| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: embarrassment which was obvious to his friend. He then hastily
swallowed a cup of tea, and neglecting or refusing whatever else
was offered, seemed to fall into a fit of abstraction.
"You will take the gun to-day, General?" said his friend and
host, but had to repeat the question twice ere he received the
abrupt answer, "No, my lord; I am sorry I cannot have the
opportunity of spending another day with your lordship; my post
horses are ordered, and will be here directly."
All who were present showed surprise, and Lord Woodville
immediately replied "Post horses, my good friend! What can you
possibly want with them when you promised to stay with me quietly
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower: And tok to him the vertuous;
The wrongful lawes ben amended,
The londes good is wel despended,
The poeple was nomore oppressed,
And thus stod every thing redressed. 4010
For where a king is propre wys,
And hath suche as himselven is
Of his conseil, it mai noght faile
That every thing ne schal availe:
The vices thanne gon aweie,
And every vertu holt his weie;
Confessio Amantis |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: all, giving her life, to bring it to an end, she had come with him
every step of the way. He had lived by her aid, and to leave her
behind would be cruelly, damnably to miss her. What could be more
overwhelming than that?
Well, he was to know within the week, for though she kept him a
while at bay, left him restless and wretched during a series of
days on each of which he asked about her only again to have to turn
away, she ended his trial by receiving him where she had always
received him. Yet she had been brought out at some hazard into the
presence of so many of the things that were, consciously, vainly,
half their past, and there was scant service left in the gentleness
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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 My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: and when Lady Bothwell had a seat amongst the lady patronesses,
that one of the attendants on the company whispered into her ear
that a gentleman wished to speak with her in private.
"'In private? and in an assembly room?--he must be mad. Tell
him to call upon me to-morrow morning.'
"'I said so, my lady,' answered the man, 'but he desired me to
give you this paper.'
"She undid the billet, which was curiously folded and sealed. It
only bore the words, 'ON BUSINESS OF LIFE AND DEATH,' written in
a hand which she had never seen before. Suddenly it occurred to
her that it might concern the safety of some of her political
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