| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: duty. And when, in speech with each other,
they expanded their blubber lips, and showed their
white fangs, as if they grinned at the thoughts of
the expected tragedy, the startled commons could
scarcely help believing that they were actually the
familiar spirits with whom the witch had communed,
and who, her time being out, stood ready to
assist in her dreadful punishment. They whispered
to each other, and communicated all the feats
which Satan had performed during that busy and
unhappy period, not failing, of course, to give the
Ivanhoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by T. S. Eliot: That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair--
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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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: Russia, George.... It isn't fair play.... Prominent man. I've
been next at dinners with that chap, Neal; I've told him
stories--and he's bitter! Sets out to ruin me. Don't ask a
civil question--bellows." He broke down again. "I've been
bellowed at, I been bullied, I been treated like a dog. Dirty
cads they are! Dirty cads! I'd rather be a Three-Card Sharper
than a barrister; I'd rather sell cat's-meat in the streets.
"They sprung things on me this morning, things I didn't expect.
They rushed me! I'd got it all in my hands and then I was
jumped. By Neal! Neal I've given city tips to! Neal! I've helped
Neal....
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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 Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: In the middle of the day the light was weird and dim. When a
breeze fluttered the foliage, then slender shafts and spears of
sunshine pierced the green mantle and danced like gold on the
ground.
Duane had always felt the strangeness of this kind of place,
and likewise he had felt a protecting, harboring something
which always seemed to him to be the sympathy of the brake for
a hunted creature. Any unwounded creature, strong and
resourceful, was safe when he had glided under the low,
rustling green roof of this wild covert. It was not hard to
conceal tracks; the springy soil gave forth no sound; and men
The Lone Star Ranger |
