| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: each man had a bottle between his legs and a chunk of
cheese in his hand. Mahon got up. With his handsome
and disreputable head, his hooked profile, his long white
beard, and with an uncorked bottle in his hand, he re-
sembled one of those reckless sea-robbers of old making
merry amidst violence and disaster. 'The last meal on
board,' he explained solemnly. 'We had nothing to eat
all day, and it was no use leaving all this.' He flourished
the bottle and indicated the sleeping skipper. 'He said
he couldn't swallow anything, so I got him to lie down,'
he went on; and as I stared, 'I don't know whether you
Youth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: careless and happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day.
This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule
over this land.
"There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess,
who was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help
the people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good.
Her name was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built
from great blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest
sorrow was that she could find no one to love in return, since all
the men were much too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful
and wise. At last, however, she found a boy who was handsome and
The Wizard of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from One Basket by Edna Ferber: know. To drink, you know. Something----"
Then Old Man Hatton stood over her, holding a small glass to her
lips. Tessie drank it obediently, made a wry little face,
coughed, wiped her eyes, and sat up. She looked from one to the
other, like a trapped little animal. She put a hand to her
tousled head.
"That's all right," Angie Hatton assured her. "You can fix it
after a while."
There they were, the three of them: Old Man Hatton with his back
to the fire, looking benignly down upon her; Angie seated, with
some knitting in her hands, as if entertaining bedraggled,
One Basket |
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 Ursula by Honore de Balzac: game."
Ursula won. The abbe had slipped in to enjoy his triumph. The next
day Minoret, who had always refused to let Ursula learn music, sent to
Paris for a piano, made arrangements at Fontainebleau for a teacher,
and submitted to the annoyance that her constant practicing was to
him. One of poor Jordy's predictions was fulfilled,--the girl became
an excellent musician. The doctor, proud of her talent, had lately
sent to Paris for a master, an old German named Schmucke, a
distinguished professor who came once a week; the doctor willingly
paying for an art which he had formerly declared to be useless in a
household. Unbelievers do not like music--a celestial language,
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