| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: No more was required. That two years ago his godfather should upon
certain terms have refused him his house weighed for nothing at the
moment. He left his travelling carriage at the little inn and went
straight to M. de Kercadiou.
And M. de Kercadiou, startled in such an hour by this sudden
apparition, of one against whom he nursed a bitter grievance,
greeted him in terms almost identical with those in which in that
same room he had greeted him on a similar occasion once before.
"What do you want here, sir?"
"To serve you if possible, my godfather," was the disarming answer.
But it did not disarm M. de Kercadiou. "You have stayed away so
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: suffering could not expiate. Bettina accused herself of bringing a
curse upon the family, and died in despair at being unable to obtain
her father's pardon. Notwithstanding the consolations which the
ministers of religion, touched by her repentance, freely gave her, she
cried in heartrending tones with her latest breath: "Oh father!
father!" "Never give your heart without your hand," she said to
Modeste an hour before she died; "and above all, accept no attentions
from any man without telling everything to papa and mamma."
These words, so earnest in their practical meaning, uttered in the
hour of death, had more effect upon Modeste than if Bettina had
exacted a solemn oath. The dying girl, farseeing as prophet, drew from
Modeste Mignon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Captain Stormfield by Mark Twain: "I beg pardon, and you mustn't mind my reminding you, and seeming
to meddle, but hain't you forgot something?"
He studied a second, and says -
"Forgot something? . . . No, not that I know of."
"Think," says I.
He thought. Then he says -
"No, I can't seem to have forgot anything. What is it?"
"Look at me," says I, "look me all over."
He done it.
"Well?" says he.
"Well," says I, "you don't notice anything? If I branched out
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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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: time we catch him in an impossibility, he tells us the explanation
is in the sky." Then turning to the traveler to say goodbye, he
added, "We cannot believe something when the weight of scientific
evidence is against it."
"But when the physical evidence is clearly before you," said
the traveler, "how can you not believe, even if your theories cannot
explain it?"
"Because such an event would be a miracle, and science has
nothing to do with miracles."
"Then perhaps science is the poorer for it," said the
traveler, sitting down to watch his television, which just then
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