| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: rigid economy, his household being managed solely by an old charwoman.
For all amusement he visited his friends, he went to see works of art,
he allowed himself a few little trips about France, and he planned to
go to Switzerland in search of inspiration. This detestable artist was
an excellent citizen; he mounted guard duly, went to reviews, and paid
his rent and provision-bills with bourgeois punctuality.
Having lived all his life in toil and poverty, he had never had the
time to love. Poor and a bachelor, until now he did not desire to
complicate his simple life. Incapable of devising any means of
increasing his little fortune, he carried, every three months, to his
notary, Cardot, his quarterly earnings and economies. When the notary
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Oh, you white men!" shouted the mucker. "You certainly
do look good to me."
Six months later a big, smooth-faced giant in ill-fitting sea
togs strolled up Sixth Avenue. It was Billy Byrne--broke, but
happy; Grand Avenue was less than a thousand miles away!
"Gee!" he murmured; "but it's good to be home again!"
There were places in New York where Billy would find
acquaintances. One in particular he recalled--a little,
third-floor gymnasium not far distant from the Battery. Thither he
turned his steps now. As he entered the stuffy room in which
two big fellows, stripped to the waist, were sparring, a stout,
The Mucker |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe: the language of soldiers; and that several of them being gone away
toward Rumford and Brentwood, the country had been infected by
them, and the plague spread into both those large towns, so that the
people durst not go to market there as usual; that it was very likely
they were some of that party; and if so, they deserved to be sent to the
county jail, and be secured till they had made satisfaction for the
damage they had done, and for the terror and fright they had put the
country into.
John answered that what other people had done was nothing to
them; that they assured them they were all of one company; that they
had never been more in number than they saw them at that time
A Journal of the Plague Year |
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 On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: independent, intelligent, and respectable man what decision
they may come to? Shall we not have the advantage of this
wisdom and honesty, nevertheless? Can we not count upon
some independent votes? Are there not many individuals in
the country who do not attend conventions? But no: I find
that the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted
from his position, and despairs of his country, when his
country has more reasons to despair of him. He forthwith
adopts one of the candidates thus selected as the only
available one, thus proving that he is himself available for
any purposes of the demagogue. His vote is of no more worth
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
