| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And the women and men of the clan went forth to bathe in the dusk,
A word that began to go round, a word, a whisper, a start:
Hope that leaped in the bosom, fear that knocked on the heart:
"See, the priest is not risen - look, for his door is fast!
He is going to name the victims; he is going to help us at last."
Thrice rose the sun to noon; and ever, like one of the dead,
The priest lay still in his house with the roar of the sea in his head;
There was never a foot on the floor, there was never a whisper of speech;
Only the leering tikis stared on the blinding beach.
Again were the mountains fired, again the morning broke;
And all the houses lay still, but the house of the priest awoke.
Ballads |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: cunningest savage must have had the chance of producing children
more strong and cunning than the average; he would have--the
strongest savage has still--the power of obtaining a wife, or wives,
superior in beauty and in household skill, which involves
superiority of intellect; and therefore his children would--some of
them at least--be superior to the average, both from the father's
and the mother's capacities. They again would marry select wives;
and their children again would do the same; till, in a very few
generations, a family would have established itself, considerably
superior to the rest of the tribe in body and mind, and become
assuredly its ruling race.
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: least I don't remember anything of the kind. There was a strong
wind yesterday anyway, and the snow drifts easily out here. No
tracks could remain clear for long."
The men walked down the straight path which led to the little gate
in the high wall. This gate had a secret lock, which, however, was
neither hard to find nor hard to open. Muller managed it with ease,
and looked out through the gate on the street beyond. The broad
promenade, deserted now in its winter snowiness, led away in one
direction to the heart of the city. In the other it ended in the
main county high-road. This was a broad, well-made turnpike, with
footpath and rows of trees. A half-hour's walk along it would bring
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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 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: and teams, or single horses, on the following terms, viz.: I. That
there shall be paid for each waggon, with four good horses and
a driver, fifteen shillings per diem; and for each able horse
with a pack-saddle, or other saddle and furniture, two shillings
per diem; and for each able horse without a saddle, eighteen pence
per diem. 2. That the pay commence from the time of their joining
the forces at Will's Creek, which must be on or before the 20th
of May ensuing, and that a reasonable allowance be paid over and
above for the time necessary for their travelling to Will's Creek
and home again after their discharge. 3. Each waggon and team,
and every saddle or pack horse, is to be valued by indifferent
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
