| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: ocean on one side, and on the other the arm of the sea which runs up
between Croisic and the rocky shore of Guerande, at the base of which
lay the salt marshes, denuded of vegetation, I looked at Pauline and
asked her if she felt the courage to face the burning sun and the
strength to walk through sand.
"I have boots," she said. "Let us go," and she pointed to the tower of
Batz, which arrested the eye by its immense pile placed there like a
pyramid; but a slender, delicately outlined pyramid, a pyramid so
poetically ornate that the imagination figured in it the earliest ruin
of a great Asiatic city.
We advanced a few steps and sat down upon the portion of a large rock
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: the coachman to drive on fast; and left them.
With hands that trembled with his eagerness to fix the bauble in
his hat, Barnaby was adjusting it as he best could, and hurriedly
replying to the tears and entreaties of his mother, when two
gentlemen passed on the opposite side of the way. Observing them,
and seeing how Barnaby was occupied, they stopped, whispered
together for an instant, turned back, and came over to them.
'Why are you sitting here?' said one of them, who was dressed in a
plain suit of black, wore long lank hair, and carried a great cane.
'Why have you not gone with the rest?'
'I am going, sir,' replied Barnaby, finishing his task, and putting
Barnaby Rudge |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: "Indeed!" said Montrose; "what reason have you to believe their
knowledge so extensive?"
"So please your Excellency," answered Dalgetty, "during the weeks
that I remained with them for cure of my wound, they were
repeatedly obliged to shift their quarters, in respect of
Argyle's repeated attempts to repossess himself of the person of
an officer who was honoured with Your Excellency's confidence; so
that I had occasion to admire the singular dexterity and
knowledge of the face of the country with which they alternately
achieved their retreat and their advance; and when, at length, I
was able to repair to your Excellency's standard, this honest
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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 Hermione's Little Group of Serious Thinkers by Don Marquis: Papa, you know, is an obstructionist.
"Papa," I said to him, "what is stubbornness in
you has become will power in me. You will never
dominate me -- NEVER! You should study heredity;
it's wonderful, simply WONDERFUL!
Papa scowled and said, "Umph!"
But you know, Parents are Doomed.
Our little group listened to a talk the other eve-
ning about Parents. Mothers, particularly.
"The menace of the Mother," it was called. I
always make note of titles.
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