| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: himself the obstacles in the way of those who seek to do right;
prudent, because he knew men; exquisitely courteous with women, of
whom he asked nothing,--a man full of acquirements, affable with his
inferiors, holding his equals at great distance, and dignified towards
his superiors. At the epoch of which we write, you would have noticed
in him the coldly resigned air of one who has buried the illusions of
his youth and renounced every secret ambition; you would have
recognized a discouraged, but not disgusted man, one who still clings
to his first projects,--more perhaps to employ his faculties than in
the hope of a doubtful success. He was not decorated with any order,
and always accused himself of weakness for having worn that of the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: highest pitch by coming to sit down by him--airy, scented, pretty
enough to damn an angel. She bent over Wenceslas and almost touched
his ear as she whispered to him:
"We cannot talk over business matters this evening, unless you will
remain till the last. Between us--you, Lisbeth, and me--we can settle
everything to suit you."
"Ah, Madame, you are an angel!" replied Wenceslas, also in a murmur.
"I was a pretty fool not to listen to Lisbeth--"
"What did she say?"
"She declared, in the Rue du Doyenne, that you loved me!"
Madame Marneffe looked at him, seemed covered with confusion, and
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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 A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: with excitement and fatigue, they crawled into the verandahs of the
town to eat and sleep. The morrow broke grey and drizzly, but as
so often happens in the islands, cleared up into a glorious day.
During the night, the majority of the defenders had taken advantage
of the rain and darkness and stolen from their forts unobserved.
The rallying sign of the Tamaseses had been a white handkerchief.
With the dawn, the de Coetlogons from the English consulate beheld
the ground strewn with these badges discarded; and close by the
house, a belated turncoat was still changing white for red.
Matautu was lost; Tamasese was confined to Mulinuu; and by nine
o'clock two Mataafa villages paraded the streets of Apia, taking
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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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: all without troubling him with either thanks, explanation, or
apology. Hence, I say! thou art one of those tame slaves whose
word is as good as their bond. Keep the money, principal and
interest, until I demand it of thee."
"But," continued the pertinacious Borderer, "we are a' life-like
and death-like, Elshie, and there really should be some black and
white on this transaction. Sae just make me a minute, or
missive, in ony form ye like, and I'se write it fair ower, and
subscribe it before famous witnesses. Only, Elshie, I wad wuss
ye to pit naething in't that may be prejudicial to my salvation;
for I'll hae the minister to read it ower, and it wad only be
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