| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: But in this case Fashion had done as the world did, and accepted
Madame d'Espard as still young.
The Marquise, who was thirty-three by her register of birth, was
twenty-two in a drawing-room in the evening. But by what care, what
artifice! Elaborate curls shaded her temples. She condemned herself to
live in twilight, affecting illness so as to sit under the protecting
tones of light filtered through muslin. Like Diane de Poitiers, she
used cold water in her bath, and, like her again, the Marquise slept
on a horse-hair mattress, with morocco-covered pillows to preserve her
hair; she ate very little, only drank water, and observed monastic
regularity in the smallest actions of her life.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: The face of the younger man changed now. But instead of becoming
fixed and graven, it seemed to melt into life by the heat of
an inward fire. His nostrils quivered with quick breath,
his lips were curled. "Principle!" he said. "You mean
principal--and
interest too. Well, sir, you know best whether that is religion
or not.
But if it is, count me out, please. Tom saved me from going to
the devil,
six years ago; and I'll be damned if I don't help him to the best
of
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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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: luck I could have. You're too almighty suspicious, Joe."
Newmark shook his head.
"You let me figure this out," said he.
But bedtime found him without a solution. He retired to his room
under fire of Orde's good-natured raillery. Orde himself shut his
door, the smile still on his lips. As he began removing his coat,
however, the smile died. The week had been a busy one. Hardly had
he exchanged a dozen words with his parents, for he had even been
forced to eat his dinner and supper away from home. This Sunday he
had promised himself to make his deferred but much-desired call on
Jane Hubbard--and her guest. He turned out the gas with a shrug of
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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 Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: have all those extra ashes to clean out."
"But you would never see any of the dirt," she argued with more
than her usual courage, "and if I wouldn't mind the ashes I don't
see why you should."
"We can't afford it."
"Martin, I've given in to you on everything else," she asserted
firmly. "I'm not going to give this up. I'll pay for it out of my
own money."
"What do you mean 'out of my own money'?" he asked sternly. "I
told Osborne we'd run one account. If what is mine is going to be
yours, what is yours is going to be mine. I'd think your own
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