| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: by whose light the apes danced to the beating of their
earthen drums. If Goro should be eaten by Numa there could
be no more Dum-Dums. Taug was overwhelmed by the thought.
He glanced at Tarzan half fearfully. Why was his friend
so different from the others of the tribe? No one else whom
Taug ever had known had had such queer thoughts as Tarzan.
The ape scratched his head and wondered, dimly, if Tarzan
was a safe companion, and then he recalled slowly,
and by a laborious mental process, that Tarzan had served
him better than any other of the apes, even the strong
and wise bulls of the tribe.
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: "I mean it in this way. First of all, he never offered to help me
to a dot and a husband." And Mademoiselle Nioche paused, smiling.
"I won't say that is in his favor, for I do you justice.
What led you, by the way, to make me such a queer offer?
You didn't care for me."
"Oh yes, I did," said Newman.
"How so?"
"It would have given me real pleasure to see you married
to a respectable young fellow."
"With six thousand francs of income!" cried Mademoiselle Nioche.
"Do you call that caring for me? I'm afraid you know little about women.
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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 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: every other service in his power. This my brother-in-law afterwards
told me in Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it; when, one day,
Keimer and I being at work together near the window, we saw the
governor and another gentleman (which proved to be Colonel French,
of Newcastle), finely dress'd, come directly across the street to
our house, and heard them at the door.
Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a visit to him;
but the governor inquir'd for me, came up, and with a condescension
of politeness I had been quite unus'd to, made me many compliments,
desired to be acquainted with me, blam'd me kindly for not
having made myself known to him when I first came to the place,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: bedclothes; "I know all about it."
On a stool by the window sat the sexton's wife, Raissa Nilovna. A
tin lamp standing on another stool, as though timid and
distrustful of its powers, shed a dim and flickering light on her
broad shoulders, on the handsome, tempting-looking contours of
her person, and on her thick plait, which reached to the floor.
She was making sacks out of coarse hempen stuff. Her hands moved
nimbly, while her whole body, her eyes, her eyebrows, her full
lips, her white neck were as still as though they were asleep,
absorbed in the monotonous, mechanical toil. Only from time to
time she raised her head to rest her weary neck, glanced for a
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