The nameless colour of the sky, the hues of the
star-fire, and the incredible projection of the stars
themselves, starting from their orbits, so that the eye
seemed to distinguish their positions in the hollow of space
- these were things that we had never seen before and shall
never see again.
Meanwhile, in this altered night, we proceeded on our way
among the scents and silence of the forest, reached the top
of the grade, wound up by Hanson's, and came at last to a
stand under the flying gargoyle of the chute. Sam, who had
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: you, right. Of all the insolent, all the foolish persuasions that
by any chance could enter and hold your empty little heart, this is
the proudest and foolishest,--that you have been so much the darling
of the Heavens, and favourite of the Fates, as to be born in the
very nick of time, and in the punctual place, when and where pure
Divine truth had been sifted from the errors of the Nations; and
that your papa had been providentially disposed to buy a house in
the convenient neighbourhood of the steeple under which that
Immaculate and final verity would be beautifully proclaimed. Do not
think it, child; it is not so. This, on the contrary, is the fact,-
-unpleasant you may think it; pleasant, it seems to ME,--that you,
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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 Study of a Woman by Honore de Balzac: offended.
"Why deceive?" she said, with a disdainful air, although the tones of
her voice were gentle. "Now that I have duly scolded you, I am willing
to laugh at a subterfuge which is not without cleverness. I know many
women who would be taken in by it: 'Heavens! how he loves me!' they
would say."
Here the marquise gave a forced laugh, and then added, in a tone of
indulgence:--
"If we desire to continue friends let there be no more MISTAKES, of
which it is impossible that I should be the dupe."
"Upon my honor, madame, you are so--far more than you think," replied
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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 Jungle by Upton Sinclair: what that might mean. He spent half an hour brooding over this--
and then suddenly he straightened up and the blood rushed into
his face. A man had come in--Jurgis could not see his features for
the bandages that swathed him, but he knew the burly figure.
It was Connor! A trembling seized him, and his limbs bent as if
for a spring. Then suddenly he felt a hand on his collar, and heard
a voice behind him: "Sit down, you son of a--!"
He subsided, but he never took his eyes off his enemy. The fellow
was still alive, which was a disappointment, in one way; and yet it
was pleasant to see him, all in penitential plasters. He and the
company lawyer, who was with him, came and took seats within the
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