| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: his body remaining rigid as though he were petrified. Then, having
cast upon us that look which struck us like a blow, he turned his eyes
once more to the limitless ocean, and gazed upon it, in spite of its
dazzling light, as eagles gaze at the sun, without lowering his
eyelids. Try to remember, dear uncle, one of those old oaks, whose
knotty trunks, from which the branches have been lopped, rise with
weird power in some lonely place, and you will have an image of this
man. Here was a ruined Herculean frame, the face of an Olympian Jove,
destroyed by age, by hard sea toil, by grief, by common food, and
blackened as it were by lightning. Looking at his hard and hairy
hands, I saw that the sinews stood out like cords of iron. Everything
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: He held more than one council with the principal Chiefs,
combating, perhaps, his own secret inclination as well as theirs.
He laid before them the extreme difficulty of marching even a
Highland army from the eastward into Argyleshire, through passes
scarcely practicable for shepherds and deer-stalkers, and over
mountains, with which even the clans lying nearest to them did
not pretend to be thoroughly acquainted. These difficulties were
greatly enhanced by the season of the year, which was now
advancing towards December, when the mountain-passes, in
themselves so difficult, might be expected to be rendered utterly
impassable by snowstorms. These objections neither satisfied nor
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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 Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: which opened many doorways. One, directly behind us, was
tight closed. If we could open it and pass into the chamber
behind we might find a respite from attack.
The remaining lions were roaring horribly. I saw one
sneaking very slowly up the stairs toward us.
"Try that door," I called to Victory. "See if it will
open."
She ran up to it and pushed.
"Turn the knob!" I cried, seeing that she did not know how
to open a door, but neither did she know what I meant by
knob.
Lost Continent |
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 Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: Petropavlovski prison," said Rintzeva.
"Yes, he was a poet, a dreamer; this sort of people cannot stand
solitary confinement," said Novodvoroff. "Now, I never gave my
imagination vent when in solitary confinement, but arranged my
days most systematically, and in this way always bore it very
well."
"What is there unbearable about it? Why, I used to be glad when
they locked me up," said Nabatoff cheerfully, wishing to dispel
the general depression.
"A fellow's afraid of everything; of being arrested himself and
entangling others, and of spoiling the whole business, and then
Resurrection |
