| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: in such and such places. They meet as boats adrift meet, and
each rolls his eye at the other under the big blue turban.
The old Mugger sees and hears. Each calls the other "Brother,"
and they go to mark out the boundaries of the new land.
The Mugger hurries with them from point to point, shuffling very
low through the mud. Now they begin to quarrel! Now they say
hot words! Now they pull turbans! Now they lift up their lathis
(clubs), and, at last, one falls backward into the mud, and the
other runs away. When he comes back the dispute is settled, as
the iron-bound bamboo of the loser witnesses. Yet they are not
grateful to the Mugger. No, they cry "Murder!" and their
The Second Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: Never worth remembering. Your father might have asked us to dinner,
I think, if he had wanted to see us. You may do as you like,
but I shall go to the play."
"Oh! Charles, I declare it will be too abominable if you do,
when you promised to go."
"No, I did not promise. I only smirked and bowed, and said the word
`happy.' There was no promise."
"But you must go, Charles. It would be unpardonable to fail.
We were asked on purpose to be introduced. There was always
such a great connexion between the Dalrymples and ourselves.
Nothing ever happened on either side that was not announced immediately.
Persuasion |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: eyes; I could not say to my wife, "We must leave Paris and live at
Lanstrac." I have ruined myself for her as men ruin themselves for
a mistress, but I knew it all along. Between ourselves, I am
neither a fool nor a weak man. A fool does not let himself be
ruled with his eyes open by a passion; and a man who starts for
India to reconstruct his fortune, instead of blowing out his
brains, is not weak.
I shall return rich, or I shall never return at all. Only, my dear
friend, as I want wealth solely for HER, as I must be absent six
years at least, and as I will not risk being duped in any way, I
confide to you my wife. I know no better guardian. Being
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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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: free country in which we haven't got any room for polygamy
and the tyrannies of Satan.
"And, to digress for a moment, especially as there are more
of them in this state than there are Mormons, though you
never can tell what will happen with this vain generation of
young girls, that think more about wearing silk stockings than
about minding their mothers and learning to bake a good loaf
of bread, and many of them listening to these sneaking Mormon
missionaries--and I actually heard one of them talking right
out on a street-corner in Duluth, a few years ago, and the
officers of the law not protesting--but still, as they are a smaller
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