| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: by the degree of their danger, that she could not excuse herself
from trying to make it perceptible to her sister. She had little hope
of success; but Elizabeth, who in the event of such a reverse would be
so much more to be pitied than herself, should never, she thought,
have reason to reproach her for giving no warning.
She spoke, and seemed only to offend. Elizabeth could not conceive
how such an absurd suspicion should occur to her, and indignantly
answered for each party's perfectly knowing their situation.
"Mrs Clay," said she, warmly, "never forgets who she is;
and as I am rather better acquainted with her sentiments than you can be,
I can assure you, that upon the subject of marriage they are
Persuasion |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: imagination the imagination of ordinary men increased to the nth
power, but this, at least, must be said: never did he deliver
himself of word nor deed that could be branded as a lie outright. .
. He may have played with probability, and verged on the extremest
edge of possibility, but in his tales the machinery never creaked.
That he knew the Northland like a book, not a soul can deny. That
he was a great traveller, and had set foot on countless unknown
trails, many evidences affirm. Outside of my own personal
knowledge, I knew men that had met him everywhere, but principally
on the confines of Nowhere. There was Johnson, the ex-Hudson Bay
Company factor, who had housed him in a Labrador factory until his
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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 Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: little or no opposition from the world in taking administration. The coat
my uncle Toby gave the corporal;--Wear it, Trim, said my uncle Toby, as
long as it will hold together, for the sake of the poor lieutenant--And
this,--said my uncle Toby, taking up the sword in his hand, and drawing it
out of the scabbard as he spoke--and this, Le Fever, I'll save for thee,--
'tis all the fortune, continued my uncle Toby, hanging it up upon a crook,
and pointing to it,--'tis all the fortune, my dear Le Fever, which God has
left thee; but if he has given thee a heart to fight thy way with it in the
world,--and thou doest it like a man of honour,--'tis enough for us.
As soon as my uncle Toby had laid a foundation, and taught him to inscribe
a regular polygon in a circle, he sent him to a public school, where,
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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 Louis Lambert by Honore de Balzac: twice a year the class-masters would hold out Rochambeau as a reward
for diligence.
In 1812, towards the end of the spring, we were to go there for the
first time. Our anxiety to see this famous chateau of Rochambeau,
where the owner sometimes treated the boys to milk, made us all very
good, and nothing hindered the outing. Neither Lambert nor I had ever
seen the pretty valley of the Loire where the house stood. So his
imagination and mine were much excited by the prospect of this
excursion, which filled the school with traditional glee. We talked of
it all the evening, planning to spend in fruit or milk such money as
we had saved, against all the habits of school-life.
Louis Lambert |
