| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Horse's Tale by Mark Twain: with him in it, too, and he is good for two hundred pounds, without
his clothes; and there is no telling how much he does weigh when he
is out on the war-path and has his batteries belted on. He is over
six feet, is young, hasn't an ounce of waste flesh, is straight,
graceful, springy in his motions, quick as a cat, and has a
handsome face, and black hair dangling down on his shoulders, and
is beautiful to look at; and nobody is braver than he is, and
nobody is stronger, except myself. Yes, a person that doubts that
he is fine to see should see him in his beaded buck-skins, on my
back and his rifle peeping above his shoulder, chasing a hostile
trail, with me going like the wind and his hair streaming out
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: prisoner, when the devil suddenly appeared among them in the likeness
of a tall friar, having his grey frock cinctured with a sword-belt,
and his crown, which whether it were shaven or no they could not see,
surmounted with a helmet, and flourishing an eight-foot staff,
with which he laid about him to the right and to the left, knocking down
the prince and his men as if they had been so many nine-pins: in fine,
he had rescued the prisoner, and made a clear passage through friend and foe,
and in conjunction with a chosen party of archers, had covered the retreat
of the baron's men and the foresters, who had all gone off in a body
towards Sherwood forest.
Harpiton suggested that it would be desirable to sack the castle,
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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 Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: He would not consent to that. "You're not speaking for me. The
birds sing, Valencia."
"Canaries in a cage," she mocked.
"You've forgotten two things."
"Yes?"
"That you are the most beautiful woman on earth, and that I'm a
man, with red blood in my veins."
Under lowered lids she studied him. This very confident, alert
American, modern from head to heel, attracted her more than any
other man. There was a dynamic quality in him that stirred her
blood. He was efficient, selfish enough to win, and yet
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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 Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: same moment, with feverish eagerness.
"No need at all," the Warden gently assented. "Your husband and I have
gone through it together. It provides that he shall exercise the full
authority of Warden, and shall have the disposal of the annual revenue
attached to the office, until my return, or, failing that, until Bruno
comes of age: and that he shall then hand over, to myself or to Bruno
as the case may be, the Wardenship, the unspent revenue, and the
contents of the Treasury, which are to be preserved, intact, under his
guardianship."
All this time the Sub-Warden was busy, with the Chancellor's help,
shifting the papers from side to side, and pointing out to the Warden
Sylvie and Bruno |
