| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: you on Thursday at 5 o'clock--You must tell your Maid to come
for you at night--There will be no Moon--and you will have an
horrid walk home--My compts to Your Mother--I am afraid your
dinner will be cold--Drive on--" And away she went, leaving me in
a great passion with her as she always does.
Maria Williams.
LETTER the FOURTH
From a YOUNG LADY rather impertinent to her freind
We dined yesterday with Mr Evelyn where we were introduced to a
very agreable looking Girl his Cousin. I was extremely pleased
with her appearance, for added to the charms of an engaging face,
 Love and Friendship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Othello by William Shakespeare: Cas. No
Gra. I am sorry to finde you thus;
I haue beene to seeke you
Iago. Lend me a Garter. So: - Oh for a Chaire
To beare him easily hence
Bian. Alas he faints. Oh Cassio, Cassio, Cassio
Iago. Gentlemen all, I do suspect this Trash
To be a party in this Iniurie.
Patience awhile, good Cassio. Come, come;
Lend me a Light: know we this face, or no?
Alas my Friend, and my deere Countryman
 Othello |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: paradise to come.
And in this way the secret of the vast power discovered and acquired
by the Irishman, the offspring of Maturin's brain, was lost to
mankind; and the various Orientalists, Mystics, and Archaeologists who
take an interest in these matters were unable to hand down to
posterity the proper method of invoking the Devil, for the following
sufficient reasons:
On the thirteenth day after these frenzied nuptials the wretched clerk
lay on a pallet bed in a garret in his master's house in the Rue
Saint-Honore. Shame, the stupid goddess who dares not behold herself,
had taken possession of the young man. He had fallen ill; he would
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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 Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by William and Ellen Craft: very closely, said to my master, "I reckon, stranger,
you are 'SPILING' that ere nigger of yourn, by letting
him wear such a devilish fine hat. Just look at the
quality on it; the President couldn't wear a better.
I should just like to go and kick it overboard."
His friend touched him, and said, "Don't speak so
to a gentleman." "Why not?" exclaimed the fellow.
He grated his short teeth, which appeared to be
nearly worn away by the incessant chewing of
tobacco, and said, "It always makes me itch all
over, from head to toe, to get hold of every d----d
 Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom |