| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: harvests,
No King George of England shall drive you away from your
homesteads,
Burning your dwellings and barns, and stealing your farms and
your cattle."
Speaking these words, he blew a wrathful cloud from his nostrils,
While his huge, brown hand came thundering down on the table,
So that the guests all started; and Father Felician, astounded,
Suddenly paused, with a pinch of snuff half-way to his nostrils.
But the brave Basil resumed, and his words were milder and
gayer:--
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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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: significant.
Sometimes from the depths of her there flashed up at odd moments
intimations of a future revolt. She remembered one evening at
the opera when the curtain bad risen upon a particularly
well-done piece of stage scenery--a broad space of deep
desolateness, reaching away under an infinitude of night sky,
illumined by stars. The suggestion it brought of vast wastes of
lonely, rugged earth, of a great, blue-arched vault of starry
sky, pervaded her soul with a strange, sweet peace.
When the scene was changed she lost this vague new sense of
peace, and she turned away from the stage in irritation. She
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Anthem by Ayn Rand: awaits us if it be discovered we know not,
for no such crime has come in the memory
of men and there are no laws to provide for it.
It is dark here. The flame of the candle
stands still in the air. Nothing moves in
this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are
alone here under the earth. It is a fearful
word, alone. The laws say that none among
men may be alone, ever and at any time,
for this is the great transgression and the root
of all evil. But we have broken many laws.
Anthem |
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 Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: among the others.
"Then have I reached my journey's end!" said the courier, whose horse
was nearly exhausted from long and hard riding. "The Lady Seseley is
in great danger, and sends for you to come and rescue her. The great
Baron Merd, her father, has been killed and his castle destroyed, and
all his people are either captives or have been slain outright."
"And who has done this evil thing?" asked Prince Marvel, looking very
stern and grave.
"The Red Rogue of Dawna," answered the messenger. "He quarreled with
the Baron Merd and sent his savage hordes to tear down his castle and
slay him. I myself barely escaped with my life, and the Lady Seseley
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
