| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Sir," said the voice, "you must rub these leaves upon the soles of
all your feet, and then you will be able to walk upon the water
without sinking below the surface. It is a secret the bears do not
know, and we people of Voe usually walk upon the water when we travel,
and so escape our enemies."
"Thank you!" cried the Wizard, joyfully, and at once rubbed a leaf
upon the soles of Dorothy's shoes and then upon his own. The girl
took a leaf and rubbed it upon the kitten's paws, and the rest of the
plant was handed to Zeb, who, after applying it to his own feet,
carefully rubbed it upon all four of Jim's hoofs and then upon the
tires of the buggy-wheels. He had nearly finished this last task when
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: also. "There again: one can't tell. She told me she had
had a `spiritual summons,' whatever that is, from Dr.
Carver. I'm afraid she's going to marry Dr. Carver . . .
poor Medora, there's always some one she wants to
marry. But perhaps the people in Cuba just got tired of
her! I think she was with them as a sort of paid
companion. Really, I don't know why she came."
"But you do believe she has a letter from your
husband?"
Again Madame Olenska brooded silently; then she
said: "After all, it was to be expected."
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: grows brittle like "taffy," and then good-bye to maple-wax for that kettleful.
So Rudolph, every half-minute, kept dripping little streams of the boiling
sugar from the spoon upon the piece of ice, and Tattine and Mabel kept testing
it with their fingers and tongues, until both at last exclaimed in one and the
same breatlg, "It's done! it's done! Lift it off the fire quickly; it's just
right." Just right means when the sugar hardens in a few seconds, or in a
little more than half a minute, into a delicious consistency like--well, just
like maple-wax, for there is nothing else in the world that I know of with
which to compare it. Then the children seated themselves around the great cake
of ice, and Rudolph, with the kettle on the ground beside him, tipped against
a log of wood at just the right angle, continued to be master of ceremonies,
|
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 Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: whiskers became much concerned and seemed to be offering themselves
unduly to my notice. At last I said:
"I am going to stand right in. Quite in--as far as I can take her."
The stare of extreme surprise imparted an air of ferocity also to his eyes,
and he looked truly terrific for a moment.
"We're not doing well in the middle of the gulf," I continued, casually.
"I am going to look for the land breezes tonight."
"Bless my soul! Do you mean, sir, in the dark amongst the lot of all them
islands and reefs and shoals?"
"Well--if there are any regular land breezes at all on this coast
one must get close inshore to find them, mustn't one?"
The Secret Sharer |
