| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: "Once before, Macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she
was pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was
great. Therefore do not say to me that I am pretty, though I am
glad that you should think so who can compare me with so many
whom you have known," and she dropped her eyes, looking a little
shy.
It was the first human touch I had seen about her, and I was glad
to have found a weak spot in her armour. Moreover, from that
moment she was always my friend.
"As you will, Nombe. Now for your message."
"My Lords the Spirits, speaking through Zikali as one who makes
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: so as to blind him to your faults, and will be your guide
throughout life's pilgrimage, and your partner in eternal bliss.
Think how - '
'But I hate him, aunt,' said I, interrupting this unusual flow of
eloquence.
'Hate him, Helen! Is this a Christian spirit? - you hate him? and
he so good a man!'
'I don't hate him as a man, but as a husband. As a man, I love him
so much that I wish him a better wife than I - one as good as
himself, or better - if you think that possible - provided she
could like him; but I never could, and therefore - '
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: Ann Veronica considered her answer. "I mean to," she replied.
"You are making your dress?"
"Such as it is."
They were in the elder Widgett girl's bedroom; Hetty was laid up,
she said, with a sprained ankle, and a miscellaneous party was
gossiping away her tedium. It was a large, littered,
self-forgetful apartment, decorated with unframed charcoal
sketches by various incipient masters; and an open bookcase,
surmounted by plaster casts and the half of a human skull,
displayed an odd miscellany of books--Shaw and Swinburne, Tom
Jones, Fabian Essays, Pope and Dumas, cheek by jowl. Constance
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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 A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: childish in the elegant, witty, and gentle countess, who now appeared
in society with the exquisite manners of the highest female
aristocracy. Mesdames d'Espard, de Manerville, and Lady Dudley, with
others less known, felt the serpent waking up in the depths of their
hearts; they heard the low hissings of angry pride; they were jealous
of Felix's happiness, and would gladly have given their prettiest
jewel to do him some harm; but instead of being hostile to the
countess, these kind, ill-natured women surrounded her, showed her the
utmost friendship, and praised her to me. Sufficiently aware of their
intentions, Felix watched their relations with Marie, and warned her
to distrust them. They all suspected the uneasiness of the count at
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