| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: properly watched. And I was enchanted by the almost imperceptible
play of her lips.
But the anxious creature was not reassured. He pointed out that
things had been stolen out of the Louvre, which was, he dared say,
even better watched. And there was that marvellous cabinet on the
landing, black lacquer with silver herons, which alone would repay
a couple of burglars. A wheelbarrow, some old sacking, and they
could trundle it off under people's noses.
"Have you thought it all out?" she asked in a cold whisper, while
we three sat smoking to give ourselves a countenance (it was
certainly no enjoyment) and wondering what we would hear next.
The Arrow of Gold |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: him, and retain, by subduing his attendant, the possession of his
faculties, so that he might know whither he was going. It was a vain
attempt. The eyes of the mulatto flashed from the darkness. The fellow
uttered a cry which his fury stifled in his throat, released himself,
threw back De Marsay with a hand like iron, and nailed him, so to
speak, to the bottom of the carriage; then with his free hand, he drew
a triangular dagger, and whistled. The coachman heard the whistle and
stopped. Henri was unarmed, he was forced to yield. He moved his head
towards the handkerchief. The gesture of submission calmed Cristemio,
and he bound his eyes with a respect and care which manifested a sort
of veneration for the person of the man whom his idol loved. But,
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: Nothing can be done finer, or more lively represent the thing
intended--namely, the gust of the appetite, which if it be not a
passion, it is an affection which is as much seen in the
countenance, perhaps more than any other. One ought to stop every
two steps of this staircase, as we go up, to contemplate the vast
variety of pictures that cover the walls, and of some of the best
masters in Europe; and yet this is but an introduction to what is
beyond them.
When you are entered the apartments, such variety seizes you every
way that you scarce know to which hand to turn yourself. First on
one side you see several rooms filled with paintings as before, all
|
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 Rescue by Joseph Conrad: clung suddenly to the mast after a single heavy flap. The
dazzling streak of the ship's wake vanished. The vessel lost her
way and began to dip her bows into the quick succession of the
running head seas. And at every slow plunge of the craft, the
song of the wind would swell louder amongst the waving spars,
with a wild and mournful note.
Just as the brig's boat had been swung out, ready for lowering,
the yacht's gig hauled up by its line appeared tossing and
splashing on the lee quarter. Carter stood up in the stern sheets
balancing himself cleverly to the disordered motion of his
cockleshell. He hailed the brig twice to know what was the
The Rescue |
