| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll: Fit the Second
THE BELLMAN'S SPEECH
The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies--
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!
He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.
"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
The Hunting of the Snark |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: In return the Tatar nodded gravely and issued an order to his men.
By this time the warriors were busily pitching tents before the walls
of Yarkand and making preparations for a formal siege. In obedience
to the chieftain's orders, Rob was given a place within one of the
tents nearest the wall and supplied with a brace of brass-mounted
pistols and a dagger with a sharp, zigzag edge. These were evidently
to assist the boy in fighting the Turks, and he was well pleased to
have them. His spirits rose considerably when he found he had fallen
among friends, although most of his new comrades had such evil faces
that it was unnecessary to put on the Character Markers to judge their
natures with a fair degree of accuracy.
The Master Key |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: agitation, "ought you not to be as patient as I am? Ought
you not to do as I do? Come!"
"And what do you do, sire?"
"I wait."
"Your majesty may do so, because you are young; but I, sire,
have not time to wait; old age is at my door, and death is
behind it, looking into the very depths of my house. Your
majesty is beginning life, its future is full of hope and
fortune; but I, sire, I am on the other side of the horizon,
and we are so far from each other, that I should never have
time to wait till your majesty came up to me."
Ten Years Later |
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 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: With unusual solicitude he uttered his stock phrase, "Well,
what seems to be the matter, Maud?"
"I've got such a backache all the time. I'm afraid the
organic trouble that you treated me for is coming back."
"Any definite signs of it?"
"N-no, but I think you'd better examine me."
"Nope. Don't believe it's necessary, Maud. To be honest,
between old friends, I think your troubles are mostly imaginary.
I can't really advise you to have an examination."
She flushed, looked out of the window. He was conscious
that his voice was not impersonal and even.
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