| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: particulars of the recent revolting murder in the Castle, and
denounced the murderer:-
'It is a common soldier called Champdivers, who had himself
escaped, and is in all probability involved in the common fate of
his comrades. In spite of the activity along all the Forth and the
East Coast, nothing has yet been seen of the sloop which these
desperadoes seized at Grangemouth, and it is now almost certain
that they have found a watery grave.'
At the reading of this paragraph, my heart turned over. In a
moment I saw my castle in the air ruined; myself changed from a
mere military fugitive into a hunted murderer, fleeing from the
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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 Exiles by Honore de Balzac: of scorching sparks. Their pain was like an electric discharge. The
loud, heavy step of a man-at-arms sounded on the stairs with the iron
clank of his sword, his cuirass, and spurs; a soldier presently stood
before the astonished stranger.
"We can return to Florence," said the man, whose bass voice sounded
soft as he spoke in Italian.
"What is that you say?" asked the old man.
"The /Bianchi/ are triumphant."
"Are you not mistaken?" asked the poet.
"No, dear Dante!" replied the soldier, whose warlike tones rang with
the thrill of battle and the exultation of victory.
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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 Cavalry General by Xenophon: Now, to deal with this vast hostile array, if only the city will
determine to sally out en masse to protect her rural districts, the
prospect is fair. Under God, our troopers, if properly cared for, are
the finer men; our infantry of the line are no less numerous, and as
regards physique, if it comes to that, not one whit inferior, while in
reference to moral qualities, they are more susceptible to the spur of
a noble ambition, if only under God's will they be correctly trained.
Or again, as touching pride of ancestry, what have Athenians to fear
as against Boeotians on that score?[3]
[3] See "Mem." III. v. 3, where it is contended that in pride of
ancestry Athenians can hold their own against Boeotians.
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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 Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: your own and forgetting all about this."
He looked at me with his sharp eyes. "There's probably some nice
chap in the village, eh?"
I shook my head. I had just caught sight of the broken pieces of
the Moody water-pitcher on the ice below
"No nice young man!" he remarked. "Not the telegraph operator,
or the fellow who runs the livery-stable--I've forgotten his
name."
"Look here," I turned on him, "if you're talking all this
nonsense to keep my mind off things, you needn't."
"I'm not," he said. "I'm asking for the sake of my own mind, but
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