| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The United States Constitution: under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made
in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby,
any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the
several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers,
both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound
by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious
The United States Constitution |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: wondering what she could do, the occasion usually came to an end.
To-day she wondered more than ever. At last she took down a book;
there was no library in the house, but there were books in all the rooms.
None of them were forbidden books, and Gertrude had not stopped at
home for the sake of a chance to climb to the inaccessible shelves.
She possessed herself of a very obvious volume--one of the series
of the Arabian Nights--and she brought it out into the portico
and sat down with it in her lap. There, for a quarter of an hour,
she read the history of the loves of the Prince Camaralzaman
and the Princess Badoura. At last, looking up, she beheld,
as it seemed to her, the Prince Camaralzaman standing before her.
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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 A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: men. A crowd of people followed, jammed between the walls of the
houses hung with white sheets; at last the procession arrived at the
foot of the hill.
A cold sweat broke out on Felicite's forehead. Mother Simon wiped it
away with a cloth, saying inwardly that some day she would have to go
through the same thing herself.
The murmur of the crowd grew louder, was very distinct for a moment
and then died away. A volley of musketry shook the window-panes. It
was the postilions saluting the Sacrament. Felicite rolled her eyes,
and said as loudly as she could:
"Is he all right?" meaning the parrot.
A Simple Soul |
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 Works of Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson: of his own decrepitude, as not to imagine that he
may yet hold his station in the world for another year.
Of the truth of this remark every day furnishes new
confirmation: there is no time of life, in which men
for the most part seem less to expect the stroke of
death, than when every other eye sees it impending;
or are more busy in providing for another year,
than when it is plain to all but themselves, that at
another year they cannot arrive. Though every
funeral that passes before their eyes evinces the
deceitfulness of such expectations, since every man who is
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