| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: and down, up and down, in the quiet of the night. "Jekyll," cried
Utterson, with a loud voice, "I demand to see you." He paused a
moment, but there came no reply. "I give you fair warning, our
suspicions are aroused, and I must and shall see you," he resumed;
"if not by fair means, then by foul--if not of your consent,
then by brute force!"
"Utterson," said the voice, "for God's sake, have mercy!"
"Ah, that's not Jekyll's voice--it's Hyde's!" cried
Utterson. "Down with the door, Poole!"
Poole swung the axe over his shoulder; the blow shook the
building, and the red baize door leaped against the lock and
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: you.' Do you love me, Jane?--repeat it."
"I do, sir--I do, with my whole heart."
"Well," he said, after some minutes' silence, "it is strange; but
that sentence has penetrated by breast painfully. Why? I think
because you said it with such an earnest, religious energy, and
because your upward gaze at me now is the very sublime of faith,
truth, and devotion: it is too much as if some spirit were near me.
Look wicked, Jane: as you know well how to look: coin one of your
wild, shy, provoking smiles; tell me you hate me--tease me, vex me;
do anything but move me: I would rather be incensed than saddened."
"I will tease you and vex you to your heart's content, when I have
Jane Eyre |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: breadfruit trees, that commanded a view of the ocean upon one
side and of the lake with the strange brown mountain top on the
other. Here in the midst of the native gardens we found that a
fine house had been built for us of a kind of mud brick and
thatched with palm leaves, surrounded by a fenced courtyard of
beaten earth and having wide overhanging verandahs; a very
comfortable place indeed in that delicious climate. In it we took
up our abode, visiting the ship occasionally to see that all was
well there, and awaiting events.
For Bickley these soon began to happen in the shape of an
ever-increasing stream of patients. The population of the island
When the World Shook |
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 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: was to take place within a few days, and Captain Tilney's
removal would at least restore peace to every heart but
his own. But Captain Tilney had at present no intention
of removing; he was not to be of the party to Northanger;
he was to continue at Bath. When Catherine knew this,
her resolution was directly made. She spoke to Henry Tilney
on the subject, regretting his brother's evident partiality
for Miss Thorpe, and entreating him to make known her
prior engagement.
"My brother does know it," was Henry's answer.
"Does he? Then why does he stay here?"
Northanger Abbey |
