| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: upper end of the apartment, and they saw Damiotti, standing at
the head of two or three steps, sign to them to advance. His
dress was so different from that which he had worn a few minutes
before, that they could hardly recognize him; and the deadly
paleness of his countenance, and a certain stern rigidity of
muscles, like that of one whose mind is made up to some strange
and daring action, had totally changed the somewhat sarcastic
expression with which he had previously regarded them both, and
particularly Lady Bothwell. He was barefooted, excepting a
species of sandals in the antique fashion; his legs were naked
beneath the knees; above them he wore hose, and a doublet of dark
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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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: years. Without bodily vices, and clinging ever to the
open air and the exercise of the foil he was still
young in muscle and endurance.
For five years he had not crossed foils with Norman
of Torn, but he constantly practiced with the best
swordsmen of the wild horde, so that it had become
a subject often discussed among the men as to which
of the two, father or son, was the greater swordsman.
Always taciturn, the old fellow rode in his usual
silence. Long since had Norman of Torn usurped by
the force of his strong character and masterful ways,
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: kind of sinful affection whatsoever. But if any man fall, he
must at once leap up, and stand again to fight the good fight:
and, as often as there cometh a fall, so often must there at once
ensue this rising and standing, unto the end. For, `Turn ye unto
me, and I will turn unto you,' saith the Lord God."
XII.
To this said Ioasaph, "But how, after baptism, shall a man keep
himself clear from all sin? For even if there be, as thou
sayest, repentance for them that stumble, yet it is attended with
toil and trouble, with weeping and mourning; things which,
methinks, are not easy for the many to accomplish. But I desired
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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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: of prestige with which opulence had invested him would vanish. Not a
hand would be offered, not a purse would be open to him. Unless some
favorable event occurred he would fall into a slough of contempt,
deeper perhaps than he deserved, precisely because he had mounted to a
height he could not maintain. At this juncture he happened to hear
that a number of strangers of distinction, diplomats and others, were
assembled at the watering-places in the Pyrenees, where they gambled
for enormous sums, and were doubtless well supplied with money.
He determined to go at once to the Pyrenees; but he would not leave
his wife in Paris, lest some importunate creditor might reveal to her
the secret of his horrible position. He therefore took her and the two
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