| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: feebleminded and insane.
My objections to this, that the present inhabitants of
England are mentally fit, and could therefore not have
descended from an ancestry of undiluted lunacy he brushes
aside with the assertion that insanity is not necessarily
hereditary; and that even though it was, in many cases a
return to natural conditions from the state of high
civilization, which is thought to have induced mental
disease in the ancient world, would, after several
generations, have thoroughly expunged every trace of the
affliction from the brains and nerves of the descendants of
Lost Continent |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: singing over (what used to be called) the ladylike
accomplishment. Now and then indeed her song was interrupted, as
she searched in her memory for some of the odious little receipts
by means of which the game is practised--or used to be practised
in the brave days of old; they say the world, and those ornaments
of the world, young ladies, are become more sophisticated now;
but Julia had probably studied under Pitman, and she stood firm
in the old ways.
Gideon, meanwhile, stood behind the door, afraid to move, afraid
to breathe, afraid to think of what must follow, racked by
confinement and borne to the ground with tedium. This particular
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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 One Basket by Edna Ferber: scold. "It's a wonder you don't wear a shawl!"
That was the Tessie of six months ago, gay, carefree, holding the
reins of her life in her own two capable hands. Three nights a
week, and Sunday, she saw Chuck Mory. When she went downtown on
Saturday night it was frankly to meet Chuck, who was waiting for
her on Schroeder's drugstore corner. He knew it, and she knew
it. Yet they always went through a little ceremony. She and
Cora, turning into Grand from Winnebago Street, would make for
the post office. Then down the length of Grand with a leaping
glance at Schroeder's corner before they reached it. Yes, there
they were, very clean-shaven, clean-shirted, slick-looking.
One Basket |
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 Paz by Honore de Balzac: not add to his words the sort of smile by which servants usually
comment on the actions of a superior who seems to them to derogate
from his position.
"Ah! he was grooming Cora."
"Madame la comtesse intends to ride out this morning?" said the
footman, leaving the room without further answer.
"Is Paz a Pole?" asked Clementine, turning to her husband, who nodded
by way of affirmation.
Madame Laginska was silent, examining Adam. With her feet extended
upon a cushion and her head poised like that of a bird on the edge of
its nest listening to the noises in a grove, she would have seemed
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