| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Book of Remarkable Criminals by H. B. Irving: most dangerous material of all for the commission of crime, their
obedience is so complete, so cold and relentless.
There are cases into which no element of passion enters, in which
one will stronger than the other can so influence, so dominate
the weaker as to persuade the individual against his or her
better inclination to an act of crime, just as in the relations
of ordinary life we see a man or woman led and controlled for
good or ill by one stronger than themselves. There is no more
extraordinary instance of this than the case of Catherine
Hayes, immortalised by Thackeray, which occurred as long ago as
the year 1726. This singular woman by her artful insinuations,
 A Book of Remarkable Criminals |
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 Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: arose in the still air of the night, and passed speedily farther and
fainter into silence. The Prince was gone.
Madame von Rosen consulted her watch. She had still, she thought,
time enough for the tit-bit of her evening; and hurrying to the
palace, winged by the fear of Gondremark's arrival, she sent her
name and a pressing request for a reception to the Princess
Seraphina. As the Countess von Rosen unqualified, she was sure to
be refused; but as an emissary of the Baron's, for so she chose to
style herself, she gained immediate entry.
The Princess sat alone at table, making a feint of dining. Her
cheeks were mottled, her eyes heavy; she had neither slept nor
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