| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: would praise me; no, no more praise than blame before; perhaps now
they think better of me, though.
'10 P.M. - We have gone on very comfortably for nearly six miles.
An hour and a half was spent washing down; for along with many
coloured polypi, from corals, shells and insects, the big cable
brings up much mud and rust, and makes a fishy smell by no means
pleasant: the bottom seems to teem with life. - But now we are
startled by a most unpleasant, grinding noise; which appeared at
first to come from the large low pulley, but when the engines
stopped, the noise continued; and we now imagine it is something
slipping down the cable, and the pulley but acts as sounding-board
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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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: extinguished; the whole frontage of the street was dark;
there was nothing to explain the presence of these unguarded
trunks; and no two innocent people were ever, I believe,
detected in such questionable circumstances.
'Where have these things come from?' asked the policeman,
flashing his light full into my champion's face.
'Why, from that house, of course,' replied the young
gentleman, hastily shouldering a trunk.
The policeman whistled and turned to look at the dark
windows; he then took a step towards the door, as though to
knock, a course which had infallibly proved our ruin; but
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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 Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: When you remember that no child, until Santa Claus began his travels,
had ever known the pleasure of possessing a toy, you will understand
how joy crept into the homes of those who had been favored with a
visit from the good man, and how they talked of him day by day in
loving tones and were honestly grateful for his kindly deeds. It is
true that great warriors and mighty kings and clever scholars of that
day were often spoken of by the people; but no one of them was so
greatly beloved as Santa Claus, because none other was so unselfish as
to devote himself to making others happy. For a generous deed lives
longer than a great battle or a king's decree of a scholar's essay,
because it spreads and leaves its mark on all nature and endures
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
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 The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: of incense, waving the smoke into shapes that appeared to interlace
one another. When the breeze had dispersed the vapor the guns were
returned in due order. Each man received his own on his knees from the
hands of the priests, who recited a Latin prayer as they returned
them. After the men had regained their places, the profound enthusiasm
of the congregation, mute till then, broke forth and resounded in a
formidable manner.
"/Domine salvum fac regem/!" was the prayer which the preacher intoned
in an echoing voice, and was then sung vehemently by the people. The
cry had something savage and warlike in it. The two notes of the word
/regem/, readily interpreted by the peasants, were taken with such
The Chouans |
