| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: rolled the body of the girl over on to her back so that they might
look upon her face.
"Now the father of the girl was among those who stood before me, he
who had persuaded her to the deed, and he was maddened at the sight.
"'What, my brothers?' he cried. 'Shall we suffer that this young Zulu
dog, this murderer of a girl, be chief over us? Never! The old lion is
dead, now for the cub!' And he ran at me with spear aloft.
"'Never!' shouted the others, and they, too, ran towards me, shaking
their spears.
"I waited, I did not hasten, for I knew well that I should not die
then, I knew it from my father's last words. I waited till the man was
Nada the Lily |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: to early, also, and not allowed in the best houses until
nine-thirty, since otherwise the rooms look undressed and informle.
I had but Time to duck into another chamber, and from there to a closet.
I REMAINED IN THAT CLOSET ALL NIGHT.
I will explain. No sooner had the maid gone than a Woman came into
the room and closed the door. I heard her moving around and I
suddenly felt that she was going to bed, and might get her ROBE DE
NUIT out of the closet. I was petrafied. But it seems, while she
really WAS undressing at that early hour, the maid had laid her
night clothes out, and I was saved.
Very soon a knock came to the door, and somhody came in, like Mrs.
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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 Phaedrus by Plato: called love, but the immortals call him dove, or the winged one, in order
to represent the force of his wings--such at any rate is his nature. Now
the characters of lovers depend upon the god whom they followed in the
other world; and they choose their loves in this world accordingly. The
followers of Ares are fierce and violent; those of Zeus seek out some
philosophical and imperial nature; the attendants of Here find a royal
love; and in like manner the followers of every god seek a love who is like
their god; and to him they communicate the nature which they have received
from their god. The manner in which they take their love is as follows:--
I told you about the charioteer and his two steeds, the one a noble animal
who is guided by word and admonition only, the other an ill-looking villain
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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 Human Drift by Jack London: based on so absolute an ignorance of facts. It is to laugh. Here
is a climate that breeds vigour, with just sufficient geniality to
prevent the expenditure of most of that vigour in fighting the
elements. Here is a climate where a man can work three hundred
and sixty-five days in the year without the slightest hint of
enervation, and where for three hundred and sixty-five nights he
must perforce sleep under blankets. What more can one say? I
consider myself somewhat of climate expert, having adventured
among most of the climates of five out of the six zones. I have
not yet been in the Antarctic, but whatever climate obtains there
will not deter me from drawing the conclusion that nowhere is
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