| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: lava from the mouth of Vesuvius.
"Deus Sabaoth! . . . Sabaoth!" cried the believers.
"You are insulting the majesty of Hell," shouted Don Juan,
gnashing his teeth. In another moment the living arm struggled
out of the reliquary, and was brandished over the assembly in
mockery and despair.
"The saint is blessing us," cried the old women, children,
lovers, and the credulous among the crowd.
And note how often we are deceived in the homage we pay; the
great man scoffs at those who praise him, and pays compliments
now and again to those whom he laughs at in the depths of his
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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 Professor by Charlotte Bronte: he went out. Mr. Crimsworth stirred the fire, then folded his
arms, and sat a moment thinking, his lips compressed, his brow
knit. I had nothing to do but to watch him--how well his
features were cut! what a handsome man he was! Whence, then, came
that air of contraction--that narrow and hard aspect on his
forehead, in all his lineaments?
Turning to me he began abruptly:-
"You are come down to ----shire to learn to be a tradesman?"
"Yes, I am."
"Have you made up your mind on the point? Let me know that at
once."
The Professor |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lin McLean by Owen Wister: threat in the strong animal countenance, something of laughter ready to
break out. Much beauty of its kind had evidently been in the face, and
now, as substitute for what was gone, was the brag look of assertion that
it was still all there. Many stranded travellers knocked at Jessamine's
door, and now, as always, she offered the hospitalities of her neat
abode, the only room in Separ fit for a woman. As she spoke, and the
guest surveyed and listened, the door blew shut with a crash.
Outside, in a shed, Billy had placed the wagon between himself and his
father.
"How you have grown!" the man was saying; and he smiled. "Come, shake
hands. I did not think to see you here."
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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 The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: forked stick under the water till the Pike bites; and then the Pike having
pulled the line forth of the cleft or nick of that stick in which it was
gently fastened, he will have line enough to go to his hold and pouch
the bait And if you would have this ledger-bait to keep at a fixt place
undisturbed by wind or other accidents which may drive it to the shore-
side, for you are to note, that it is likeliest to catch a Pike in the midst
of the water, then hang a small plummet of lead, a stone, or piece of
tile, or a turf, in a string, and cast it into the water with the forked stick
to hang upon the ground, to be a kind of anchor to keep the forked stick
from moving out of your intended place till the Pike come: this I take to
be a very good way to use so many ledger-baits as you intend to make
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