| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: have in a high degree the fencer's pleasure in dexterity displayed
and proved; what they get they get upon life's terms, paying for it
as they go; and once the talk is launched, they are assured of
honest dealing from an adversary eager like themselves. The
aboriginal man within us, the cave-dweller, still lusty as when he
fought tooth and nail for roots and berries, scents this kind of
equal battle from afar; it is like his old primaeval days upon the
crags, a return to the sincerity of savage life from the
comfortable fictions of the civilised. And if it be delightful to
the Old Man, it is none the less profitable to his younger brother,
the conscientious gentleman I feel never quite sure of your urbane
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from McTeague by Frank Norris: far away somewhere, he did not know exactly where, to some
vague country, some undiscovered place where every day was
Sunday.
"Got any junk?"
"Huh? What? What is it?" exclaimed McTeague, suddenly
rousing up from the lounge. Often Maria did very well in
the "Dental Parlors." McTeague was continually breaking
things which he was too stupid to have mended; for him
anything that was broken was lost. Now it was a cuspidor,
now a fire-shovel for the little stove, now a China shaving
mug.
McTeague |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: sealing it up carefully. His next proceeding was to take out a
little notebook.
"We have found in this room," he said, writing busily, "six
points of interest. Shall I enumerate them, or will you?"
"Oh, you," I replied hastily.
"Very well, then. One, a coffee-cup that has been ground into
powder; two, a despatch-case with a key in the lock; three, a
stain on the floor."
"That may have been done some time ago," I interrupted.
"No, for it is still perceptibly damp and smells of coffee.
Four, a fragment of some dark green fabric--only a thread or two,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
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 Finished by H. Rider Haggard: the earth was disturbed. She said that they were buried there by
order of her master, Zikali. I don't know what became of the
horses or the cart."
"And what happened to you afterwards?"
"Baas, I was kept for several days, I cannot remember how many,
and only allowed out within the fence round the huts. Nombe came
to see me once, bringing this," and she produced a package sewn
up in a skin. "She said that I was to give it to you with a
message that those whom you loved were quite safe with One who is
greater than any in the land, and therefore that you must not
grieve for them whose troubles were over. I think it was two
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