| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: The event was soon to be decided. All this time, the roll of the
drum had been approaching through Cornhill, louder and deeper,
till with reverberations from house to house, and the regular
tramp of martial footsteps, it burst into the street. A double
rank of soldiers made their appearance, occupying the whole
breadth of the passage, with shouldered matchlocks, and matches
burning, so as to present a row of fires in the dusk. Their
steady march was like the progress of a machine, that would roll
irresistibly over everything in its way. Next, moving slowly,
with a confused clatter of hoofs on the pavement, rode a party of
mounted gentlemen, the central figure being Sir Edmund Andros,
Twice Told Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: is to go pleasantly is a great relief to me. The carriage is at
hand; shall I have the honour of following your Highness?'
'Colonel,' said the Prince, 'I have now come to that happy moment of
my life when I have orders to receive but none to give.'
'A most philosophical remark,' returned the Colonel. 'Begad, a very
pertinent remark! it might be Plutarch. I am not a drop's blood to
your Highness, or indeed to any one in this principality; or else I
should dislike my orders. But as it is, and since there is nothing
unnatural or unbecoming on my side, and your Highness takes it in
good part, I begin to believe we may have a capital time together,
sir - a capital time. For a gaoler is only a fellow-captive.'
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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 Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: speak, become frightened, and sit down again, with comical distortion
of the lips. Sylvie naively betrayed her natural self at cards. Sharp,
irritable, whining when she lost, insolent when she won, nagging and
quarrelsome, she annoyed her partners as much as her adversaries, and
became the scourge of society. And yet, possessed by a silly,
unconcealed ambition, Rogron and his sister were bent on playing a
part in the society of a little town already in possession of a close
corporation of twelve allied families. Allowing that the restoration
of their house had cost them thirty thousand francs, the brother and
sister possessed between them at least ten thousand francs a year.
This they considered wealth, and with it they endeavored to impress
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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 On Revenues by Xenophon: public service. Think of the number who will serve on land as infantry
[in the public service] and will bear hard upon the enemy. Only we
must treat them with courtesy.[54] For myself, my calculation is, that
even in the event of war we shall be quite able to keep a firm hold of
the silver mines. I may take it, we have in the neighbourhood of the
mines certain fortresses--one on the southern slope in
Anaphlystus;[55] and we have another on the northern side in Thoricus,
the two being about seven and a half miles[56] apart. Suppose then a
third breastwork were to be placed between these, on the highest point
of Besa, that would enable the operatives to collect into one out of
all the fortresses, and at the first perception of a hostile movement
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