| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: tasselly red chairs that are ranged on the other side of the table
facing the sofa. They are red, Elizabeth?" Again I nodded.
"The floor is painted yellow, and there is no carpet except
a rug in front of the sofa. The paper is dark chocolate colour,
almost black; that is in order that after years of use the dirt
may not show, and <214> the room need not be done up.
Dirt is like wickedness, you see, Miss Minora--its being
there never matters; it is only when it shows so much
as to be apparent to everybody that we are ashamed of it.
At intervals round the high walls are chairs, and cabinets with
lamps on them, and in one corner is a great white cold stove--
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: could receive news from the lunar world they could not send any
from the terrestrial, unless the Selenites had instruments fit
for taking distant observations at their disposal.
"Evidently," said one of the officers; "but what has become of
the travelers? what they have done, what they have seen, that
above all must interest us. Besides, if the experiment has
succeeded (which I do not doubt), they will try it again.
The Columbiad is still sunk in the soil of Florida. It is now
only a question of powder and shot; and every time the moon is
at her zenith a cargo of visitors may be sent to her."
"It is clear," replied Lieutenant Bronsfield, "that J. T. Maston
From the Earth to the Moon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: David's heart when they met.
"Ruth is ours, and I bring her kiss to you," he said, pressing his
lips to David's; but the arms flung around him trembled, and David
whispered, "Now the change begins."
"Oh, this cannot be our burden!" Jonathan cried, with all the
rapture still warm in his heart.
"If it is, it will be light, or heavy, or none at all, as we shall
bear it," David answered, with a smile of infinite tenderness.
For several days he allowed Jonathan to visit the Bradley farm
alone, saying that it must be so on Ruth's account. Her love, he
declared, must give her the fine instinct which only their mother
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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 Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "Consider," went on Mr. Thoburn, standing and holding his glass
to the light, "how we are at the mercy of this little spring! A
convulsion in the bowels of the earth, and its health-giving
properties may be changed to the direst poison. How do we know,
you and I, some such change has not occurred overnight?
Unlikely as it is, it's a possibility that, sitting here calmly,
we may be sipping our death potion."
Some of the people actually put down their glasses and everybody
began to look uneasy except Mr. Sam, who was still watching
something I could not see.
Mr. Thoburn looked around and saw he'd made an impression. "We
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