| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: desert the narrow valley of the Tarn, I began to cast about for a
place to camp in. This was not easy to find; the terraces were too
narrow, and the ground, where it was unterraced, was usually too
steep for a man to lie upon. I should have slipped all night, and
awakened towards morning with my feet or my head in the river.
After perhaps a mile, I saw, some sixty feet above the road, a
little plateau large enough to hold my sack, and securely parapeted
by the trunk of an aged and enormous chestnut. Thither, with
infinite trouble, I goaded and kicked the reluctant Modestine, and
there I hastened to unload her. There was only room for myself
upon the plateau, and I had to go nearly as high again before I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: noise was from the Nepaul animal, which, however, became quiet at
once. In the other box the new mongoose lay dead, with every
appearance of having been strangled!
CHAPTER X--THE KITE
On the following day, a little after four o'clock, Adam set out for
Mercy.
He was home just as the clocks were striking six. He was pale and
upset, but otherwise looked strong and alert. The old man summed up
his appearance and manner thus: "Braced up for battle."
"Now!" said Sir Nathaniel, and settled down to listen, looking at
Adam steadily and listening attentively that he might miss nothing--
Lair of the White Worm |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: Diana just alight from the chase.
"Oh," said Archer, "I have so many rivals; you see
she's already surrounded. There's the Duke being
introduced."
"Then stay with me a little longer," Madame Olenska
said in a low tone, just touching his knee with her
plumed fan. It was the lightest touch, but it thrilled him
like a caress.
"Yes, let me stay," he answered in the same tone,
hardly knowing what he said; but just then Mr. van
der Luyden came up, followed by old Mr. Urban
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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 Lady Susan by Jane Austen: Frederica spends great part of the day there, practising as it is called;
but I seldom hear any noise when I pass that way; what she does with
herself there I do not know. There are plenty of books, but it is not every
girl who has been running wild the first fifteen years of her life, that
can or will read. Poor creature! the prospect from her window is not very
instructive, for that room overlooks the lawn, you know, with the shrubbery
on one side, where she may see her mother walking for an hour together in
earnest conversation with Reginald. A girl of Frederica's age must be
childish indeed, if such things do not strike her. Is it not inexcusable to
give such an example to a daughter? Yet Reginald still thinks Lady Susan
the best of mothers, and still condemns Frederica as a worthless girl! He
Lady Susan |
