| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: various domestic animals and the cultivators of plants, with whom I have
ever conversed, or whose treatises I have read, are firmly convinced that
the several breeds to which each has attended, are descended from so many
aboriginally distinct species. Ask, as I have asked, a celebrated raiser
of Hereford cattle, whether his cattle might not have descended from long
horns, and he will laugh you to scorn. I have never met a pigeon, or
poultry, or duck, or rabbit fancier, who was not fully convinced that each
main breed was descended from a distinct species. Van Mons, in his
treatise on pears and apples, shows how utterly he disbelieves that the
several sorts, for instance a Ribston-pippin or Codlin-apple, could ever
have proceeded from the seeds of the same tree. Innumerable other examples
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: were not Welsh delighted in teasing us by applying the
uncomplimentary nickname. This once resulted at the Sharon
operahouse, in turning a dramatic episode into a howling farce.
I was acting as a super in the sensational drama She, by H.
Rider Haggard. Two Englishmen were penetrating the mysterious
jungles of Africa, and I was their native guide and porter. They
had me all blacked up like a negro minstrel, but this wasn't a
funny show, it was a drama of mystery and terror. While I was
guiding the English travelers through the jungle of the local
stage, we penetrated into the land of the wall-eyed cannibals.
The cannibals captured me and prepared to eat me in full view
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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 Betty Zane by Zane Grey: bitter. Tarhe is not likely to bother us. But Pipe and Wingenund and Red
Fox--they all want blood."
"Have you seen these chiefs?" said Betty.
"Yes, I know 'em all and they all know me," answered the hunter. "I've watched
over many a trail waitin' for one of 'em. If I can ever get a shot at any of
'em I'll give up Injuns and go farmin'. Good night, Betty."
"What a strange man is Wetzel," mused Betty, after the visitors had gone. "Do
you know, Eb, he is not at all like any one else. I have seen the girls
shudder at the mention of his name and I have heard them say they could not
look in his eyes. He does not affect me that way. It is not often I can get
him to talk, but sometimes he tells me beautiful thing about the woods; how he
Betty Zane |
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 Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: creatures that inhabit the earth.
"But Destiny had singled me out, humble though I was, for a grander fate!
One day I crawled near
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to a country school house, and my curiosity being excited by the monotonous
hum of the students within, I made bold to enter and creep along a crack
between two boards until I reached the far end, where, in front of a hearth
of glowing embers, sat the master at his desk.
"No one noticed so small a creature as a Woggle-Bug, and when I found that
the hearth was even warmer and more comfortable than the sunshine, I
resolved to establish my future home beside it. So I found a charming nest
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
