| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: of the fact that the will is not a mysterious and ultimate unit of
force beyond which we cannot go and whose special characteristic is
inconsistency, but a certain creative attitude of the mind which
is, from the first, continually influenced by habits, education and
circumstance; so absolutely modifiable, in a word, that the good
and the bad man alike seem to lose the power of free will; for the
one is morally unable to sin, the other physically incapacitated
for reformation.
And of the influence of climate and temperature in forming the
nature of man (a conception perhaps pressed too far in modern days
when the 'race theory' is supposed to be a sufficient explanation
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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 Copy-Cat & Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: manage, and inquired politely regarding her health
and that of the family. When Annie broached the
subject of her call, the set calm of her face relaxed,
and she nodded.
"I know what your sisters are. You need not
explain to me," she said.
"But," returned Annie, "I do not think they
realize. It is only because I --"
"Of course," said Felicia Hempstead. "It is be-
cause they need a dose of bitter medicine, and you
hope they will be the better for it. I understand you,
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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 Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: the brothers made the lightest splash in the water, or tumbled a stone into
the brook, the Indian behind rapped him on the head with a tomahawk handle.
At certain places, indicated by the care which Silvertip exercised in walking,
the Indian in front of the captives turned and pointed where they were to
step. They were hiding the trail. Silvertip hurried them over the stony
places; went more slowly through the water, and picked his way carefully over
the soft ground it became necessary to cross. At times he stopped, remaining
motionless many seconds.
This vigilance continued all the afternoon. The sun sank; twilight spread its
gray mantle, and soon black night enveloped the forest. The Indians halted,
but made no fire; they sat close together on a stony ridge, silent and
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: hitherto created would I cut my sleeping-bag in two.
'It fatigues her, however,' said the innkeeper; 'it fatigues her
greatly on the march. Look.'
Alas, there were her two forelegs no better than raw beef on the
inside, and blood was running from under her tail. They told me
when I started, and I was ready to believe it, that before a few
days I should come to love Modestine like a dog. Three days had
passed, we had shared some misadventures, and my heart was still as
cold as a potato towards my beast of burden. She was pretty enough
to look at; but then she had given proof of dead stupidity,
redeemed indeed by patience, but aggravated by flashes of sorry and
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