| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: of sound. When its echoes died away, in the midst of a deep silence
Panda spoke, saying:
"Bring forth the Nyanga [doctor]. Let the umhlahlo [that is, the
witch-trial] begin!"
There was a long pause, and then in the open gateway appeared a solitary
figure that at first sight seemed to be scarcely human, the figure of a
dwarf with a gigantic head, from which hung long, white hair, plaited
into locks. It was Zikali, no other!
Quite unattended, and naked save for his moocha, for he had on him none
of the ordinary paraphernalia of the witch-doctor, he waddled forward
with a curious toad-like gait till he had passed through the Councillors
Child of Storm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: free to leave when she would the ballroom she had entered in triumph.
Pausing for a moment on the threshold, she shot swift but observant
glances on the women present, hastily scrutinizing their dresses to
assure herself that her own eclipsed them all.
The illustrious beauty presented herself to the admiration of the
crowd at the same moment with one of the bravest colonels of the
Guards' Artillery and the Emperor's favorite, the Comte de Soulanges.
The transient and fortuitous association of these two had about it a
certain air of mystery. On hearing the names announced of Monsieur de
Soulanges and the Comtesse de Vaudremont, a few women sitting by the
wall rose, and men, hurrying in from the side-rooms, pressed forward
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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 Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: for life, justification, and Christian liberty; and that is the
most holy word of God, the Gospel of Christ, as He says, "I am
the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me shall not
die eternally" (John xi. 25), and also, "If the Son shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John viii. 36), and, "Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God" (Matt. iv. 4).
Let us therefore hold it for certain and firmly established that
the soul can do without everything except the word of God,
without which none at all of its wants are provided for. But,
having the word, it is rich and wants for nothing, since that is
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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 An International Episode by Henry James: "Oh, dear, yes. When I got to England, he was out grouse shooting.
It was what you call in America a gigantic fraud. My mother had got nervous.
My three weeks at Newport seemed like a happy dream."
"America certainly is very different from England," said Bessie.
"I hope you like England better, eh?" Lord Lambeth
rejoined almost persuasively.
"No Englishman can ask that seriously of a person of another country."
Her companion looked at her for a moment. "You mean it's
a matter of course?"
"If I were English," said Bessie, "it would certainly seem to me
a matter of course that everyone should be a good patriot."
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