| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: becoming to her. She smiled graciously at the sculptor. Sarrasine,
disgusted beyond measure at finding himself unable to speak to her
without witnesses, courteously seated himself beside her, and
discoursed of music, extolling her prodigious talent; but his voice
trembled with love and fear and hope.
" 'What do you fear?' queried Vitagliani, the most celebrated singer
in the troupe. 'Go on, you have no rival here to fear.'
"After he had said this the tenor smiled silently. The lips of all the
guests repeated that smile, in which there was a lurking expression of
malice likely to escape a lover. The publicity of his love was like a
sudden dagger-thrust in Sarrasine's heart. Although possessed of a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: you locked in the laundry?"
"I can't wait to explain," I replied. "I must get Warner from
the lodge. If you came out for air, you'd better put on your
overshoes." And then I noticed that Gertrude was limping--not
much, but sufficiently to make her progress very slow, and
seemingly painful.
"You have hurt yourself," I said sharply.
"I fell over the carriage block," she explained. "I thought
perhaps I might see Halsey coming home. He--he ought to be
here."
I hurried on down the drive. The lodge was some distance from
The Circular Staircase |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: "Oh we'll settle that. You used to talk about it," said Morgan.
"If we can only go all the rest's a detail."
"Talk about it as much as you like, but don't think you can attempt
it. Mr. Moreen would never consent - it would be so VERY hand-to-
mouth," Pemberton's hostess beautifully explained to him. Then to
Morgan she made it clearer: "It would destroy our peace, it would
break our hearts. Now that he's back it will be all the same
again. You'll have your life, your work and your freedom, and
we'll all be happy as we used to be. You'll bloom and grow
perfectly well, and we won't have any more silly experiments, will
we? They're too absurd. It's Mr. Pemberton's place - every one in
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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 Tanach: Genesis 46: 8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's first-born.
Genesis 46: 9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
Genesis 46: 10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
Genesis 46: 11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Genesis 46: 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
Genesis 46: 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron.
Genesis 46: 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46: 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
Genesis 46: 16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
Genesis 46: 17 And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel.
Genesis 46: 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
The Tanach |
