| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: who still remained in London.
"One night last week," he said, "some fools got the electric
light in order, and there was all Regent Street and the Circus
ablaze, crowded with painted and ragged drunkards, men
and women, dancing and shouting till dawn. A man who was
there told me. And as the day came they became aware of
a fighting-machine standing near by the Langham and look-
ing down at them. Heaven knows how long he had been
there. It must have given some of them a nasty turn. He
came down the road towards them, and picked up nearly a
hundred too drunk or frightened to run away."
War of the Worlds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: decrease and enter again into the earth, so that at the going down
of the sun they appear no more. And so they do, every day. And
that is a great marvel.
In that desert be many wild men, that be hideous to look on; for
they be horned, and they speak nought, but they grunt, as pigs.
And there is also great plenty of wild hounds. And there be many
popinjays, that they clepe psittakes their language. And they
speak of their proper nature, and salute men that go through the
deserts, and speak to them as apertly as though it were a man. And
they that speak well have a large tongue, and have five toes upon a
foot. And there be also of another manner, that have but three
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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 A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: which no divine law can relieve you. Are you not your husband's pride?
You are required to go to balls when I go, and to appear in a becoming
manner."
"And what is there, my dear, so disastrous in my dress?"
"It is your manner, my dear. When a young man comes up to speak to
you, you look so serious that a spiteful person might believe you
doubtful of your own virtue. You seem to fear lest a smile should undo
you. You really look as if you were asking forgiveness of God for the
sins that may be committed around you. The world, my dearest, is not a
convent.--But, as you mentioned your dress, I may confess to you that
it is no less a duty to conform to the customs and fashions of
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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 My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: nevertheless remembered their words and their advice, and looked
forward to an escape to the north, as a possible means of gaining
the liberty <133 HOW I LEARNED TO WRITE>for which my heart
panted. It was not my enslavement, at the then present time,
that most affected me; the being a slave _for life_, was the
saddest thought. I was too young to think of running away
immediately; besides, I wished to learn how to write, before
going, as I might have occasion to write my own pass. I now not
only had the hope of freedom, but a foreshadowing of the means by
which I might, some day, gain that inestimable boon. Meanwhile,
I resolved to add to my educational attainments the art of
My Bondage and My Freedom |
