| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: The Opossum of the Future
ONE day an Opossum who had gone to sleep hanging from the highest
branch of a tree by the tail, awoke and saw a large Snake wound
about the limb, between him and the trunk of the tree.
"If I hold on," he said to himself, "I shall be swallowed; if I let
go I shall break my neck."
But suddenly he bethought himself to dissemble.
"My perfected friend," he said, "my parental instinct recognises in
you a noble evidence and illustration of the theory of development.
You are the Opossum of the Future, the ultimate Fittest Survivor of
our species, the ripe result of progressive prehensility - all
Fantastic Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: "Now? Pray, what has happened? I am more sorry than ever,
since I have heard poor Blanche's dreadful tone about him."
The girl was silent a moment; then she shook her head, lightly.
"Her tone--her tone? Dearest mother, don't you see?
She is intensely in love with him!"
CHAPTER XXVIII
This observation struck Bernard as extremely ingenious
and worthy of his mistress's fine intelligence; he greeted it
with enthusiasm, and thought of it for the next twelve hours.
The more he thought of it the more felicitous it seemed to him,
and he went to Mrs. Vivian's the next day almost for the express
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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 Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: Madame Colleville was deeply affected by the death of young
Gondreville; she felt, she said, the finger of God. In 1824 she turned
over a new leaf, talked of economy, stopped her receptions, busied
herself with her children, determined to become a good mother of a
family; no favorite friend was seen at her house. She went to church,
reformed her dress, wore gray, and talked Catholicism, mysticism, and
so forth. All this produced, in 1825, another little son, whom she
named Theodore. Soon after, in 1826, Colleville was appointed sub-
director of the Clergeot division, and later, in 1828, collector of
taxes in a Paris arrondissement. He also received the cross of the
Legion of honor, to enable him to put his daughter at the royal school
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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 The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: gambling, idle display, with all kinds of bad habits and
wickedness, insubordination of subjects, of domestics and
laborers of every trade, also the exactions [and most
exorbitant selling prices] of the peasants (and who can
enumerate all?) have so increased that they cannot be
rectified by ten Councils and twenty Diets. If such chief
matters of the spiritual and worldly estates as are contrary
to God would be considered in the Council, they would have all
hands so full that the child's play and absurdity of long
gowns [official insignia], large tonsures, broad cinctures [or
sashes], bishops' or cardinals' hats or maces, and like
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