| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Glasses by Henry James: Her blush died away, but a pair of still prettier tears glistened
in its track. "If you ever hear such a thing said again you can
say it's a horrid lie!" I had brought on a commotion deeper than
any I was prepared for; but it was explained in some degree by the
next words she uttered: "I'm happy to say there's nothing the
matter with any part of me whatever, not the least little thing!"
She spoke with her habitual complacency, with triumphant assurance;
she smiled again, and I could see how she wished that she hadn't so
taken me up. She turned it off with a laugh. "I've good eyes,
good teeth, a good digestion and a good temper. I'm sound of wind
and limb!" Nothing could have been more characteristic than her
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: the kraals, and cannot see the house anywhere.
And then one picture starts out more vividly than any.
There has been a thunderstorm; the ground, as far as the eye can reach, is
covered with white hail; the clouds are gone, and overhead a deep blue sky
is showing; far off a great rainbow rests on the white earth. We, standing
in a window to look, feel the cool, unspeakably sweet wind blowing in on
us, and a feeling of longing comes over us--unutterable longing, we cannot
tell for what. We are so small, our head only reaches as high as the first
three panes. We look at the white earth, and the rainbow, and the blue
sky; and oh, we want it, we want--we do not know what. We cry as though
our heart was broken. When one lifts our little body from the window we
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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 Mother by Owen Wister: newer town and left the houses and stores standing empty. But Mr.
Beverly's mother got some, and all your hesitation fled. And now I see
that the Gulf, Galveston, and Little Rock is going to build a branch that
may make Philippi a perfectly evaporated town. If you sold these bonds
to-day, how much would you lose?'"
"I did not enjoy telling Ethel how much, but I had to. 'Only fifteen
thousand dollars,' I said."
"'Only!' said Ethel. 'Well, I hope his mother will lose a great deal
more than that.'"
"It is seldom that Ethel taps her foot, but she had begun to tap it now;
and this inclined me to avoid any attempt at a soothing reply, in the
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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 In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: We marched en masse along the station road. It was a very warm afternoon,
and continuous parties of "cure guests", who were giving their digestions a
quiet airing in pension gardens, called after us, asked if we were going
for a walk, and cried "Herr Gott--happy journey" with immense ill-concealed
relish when we mentioned Schlingen.
"But that is eight kilometres," shouted one old man with a white beard, who
leaned against a fence, fanning himself with a yellow handkerchief.
"Seven and a half," answered Herr Erchardt shortly.
"Eight," bellowed the sage.
"Seven and a half!"
"Eight!"
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