| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: the heat and oppression threatened storm. By and by Duane could
not see a rod in front of him, though his horse had no
difficulty in keeping to the road. Duane was bothered by the
blackness of the night. Traveling fast was impossible, and any
moment he might miss the road that led off to the left. So he
was compelled to give all his attention to peering into the
thick shadows ahead. As good luck would have it, he came to
higher ground where there was less mesquite, and therefore not
such impenetrable darkness; and at this point he came to where
the road split.
Once headed in the right direction, he felt easier in mind. To
The Lone Star Ranger |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Before Adam by Jack London: side-walls, where we were almost out of range. But by
industrious poking he got us now and again--cruel,
scraping jabs with the end of the stick that raked off
the hide and hair. When we screamed with the hurt, he
roared his satisfaction and jabbed the harder.
I began to grow angry. I had a temper of my own in
those days, and pretty considerable courage, too,
albeit it was largely the courage of the cornered rat.
I caught hold of the stick with my hands, but such was
his strength that he jerked me into the crevice. He
reached for me with his long arm, and his nails tore my
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: appear to move, he dealt the sailor such a severe blow in
the stomach that he sent him rolling and howling to the
other side of the room. At the same instant, rallied by the
esprit de corps, all the comrades of the conquered man fell
upon the conqueror.
The latter, with the same coolness of which he had given
proof, without committing the imprudence of touching his
weapons, took up a beer-pot with a pewter-lid, and knocked
down two or three of his assailants; then, as he was about
to yield to numbers, the seven other silent men at the
tables, who had not stirred, perceived that their cause was
Ten Years Later |
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 Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "I don't know why not," he said sulkily. "I can't walk. I haven't
walked two consecutive blocks in three years. Automobiles have
made legs mere ornaments - and some not even that. We could have
Johnson out there chasing us over the country at five dollars an
hour!"
"He can chase us just as well at five miles an hour," I said. "But
what gets me, McKnight, is why I am under surveillance at all. How
do the police know I was accused of that thing?"
"The young lady who sent the flowers - she isn't likely to talk, is
she?"
"No. That is, I didn't say it was a lady." I groaned as I tried
The Man in Lower Ten |
