| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: At the very moment when De Marsay was forgetting all, and conceiving
the desire to appropriate this creature forever, he received in the
midst of his joy a dagger-thrust, which Paquita, who had lifted him
vigorously in the air, as though to contemplate him, exclaimed: "Oh,
Margarita!"
"Margarita!" cried the young man, with a roar; "now I know all that I
still tried to disbelieve."
He leaped upon the cabinet in which the long poniard was kept. Happily
for Paquita and for himself, the cupboard was shut. His fury waxed at
this impediment, but he recovered his tranquillity, went and found his
cravat, and advanced towards her with an air of such ferocious meaning
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: off as he could see me. "Your boxes are not packed, and my papers are
not arranged; where's the key of my carpet bag? and what have you
done with my gaiters?"
I stood thunderstruck. My voice failed. Scarcely could my lips utter
the words:
"Are we really going?"
"Of course, you unhappy boy! Could I have dreamed that yon would have
gone out for a walk instead of hurrying your preparations forward?"
"Are we to go?" I asked again, with sinking hopes.
"Yes; the day after to-morrow, early."
I could hear no more. I fled for refuge into my own little room.
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: a sum of a rich relation, for that purpose.
"Soon after her lying-in, she prevailed on my father to take
me home, to save the expense of maintaining me, and of hiring a
girl to assist her in the care of the child. I was young, it was
true, but appeared a knowing little thing, and might be made handy.
Accordingly I was brought to her house; but not to a home--for a
home I never knew. Of this child, a daughter, she was extravagantly
fond; and it was a part of my employment, to assist to spoil her,
by humouring all her whims, and bearing all her caprices. Feeling
her own consequence, before she could speak, she had learned the
art of tormenting me, and if I ever dared to resist, I received
|
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 When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: Presently she touched Bastin on the shoulder and said that she
would speak with him apart. They went together into one of the
chambers of that dwelling and there remained for perhaps the half
of an hour. It was towards the end of this time that in the
intense silence I heard a crash from the direction of the temple,
as though something heavy had fallen to the rocky floor. Bickley
also heard this sound. When the two reappeared I noticed that
though still quite calm, Yva looked radiant, and, if I may say
so, even more human and womanly than I had ever seen her, while
Bastin also seemed very happy.
"One has strange experiences in life, yes, very strange," he
When the World Shook |
