| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: felt--here and there, on each side of the chest, a heaviness--a
difficulty--"
"The idea of taking six months to cure you of a thing like that!"
exclaimed Henriette. "And making our baby six months younger
than she ought to be!"
"But," laughed George, "that means that we shall have her so much
the longer! She will get married six months later!"
"Oh, dear me," responded the other, "let us not talk about such
things! I am already worried, thinking she will get married some
day."
"For my part," said George, "I see myself mounting with her on my
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Davis: with herself, to dally over, with paltry pros and cons.
Miss Vance came hurriedly up the street, an open letter
in her hand. Lucy ran to meet her.
"What is it? You have heard bad news?"
"I suppose we ought not to call it that. It is from
George Waldeaux. They have a son, two months old. He
tells it as a matter for rejoicing."
"Oh, yes," said Lucy feebly.
"They are at Vannes--in Brittany. He has a cough. He
seems to know nobody--to have no friends, and, I suspect,
not much money. He is terribly depressed." Clara folded
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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 Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: the conditions of his exile. Declining the option offered him to
enter the Russian army, he was retired with only half the pension
of his rank. His nephew (my uncle and guardian) told me that the
first lasting impression on his memory as a child of four was the
glad excitement reigning in his parents' house on the day when
Mr. Nicholas B. arrived home from his detention in Russia.
Every generation has its memories. The first memories of Mr.
Nicholas B. might have been shaped by the events of the last
partition of Poland, and he lived long enough to suffer from the
last armed rising in 1863, an event which affected the future of
all my generation and has coloured my earliest impressions. His
A Personal Record |
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 Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: "Thank you a thousand times," she said; "I could never have got here alone."
"You're kindly welcome, and I hope the dear child will soon be better."
He watched her go in at the door, and gently he said to himself,
"Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these."
Then he patted my neck, which was always his way when anything pleased him.
The rain was now coming down fast, and just as we were leaving the hospital
the door opened again, and the porter called out, "Cab!" We stopped,
and a lady came down the steps. Jerry seemed to know her at once;
she put back her veil and said, "Barker! Jeremiah Barker, is it you?
I am very glad to find you here; you are just the friend I want,
for it is very difficult to get a cab in this part of London to-day."
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