| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: verily, thou art standing on obvious truth. Verily, thou canst not
make the dead to hear, and thou canst not make the deaf to hear the
call when they turn their backs on thee; nor art thou a guide to the
blind, out of their error: thou canst only make to hear such as
believe in our signs, and such as are resigned.
And when the sentence falls upon them we will bring forth a beast
out of the earth that shall speak to them, (and say) that, 'Men of our
signs would not be sure.'
And the day when we will gather from every nation a troop of those
who said our signs were lies; and they shall be marshalled; until they
come, and He will say, 'Did ye say my signs were lies, when ye had
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "You can tell him that yourself." McKnight paused and bent forward.
"Hello, here's a visitor; little man with string halt."
"I won't see him," I said firmly. "I've been bothered enough with
reporters."
We listened together to Mrs. Klopton's expostulating tones in the
lower hall and the creak of the boards as she came heavily up the
stairs. She had a piece of paper in her hand torn from a pocket
account-book, and on it was the name, Mr. Wilson Budd Hotchkiss.
Important business."
"Oh, well, show him up," I said resignedly. "You'd better put those
cards away, Richey. I fancy it's the rector of the church around
The Man in Lower Ten |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: as of the Japanese, who are a false, cruel, and treacherous people;
likewise those of the Spaniards at the Philippines, more false,
cruel, and treacherous than they.
But to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclusion; the
first thing we had to do was to consult with the captain of the
ship, and with his men, and know if they were willing to go to
Japan. While I was doing this, the young man whom my nephew had
left with me as my companion came up, and told me that he thought
that voyage promised very fair, and that there was a great prospect
of advantage, and he would be very glad if I undertook it; but that
if I would not, and would give him leave, he would go as a
Robinson Crusoe |
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 Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: you know, that we had this ostrich farm."
"Did you have Blacks and Boers about you?"
"Lots," said Mr. Hoopdriver, striking a match on his instep and
beginning to feel hot at the new responsibility he had brought
upon himself.
"How interesting! Do you know, I've never been out of England
except to Paris and Mentone and Switzerland."
"One gets tired of travelling (puff) after a bit, of course."
"You must tell me about your farm in South Africa. It always
stimulates my imagination to think of these places. I can fancy
all the tall ostriches being driven out by a black herd--to
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