| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: They were rather fine-looking men, broad-shouldered and vigorous,
aged somewhat under forty, dressed in the ordinary fashion of the
day, with slouched hats, heavy woolen suits, stout walking shoes and
sticks in hand. Undoubtedly, they were staring persistently at my
apparently unwatchful house. Then, having exchanged a few words, they
strolled off a little way, and returned again.
"Are you sure these are the same men you saw before?"
"Yes, sir."
Evidently, I could no longer dismiss her warning as an hallucination;
and I promised myself to clear up the matter. As to following the men
myself, I was presumably too well known to them. To address them
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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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: an awful hole down here; I have to go on tick, and the parties on
the spot don't cotton to the idea; they couldn't, because it is
so plain I'm in a stait of Destitution. I've got no bedclothes,
think of that, I must have coins, the hole thing's a Mockry, I
wont stand it, nobody would. I would have come away before, only
I have no money for the railway fare. Don't be a lunatic, Morris,
you don't seem to understand my dredful situation. I have to get
the stamp on tick. A fact.--Ever your affte. Brother,
J. FINSBURY
'Can't even spell!' Morris reflected, as he crammed the letter in
his pocket, and left the house. 'What can I do for him? I have to
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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 Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: below.
From this the two passed into the corridor beyond, and
thence to the apartments at the far end of the wing, directly
over those occupied by Emma von der Tann.
Barney hastened to a window overlooking the moat. By
leaning far out he could see the light from the princess's
chamber shining upon the sill. He wished that the light
was not there, for the window was in plain view of the guard
on the lookout upon the barbican.
Suddenly he caught the sound of voices from the chamber
beneath. For an instant he listened, and then, catching a
The Mad King |
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 Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: company of many lords. God be thanked!
And ye shall understand, that I have put this book out of Latin
into French, and translated it again out of French into English,
that every man of my nation may understand it. But lords and
knights and other noble and worthy men that con Latin but little,
and have been beyond the sea, know and understand, if I say truth
or no, and if I err in devising, for forgetting or else, that they
may redress it and amend it. For things passed out of long time
from a man's mind or from his sight, turn soon into forgetting;
because that mind of man ne may not be comprehended ne withholden,
for the frailty of mankind.
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