| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: The first stop scheduled was at a double log-house fifteen miles out
from Yellowhammer. A man opened the door at Trinidad's hail, and then
came down and leaned upon the rickety gate. The doorway was filled
with a close mass of youngsters, some ragged, all full of curiosity
and health.
"It's this way," explained Trinidad. "We're from Yellowhammer, and we
come kidnappin' in a gentle kind of a way. One of our leading citizens
is stung with the Santa Claus affliction, and he's due in town
to-morrow with half the folderols that's painted red and made in
Germany. The youngest kid we got in Yellowhammer packs a forty-five
and a safety razor. Consequently we're mighty shy on anybody to say
Heart of the West |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: seeing what the real character of each member of his family might be;
but a sudden fear took possession of him that he might regret the act
forever afterward. They were his nearest and dearest friends on
earth, and in his boyish heart he loved them all and believed in their
goodness and sincerity. The possibility of finding a bad character
mark on any of their familiar faces made him shudder, and he
determined then and there never to use the spectacles to view the
face of a friend or relative. Had any one, at that moment, been
gazing at Rob through the lenses of the wonderful Character Marker, I
am sure a big "W" would have been found upon the boy's forehead.
When the family circle broke up, and all retired for the night, Rob
The Master Key |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: THE RAVEN
There was once a queen who had a little daughter, still too young to
run alone. One day the child was very troublesome, and the mother
could not quiet it, do what she would. She grew impatient, and seeing
the ravens flying round the castle, she opened the window, and said:
'I wish you were a raven and would fly away, then I should have a
little peace.' Scarcely were the words out of her mouth, when the
child in her arms was turned into a raven, and flew away from her
through the open window. The bird took its flight to a dark wood and
remained there for a long time, and meanwhile the parents could hear
nothing of their child.
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
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 From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: and there is an end of their pursuit; on the other hand, it makes
all the countrymen turn poachers, and destroy the hares by what
means they can. But this is a smaller matter, and of no great
import one way or other.
From this pleasant and agreeable day's work I returned to
Clarendon, and the next day took another short tour to the hills to
see that celebrated piece of antiquity, the wonderful Stonehenge,
being six miles from Salisbury, north, and upon the side of the
River Avon, near the town of Amesbury. It is needless that I
should enter here into any part of the dispute about which our
learned antiquaries have so puzzled themselves that several books
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