| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Talisman by Walter Scott: "and as you feed like the brutes, so you degrade yourself to the
bestial condition by drinking a poisonous liquor which even they
refuse!"
"Know, foolish Saracen," replied the Christian, without
hesitation, "that thou blasphemest the gifts of God, even with
the blasphemy of thy father Ishmael. The juice of the grape is
given to him that will use it wisely, as that which cheers the
heart of man after toil, refreshes him in sickness, and comforts
him in sorrow. He who so enjoyeth it may thank God for his wine-
cup as for his daily bread; and he who abuseth the gift of Heaven
is not a greater fool in his intoxication than thou in thine
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: consequences, though. Don't you remember being ready to apologize? What
do you remember, anyhow?"
Billy consulted his recollections with care: they seemed to break off at
the champagne. That was early. Bertie was astonished. Did not Billy
remember singing "Brace up and dress the Countess," and "A noble lord
the Earl of Leicester"? He had sung them quite in his usual manner,
conversing freely between whiles. In fact, to see and hear him, no one
would have suspected-- "It must have been that extra silver-fizz you
took before dinner," said Bertie. "Yes," said Billy;" that's what it
must have been." Bertie supplied the gap in his memory,--a matter of
several hours, it seemed. During most of this time Billy had met the
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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 The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none.
"He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and
the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced
about through the trees.
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some
lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it
must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a
little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be
the most beautiful music in the world. Then the Hail stopped
dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a
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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 Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: these are my colors, my brushes." And he caught up a brush which he
held out to them with a naive motion.
"The old rogue is making game of us," said Poussin, coming close to
the pretended picture. "I can see nothing here but a mass of confused
color, crossed by a multitude of eccentric lines, making a sort of
painted wall."
"We are mistaken. See!" returned Porbus.
Coming nearer, they perceived in a corner of the canvas the point of a
naked foot, which came forth from the chaos of colors, tones, shadows
hazy and undefined, misty and without form,--an enchanting foot, a
living foot. They stood lost in admiration before this glorious
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