| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Blue Flower by Henry van Dyke: the shadow of the last palm-tree.
Artaban dismounted. The dim starlight revealed the form
of a man lying across the road. His humble dress and the
outline of his haggard face showed that he was probably one of
the Hebrews who still dwelt in great numbers around the city.
His pallid skin, dry and yellow as parchment, bore the mark of
the deadly fever which ravaged the marsh-lands in autumn. The
chill of death was in his lean hand, and, as Artaban released
it, the arm fell back inertly upon the motionless breast.
He turned away with a thought of pity, leaving the body to
that strange burial which the Magians deemed most fitting--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 Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: shorter way, and one that will save us some travelling.
Make up your mind, Monsieur. Which shall it be?'
CHAPTER VI
So that was their plan. Two or three hours to the southward, the
long, white, glittering wall stretched east and west above the
brown woods. Beyond that lay Spain. Once across the border, I
might be detained, if no worse happened to me, as a prisoner of
war; for we were then at war with Spain on the Italian side. Or
I might be handed over to one of the savage bands, half
smugglers, half brigands, that held the passes; or be delivered,
worse fate of all, into the power of the French exiles, of whom
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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 Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: And the women stared at the lads, and laughed and looked to the wood.
As when the sweltering baker, at night, when the city is dead,
Alone in the trough of labour treads and fashions the bread;
So in the heat, and the reek, and the touch of woman and man,
The naked spirit of evil kneaded the hearts of the clan.
Now cold was at many a heart, and shaking in many a seat;
For there were the empty baskets, but who was to furnish the meat?
For here was the nation assembled, and there were the ovens anigh,
And out of a thousand singers nine were numbered to die.
Till, of a sudden, a shock, a mace in the air, a yell,
And, struck in the edge of the crowd, the first of the victims fell. (8)
Ballads |
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 Damaged Goods by Upton Sinclair: who, knowing his condition, takes a young girl, sound, trusting,
innocent, and befouls her with the result of his debauches--makes
her the mother of a poor little creature, whose future is such
that those who love her the most do not know whether they ought
to pray for her life, or for her immediate deliverance? Sir," he
continued, in his orator's voice, "that man has inflicted upon
the woman he has married a supreme insult. He has made her the
victim of the most odious assault. He has degraded her--he has
brought her, so to speak, into contact with the woman of the
streets. He has created between her and that common woman I know
not what mysterious relationship. It is the poisoned blood of
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