| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Hermione's Little Group of Serious Thinkers by Don Marquis: In the hurry of this crowded age one must find
time to get along with one's self, must one not?
Fothy Finch has written a beautiful thing about the
hurry of this crowded age which I wish everyone
could hang over his desk.
Well, I must be going on now. I have a com-
mittee meeting for this afternoon. I can't for the
life of me remember whether it's about suffrage
Oh, yes, I marched! -- or about some relief fund.
SOUL MATES
I'm taking up Bergson this week.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: Suppose he should become blind, or, at all events,
never recover sufficient strength of sight to engage
in an occupation which would be congenial to her feelings,
and conduce to her removal from this lonely dwelling among
the hills? That dream of beautiful Paris was not likely
to cohere into substance in the presence of this misfortune.
As day after day passed by, and he got no better,
her mind ran more and more in this mournful groove,
and she would go away from him into the garden and weep
despairing tears.
Yeobright thought he would send for his mother;
Return of the Native |
| 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: castle-wall until near midnight, followed by Sasha with a stone jug
of vodki. The latter had the useful habit, notwithstanding his
stupid face, of picking up the fragments of soliloquy which the
Prince dropped, and answering them as if talking to himself.
Thus he improved upon and perfected many a hint of cruelty, and was
too discreet ever to dispute his master's claim to the invention.
Sasha, we may be sure, was busy with his devil's work that night.
The next morning the stewards and agents of Prince Alexis, in
castle, village, and field, were summoned to his presence.
"Hark ye!" said he; "Borka and his trumpery wife send me word that
they will be here to-morrow. See to it that every man, woman, and
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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 Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: an art are always the least affected. D'you know Henry Philips,
the painter?" she asked.
"I have seen him," said Helen.
"To look at, one might think he was a successful stockbroker,
and not one of the greatest painters of the age. That's what I like."
"There are a great many successful stockbrokers, if you like looking
at them," said Helen.
Rachel wished vehemently that her aunt would not be so perverse.
"When you see a musician with long hair, don't you know instinctively
that he's bad?" Clarissa asked, turning to Rachel. "Watts and Joachim--
they looked just like you and me."
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