| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Art of Writing by Robert Louis Stevenson: A lad, for some liking to the jingle of words, betakes
himself to letters for his life; by-and-by, when he learns
more gravity, he finds that he has chosen better than he
knew; that if he earns little, he is earning it amply; that
if he receives a small wage, he is in a position to do
considerable services; that it is in his power, in some small
measure, to protect the oppressed and to defend the truth.
So kindly is the world arranged, such great profit may arise
from a small degree of human reliance on oneself, and such,
in particular, is the happy star of this trade of writing,
that it should combine pleasure and profit to both parties,
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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 Underground City by Jules Verne: is very anxious and uneasy; and I feel positive that some great secret
painfully oppresses her heart. Either she knows nothing it would be
of any use for us to hear, or she considers it her duty to be silent.
It is impossible to doubt her affection for us--for all of us.
If at a future time she informs me of what she has hitherto concealed
from us, you shall know about it immediately."
"So be it, then, Harry," answered the engineer; "and yet I must say
Nell's silence, if she knows anything, is to me perfectly inexplicable."
Harry would have continued her defense; but the engineer
stopped him, saying, "All right, Harry; we promise to say
no more about it to your future wife."
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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 Common Sense by Thomas Paine: as men labouring to establish an Independant Constitution of our own, do we
exceed all others in our hope, end, and aim. OUR PLAN IS PEACE FOR EVER.
We are tired of contention with Britain, and can see no real end to it
but in a final separation. We act consistently, because for the sake
of introducing an endless and uninterrupted peace, do we bear the evils
and burthens of the present day. We are endeavoring, and will steadily
continue to endeavour, to separate and dissolve a connexion which hath
already filled our land with blood; and which, while the name of it
remains, will he the fatal cause of future mischiefs to both countries.
We fight neither for revenge nor conquest; neither from pride nor
passion; we are not insulting the world with our fleets and armies, nor
Common Sense |
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 Exiles by Honore de Balzac: that I had left behind me, like sorrows one would fain forget, I saw a
vast shade. Standing in an attitude of aspiration, that soul looked
eagerly into space; his feet were riveted by the will of God to the
topmost point of the margin, and he remained for ever in the painful
strain by which we project our purpose when we long to soar, as birds
about to take wing. I saw the man; he neither looked at us nor heard
us; every muscle quivered and throbbed; at each separate instant he
seemed to feel, though he did not move, all the fatigue of traversing
the infinite that divided him from Paradise where, as he gazed
steadfastly, he believed he had glimpses of a beloved image. At this
last gate of Hell, as at the first, I saw the stamp of despair even in
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