| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: "You wear combinations in this heat?" she said in a voice which
was meant to be private. He liked the look of her immensely,
not so much her beauty, but her largeness and simplicity,
which made her stand out from the rest like a great stone woman,
and he passed on in a gentler mood. His eye fell upon Rachel.
She was lying back rather behind the others resting on one elbow;
she might have been thinking precisely the same thoughts as Hewet himself.
Her eyes were fixed rather sadly but not intently upon the row
of people opposite her. Hewet crawled up to her on his knees,
with a piece of bread in his hand.
"What are you looking at?" he asked.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Glasses by Henry James: really pinched. She had a sum put by for a liberal outfit;
meanwhile the proper use of the rest was to decorate her for the
approaches to the altar, keep her afloat in the society in which
she would most naturally meet her match. Lord Iffield had been
seen with her at Lucerne, at Cadenabbia; but it was Mrs. Meldrum's
conviction that nothing was to be expected of him but the most
futile flirtation. The girl had a certain hold of him, but with a
great deal of swagger he hadn't the spirit of a sheep: he was in
fear of his father and would never commit himself in Lord
Considine's lifetime. The most Flora might achieve was that he
wouldn't marry some one else. Geoffrey Dawling, to Mrs. Meldrum's
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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 Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: Sound-limbed he was: dry-eyed; but smarted in every part;
And the mighty cage of his ribs heaved on his straining heart
With sorrow and rage. And "Fools!" he cried, "fools of Vaiau,
Heads of swine - gluttons - Alas! and where are they now?
Those that I played with, those that nursed me, those that I nursed?
God, and I outliving them! I, the least and the worst -
I, that thought myself crafty, snared by this herd of swine,
In the tortures of hell and desolate, stripped of all that was mine:
All! - my friends and my fathers - the silver heads of yore
That trooped to the council, the children that ran to the open door
Crying with innocent voices and clasping a father's knees!
Ballads |
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 Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: something about indispensable business, and insisted on the
absolute necessity of his departure in a manner which silenced
all opposition on the part of his host, who saw that his
resolution was taken, and forbore all further importunity.
"At least, however," he said, "permit me, my dear Browne, since
go you will or must, to show you the view from the terrace, which
the mist, that is now rising, will soon display."
He threw open a sash-window, and stepped down upon the terrace as
he spoke. The General followed him mechanically, but seemed
little to attend to what his host was saying, as, looking across
an extended and rich prospect, he pointed out the different
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