| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Night and Day by Virginia Woolf: choice of a subterranean chamber, or whether it corresponded with the
spirit of her quest, Mrs. Milvain invariably came in by the back door
and sat in the servants' room when she was engaged in confidential
family transactions. The ostensible reason she gave was that neither
Mr. nor Mrs. Hilbery should be disturbed. But, in truth, Mrs. Milvain
depended even more than most elderly women of her generation upon the
delicious emotions of intimacy, agony, and secrecy, and the additional
thrill provided by the basement was one not lightly to be forfeited.
She protested almost plaintively when Katharine proposed to go
upstairs.
"I've something that I want to say to you in PRIVATE," she said,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: pleased, incontinently drew up and seemed to smile; and a party of
one man, two women, and two children came up, and, standing round
me in a half-circle, encouraged her by their example.
I had the devil's own trouble to get the thing righted; and the
instant I had done so, without hesitation, it toppled and fell down
upon the other side. Judge if I was hot! And yet not a hand was
offered to assist me. The man, indeed, told me I ought to have a
package of a different shape. I suggested, if he knew nothing
better to the point in my predicament, he might hold his tongue.
And the good-natured dog agreed with me smilingly. It was the most
despicable fix. I must plainly content myself with the pack for
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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 The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: destined expression.
"Listen, Gillette; come!"
The obedient, happy girl sprang lightly on the painter's knee. She was
all grace and beauty, pretty as the spring-time, decked with the
wealth of feminine charm, and lighting all with the fire of a noble
soul.
"O God!" he exclaimed, "I can never tell her!"
"A secret!" she cried; "then I must know it."
Poussin was lost in thought.
"Tell me."
"Gillette, poor, beloved heart!"
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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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: It came from beneath my feet.
"Smith," I whispered, "listen!"
The scraping and clicking which told of Smith's efforts ceased.
Motionless, we sat in that humid darkness and listened.
Something was moving beneath the stones of the cellar.
I held my breath; every nerve in my body was strung up.
A line of light showed a few feet from where we lay.
It widened--became an oblong. A trap was lifted,
and within a yard of me, there rose a dimly seen head.
Horror I had expected--and death, or worse. Instead, I saw
a lovely face, crowned with a disordered mass of curling hair;
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
