| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: trembled under her gloves, everything about her told of violent
feeling. The feverish twitching of her eyebrows betrayed her pain. She
looked sublime.
"Her first words had crushed du Bruel. She looked at us both, with
that penetrating, impenetrable cat-like glance which only actresses
and great ladies can use. Then she held out her hand to her husband.
" 'Poor dear, you had scarcely gone before I blamed myself a thousand
times over. It seemed to me that I had been horribly ungrateful. I
told myself that I had been unkind.--Was I very unkind?' she asked,
turning to me.--'Why not receive your friends? Is it not your house?
Do you want to know the reason of it all? Well, I was afraid that I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: After the fissure was crossed the trail was soon found. Here it ran
back from the rim. Yaqui waved his hand to the right, where along
the corrugated slope of the crater there were holes and crevices
and coverts for a hundred men. Yaqui strode on up the trail toward
a higher point, where presently his dark figure stood motionless
against the sky. The rangers and Thorne selected a deep depression,
out of which led several ruts deep enough for cover. According to
Ladd it was as good a place as any, perhaps not so hidden as others,
but freer from the dreaded choya. Here the men laid down rifles
and guns, and, removing their heavy cartridge belts, settled down
to wait.
Desert Gold |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: The next morning, as soon as the Prince was stirring, Colonel
Geraldine brought him a daily newspaper, with the following
paragraph marked:-
"MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT. - This morning, about two o'clock, Mr.
Bartholomew Malthus, of 16 Chepstow Place, Westbourne Grove, on his
way home from a party at a friend's house, fell over the upper
parapet in Trafalgar Square, fracturing his skull and breaking a
leg and an arm. Death was instantaneous. Mr. Malthus, accompanied
by a friend, was engaged in looking for a cab at the time of the
unfortunate occurrence. As Mr. Malthus was paralytic, it is
thought that his fall may have been occasioned by another seizure.
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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 Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: to say for certain what had been happening. It was really rather
irritating to children who had never seen a mermaid.
"And if he forgets them so quickly," Wendy argued, "how can we
expect that he will go on remembering us?"
Indeed, sometimes when he returned he did not remember them, at
least not well. Wendy was sure of it. She saw recognition come
into his eyes as he was about to pass them the time of day and go
on; once even she had to call him by name.
"I'm Wendy," she said agitatedly.
He was very sorry. "I say, Wendy," he whispered to her,
"always if you see me forgetting you, just keep on saying `I'm
Peter Pan |
