| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: Then the judge says:
"But are you certain you've got this curious history straight?"
"Perfectly, your honor. Here is Brace Dunlap--let him deny
his share of it if he wants to take the chance; I'll engage
to make him wish he hadn't said anything...... Well,
you see HE'S pretty quiet. And his brother's pretty quiet,
and them four witnesses that lied so and got paid for it,
they're pretty quiet. And as for Uncle Silas, it ain't
any use for him to put in his oar, I wouldn't believe him
under oath!"
Well, sir, that fairly made them shout; and even the judge he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: That after us our progeny may say,
There lie the beasts that sought to usurp our land.
LOCRINE.
Aye, they are beasts that seek to usurp our land,
And like to brutish beasts they shall be served.
For mighty Jove, the supreme king of heaven,
That guides the concourse of the Meteors,
And rules the motion of the azure sky,
Fights always for the Brittains' safety.--
But stay! me thinks I hear some shriking noise,
That draweth near to our pavilion.
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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 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: Since the latter rambled from her side, another inmate had been
admitted within the circle of the mother's feelings, and so
modified the aspect of them all, that Pearl, the returning
wanderer, could not find her wonted place, and hardly knew where
she was.
"I have a strange fancy," observed the sensitive minister, "that
this brook is the boundary between two worlds, and that thou
canst never meet thy Pearl again. Or is she an elfish spirit,
who, as the legends of our childhood taught us, is forbidden to
cross a running stream? Pray hasten her, for this delay has
The Scarlet Letter |
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 Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: creature there: that you are your own soul's warden, and that
neither principalities nor powers can rob you of that your
birthright."
I think my face must have shown my bewilderment, for he dropped my
hand, and walked on with an impatient sigh.
"You don't understand me. Why should you? I dare-say that I am
talking nonsense--only--only--"
His voice expressed such an agony of doubt and hesitation that I
burst out--
"I think that I do understand you a little, Alan. You mean that
even from unearthly enemies there is nothing that we need really
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