| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: return from London Lydia came to inquire, and he bowed as
they passed. All were struck with the stranger's air, all
wondered who he could be; and Kitty and Lydia, determined if
possible to find out, led the way across the street, under pretense
of wanting something in an opposite shop, and fortunately had
just gained the pavement when the two gentlemen, turning back,
had reached the same spot. Mr. Denny addressed them directly,
and entreated permission to introduce his friend, Mr. Wickham,
who had returned with him the day before from town, and he
was happy to say had accepted a commission in their corps.
This was exactly as it should be; for the young man wanted only
Pride and Prejudice |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: Temperature 60 degs., dew-point 42 degs., -- difference
18 degs.
[2] Rengger, Natur. der Saeugethiere von Paraguay. S. 334.
[3] Captain Fitz Roy informs me that in April (our October),
the leaves of those trees which grow near the base of the
mountains change colour, but not those on the more elevated
parts. I remember having read some observations, showing
that in England the leaves fall earlier in a warm and fine
autumn than in a late and cold one, The change in the colour
being here retarded in the more elevated, and therefore colder
situations, must he owing to the same general law of vegetation.
The Voyage of the Beagle |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: assuming the very attitude of the image, and casting over the
crowd that glance of sunny coquetry which all remembered on the
face of the oaken lady. She and her cavalier then disappeared.
"Ah!" murmured the crowd, drawing a deep breath, as with one vast
pair of lungs.
"The world looks darker now that she has vanished," said some of
the young men.
But the aged, whose recollections dated as far back as witch
times, shook their heads, and hinted that our forefathers would
have thought it a pious deed to burn the daughter of the oak with
fire.
Mosses From An Old Manse |
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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: must be fair famished for good food and drink."
"I will ride, My Lord," replied Norman of Torn. "I
have a little matter of business with my friend the
Earl of Buckingham. Business which I fear will not
wait."
Joan de Tany looked on in silence. Nor did she urge
him to remain, as he raised her hand to his lips in
farewell. So Norman of Torn rode out of the courtyard;
and as his men fell in behind him under the first rays
of the drawing day, the daughter of De Tany watched
them through the gate, and a great light broke upon
The Outlaw of Torn |
