| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: moment he was on his feet, leaping up with an agility surprising in
so corpulent a man, issuing his commands like a marshal on a field
of battle.
"Come, come, my lads! Are we to sit guzzling here all day? Time
flees, and there's a deal to be done if we are to make our entry
into Guichen at noon. Go, get you dressed. We strike camp in twenty
minutes. Bestir, ladies! To your chaise, and see that you contrive
to look your best. Soon the eyes of Guichen will be upon you, and
the condition of your interior to-morrow will depend upon the
impression made by your exterior to-day. Away! Away!"
The implicit obedience this autocrat commanded set them in a whirl.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: A very few--as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the
great sense, and men--serve the state with their consciences
also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and
they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will
only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay,"
and "stop a hole to keep the wind away," but leave that
office to his dust at least:
"I am too high born to be propertied,
To be a second at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument
To any sovereign state throughout the world."
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: with a portentous wildness, indicative of a partial insanity.
The rest of his features were of the coarse, rough-hewn stamp,
with which a painter would equip a giant in romance; to which was
added the wild, irregular, and peculiar expression, so often seen
in the countenances of those whose persons are deformed. His
body, thick and square, like that of a man of middle size, was
mounted upon two large feet; but nature seemed to have forgotten
the legs and the thighs, or they were so very short as to be
hidden by the dress which he wore. His arms were long and
brawny, furnished with two muscular hands, and, where uncovered
in the eagerness of his labour, were shagged with coarse black
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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 Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: this he was disappointed. There had to be a long correspondence
with long arguments and protestations from Henriette's father and
from his own mother. It seemed such a singular whim. Everybody
persisted in diagnosing his symptoms, in questioning him about
what the doctor had said, who the doctor was, how he had come to
consult him--all of which, of course, was very embarrassing to
George, who could not see why they had to make such a fuss. He
took to cultivating a consumptive look, as well as he could
imagine it; he took to coughing as he went about the house--and
it was all he could do to keep from laughing, as he saw the look
of dismay on his poor mother's face. After all, however, he told
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