| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: I thought of turning back, but my curiosity overcame me; so going past
the dead woman, I went down on my hands and knees and crept into the
hut. It was so dark that I could not see anything, though I could smell
a great deal, so I lit a match. It was a 'tandstickor' match, and burnt
slowly and dimly, and as the light gradually increased I made out what I
took to be a family of people, men, women, and children, fast asleep.
Presently it burnt up brightly, and I saw that they too, five of them
altogether, were quite dead. One was a baby. I dropped the match in a
hurry, and was making my way from the hut as quick as I could go, when I
caught sight of two bright eyes staring out of a corner. Thinking it
was a wild cat, or some such animal, I redoubled my haste, when suddenly
Long Odds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: earth?" asked Woot.
"I suppose so," said Polychrome gaily; "I'm always
getting scolded for my mad pranks, as they are called.
My sisters are so sweet and lovely and proper that they
never dance off our Rainbow, and so they never have any
adventures. Adventures to me are good fun, only I never
like to stay too long on earth, because I really don't
belong here. I shall tell my Father the Rainbow that
I'll try not to be so careless again, and he will
forgive me because in our sky mansions there is always
joy and happiness."
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: that the Protector "now sat with Christ at the right hand of the
Father."
But this pomp and state in no may overawed the people, who, by
pelting with mire Cromwell's escutcheon placed above the great
gate of Somerset House gave evidence of the contempt in which
they held his memory. After a lapse of over two months from the
day of his death, the effigy was carried to Westminster Abbey
with more than regal ceremony, the expenses of his lying-in-state
and of his funeral procession amounting, as stated by Walker and
Noble, to upwards of L29,000. "It was the joyfullest funeral I
ever saw," writes Evelyn, "for there were none that cried but
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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 Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: with the hideous aspect of the desolate plateau.
"My son and I cut that ditch you see down there marked by the tall
grasses," said Farrabesche; "it joins the one which bounds your
forest. On this side the estate is bounded by a desert, for the
nearest village is three miles distant."
Veronique turned rapidly to the dismal plain, followed by her guide.
She leaped her horse across the ditch and rode at full gallop across
the drear expanse, seeming to take a savage pleasure in contemplating
that vast image of desolation. Farrabesche was right. No power, no
will could put to any use whatever that soil which resounded under the
horses' feet as though it were hollow. This effect was produced by the
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