| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: He moved in silent majesty that made him seem a king without his
guard, a god without his rays.
His dress emphasized the ideas suggested by the peculiarities of his
mien and face. Soul, body, and garb were in harmony, and calculated to
impress the coldest imagination. He wore a sort of sleeveless gown of
black cloth, fastened in front, and falling to the calf, leaving the
neck bare with no collar. His doublet and boots were likewise black.
On his head was a black velvet cap like a priest's, sitting in a close
circle above his forehead, and not showing a single hair. It was the
strictest mourning, the gloomiest habit a man could wear. But for a
long sword that hung by his side from a leather belt which could be
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: fashion in the city. I saw more tricolour flags in Philadelphia than
ever I'd seen in Boulogne, and every one was shouting for war
with England. A crowd o' folk was cheering after our French
Ambassador - that same Monsieur Genet which we'd left at
Charleston. He was a-horseback behaving as if the place belonged
to him - and commanding all and sundry to fight the British. But
I'd heard that before. I got into a long straight street as wide as the
Broyle, where gentlemen was racing horses. I'm fond o' horses.
Nobody hindered 'em, and a man told me it was called Race
Street o' purpose for that. Then I followed some black niggers,
which I'd never seen close before; but I left them to run after a
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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 Underground City by Jules Verne: But whatever he could do, searching with the greatest
care, scrutinizing every crevice in the gallery, he found
nothing for his trouble.
If Jack Ryan and the other superstitious fellows in the mine had seen
these lights, they would, without fail, have called them supernatural,
but Harry did not dream of doing so, nor did his father.
And when they talked over these phenomena, evidently due to a
physical cause, "My lad," the old man would say, "we must wait.
It will all be explained some day."
However, it must be observed that, hitherto, neither Harry
nor his father had ever been exposed to any act of violence.
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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 A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: covered, however often we pull up."
When he touched him, Maskull felt a terrible shooting pain through
his heart.
"I can't go on regarding you as a man, Krag. You're something more
than a man - whether good or evil, I can't say."
Krag looked yellow and formidable. He did not reply to Maskull's
remark, but after a pause said, "So you've been trying to find Surtur
on your own account, during the intervals between killing and
fondling?"
"What was that drumming?" demanded Maskull.
"You needn't look so important. We know you had your ear to the
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