| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: think of such a thing, your Majesty."
The King sighed. Then he stood up and announced to the company:
"We will now hold a military drill by my picked Bodyguard
of Royal Pikemen."
Now the band played a march and a company of rabbit soldiers came in.
They wore green and gold uniforms and marched very stiffly but in
perfect time. Their spears, or pikes, had slender shafts of polished
silver with golden heads, and during the drill they handled these
weapons with wonderful dexterity.
"I should think you'd feel pretty safe with such a fine Bodyguard,"
remarked Dorothy.
The Emerald City of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: She had even indulged some thoughts of enlarging her business.
Why could she not have a shop, and sell candy on a counter as
well as in the street? She mentioned this idea to her mother, who
was sure the shop could not succeed, for she was aware that her
daughter's winning manners were more than half her stock in
trade, and that her large sales resulted from carrying the candy
to hundreds of people who did not want it enough to go after it.
Therefore Katy gave up the shop at once, but she did not abandon
the idea of enlarging her business, though she did not exactly
see how it could be done. One day an accident solved the problem
for her, and at that time commenced a new era in the candy trade.
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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 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: afternoon, reading about some brave manly Western hero, that she hasn't had
time to do any cooking. You're always talking about 'morals'--meaning
monogamy, I suppose. You've been the rock of ages to me, all right, but you're
essentially a simp. You--"
"Where d' you get that 'simp,' little man? Let me tell you--"
"--love to look earnest and inform the world that it's the 'duty of
responsible business men to be strictly moral, as an example to the
community.' In fact you're so earnest about morality, old Georgie, that I
hate to think how essentially immoral you must be underneath. All right, you
can--"
"Wait, wait now! What's--"
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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 Economist by Xenophon: by pointing out that the lives of the righteous are richer and less
servile than those of the unrighteous; and this was the position in
which she found herself installed in our household.[14]
[13] Or, "having taken an inventory of the several sets of things."
Cf. "Ages." i. 18; "Cyrop." VII. iv. 12. See Newman, op. cit. i.
171.
[14] Or, "and this was the position in which we presently established
her herself."
And now, on the strength of all that we had done, Socrates (he added),
I addressed my wife, explaining that all these things would fail of
use unless she took in charge herself to see that the order of each
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