| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: unconscious of it.
At that moment when the lawyer went fluttering up to the candelabrum
by which Madame de Soulanges sat, pale, timid, and apparently alive
only in her eyes, her husband came to the door of the ballroom, his
eyes flashing with anger. The old Duchess, watchful of everything,
flew to her nephew, begged him to give her his arm and find her
carriage, affecting to be mortally bored, and hoping thus to prevent a
vexatious outbreak. Before going she fired a singular glance of
intelligence at her niece, indicating the enterprising knight who was
about to address her, and this signal seemed to say, "There he is,
avenge yourself!"
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Hamlet by William Shakespeare: of dirt
Osr. Sweet Lord, if your friendship were at leysure,
I should impart a thing to you from his Maiesty
Ham. I will receiue it with all diligence of spirit; put
your Bonet to his right vse, 'tis for the head
Osr. I thanke your Lordship, 'tis very hot
Ham. No, beleeue mee 'tis very cold, the winde is
Northerly
Osr. It is indifferent cold my Lord indeed
Ham. Mee thinkes it is very soultry, and hot for my
Complexion
Hamlet |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the tree beyond the lion gave the lad an idea--a preposterous
idea--a ridiculous, forlorn hope of an idea; but there was no
time now to weigh chances--there was but a single chance, and
that was the thorn tree. If the lion charged it would be too late--
the lad must charge first, and to the astonishment of Akut and
none the less of Numa, the boy leaped swiftly toward the beast.
Just for a second was the lion motionless with surprise and in
that second Jack Clayton put to the crucial test an accomplishment
which he had practiced at school.
Straight for the savage brute he ran, his spear held butt
foremost across his body. Akut shrieked in terror and amazement.
The Son of Tarzan |
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 Paradise Lost by John Milton: Or one short sigh of human breath, upborne
Even to the seat of God. For since I sought
By prayer the offended Deity to appease;
Kneeled, and before him humbled all my heart;
Methought I saw him placable and mild,
Bending his ear; persuasion in me grew
That I was heard with favour; peace returned
Home to my breast, and to my memory
His promise, that thy seed shall bruise our foe;
Which, then not minded in dismay, yet now
Assures me that the bitterness of death
Paradise Lost |
