| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: words of the narrative run thus:
"And Ethelred, who was by nature of a doughty heart, and who
was now mighty withal, on account of the powerfulness of the wine
which he had drunken, waited no longer to hold parley with the
hermit, who, in sooth, was of an obstinate and maliceful turn,
but, feeling the rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the rising
of the tempest, uplifted his mace outright, and, with blows, made
quickly room in the plankings of the door for his gauntleted
hand; and now pulling therewith sturdily, he so cracked, and
ripped, and tore all asunder, that the noise of the dry and
hollow-sounding wood alarmed and reverberated throughout the
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: old potency. He would show himself that he was game, he would
finish the thing splendidly. He doubted, more than ever, the
existence of Cordelia Street, and for the first time he drank his
wine recklessly. Was he not, after all, one of those fortunate
beings born to the purple, was he not still himself and in his
own place? He drummed a nervous accompaniment to the Pagliacci
music and looked about him, telling himself over and over that it
had paid.
He reflected drowsily, to the swell of the music and the
chill sweetness of his wine, that he might have done it more
wisely. He might have caught an outbound steamer and been well
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ursula by Honore de Balzac: bishop being in ecstasy, heard the last words of the sovereign pontiff
and repeated them at the time to those about him. The courier who
brought the announcement of the death did not arrive till thirty hours
later."
"Jesuit!" exclaimed old Minoret, laughing, "I did not ask you for
proofs; I asked you if you believed in apparitions."
"I think an apparition depends a good deal on who sees it," said the
abbe, still fencing with his sceptic.
"My friend," said the doctor, seriously, "I am not setting a trap for
you. What do you really believe about it?"
"I believe that the power of God is infinite," replied the abbe.
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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 A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: Lost Illusions
Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
The Government Clerks
A Bachelor's Establishment
Ursule Mirouet
Eugenie Grandet
The Imaginary Mistress
A Prince of Bohemia
Negrepelisse, De
The Commission in Lunacy
Lost Illusions
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