| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: 'Not his sister, I hope?' said Lady Jedburgh, in a piteous tone of
voice.
'Certainly not his sister,' answered Mr. Podgers, with a
deprecating wave of the hand, 'a distant relative merely.'
'Well, I am dreadfully disappointed,' said Lady Windermere. 'I
have absolutely nothing to tell Sybil to-morrow. No one cares
about distant relatives nowadays. They went out of fashion years
ago. However, I suppose she had better have a black silk by her;
it always does for church, you know. And now let us go to supper.
They are sure to have eaten everything up, but we may find some hot
soup. Francois used to make excellent soup once, but he is so
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: His room was about half the size of ours; the bed stood in a recess by
the door, for the passage ended there, and its breadth was added to
his garret; but the ground on which the house was built was evidently
irregular, for the party-wall formed an obtuse angle, and the room was
not square. There was no fireplace, only a small earthenware stove,
white blotched with green, of which the pipe went up through the roof.
The window, in the skew side of the room, had shabby red curtains. The
furniture consisted of an armchair, a table, a chair, and a wretched
bed-table. A cupboard in the wall held his clothes. The wall-paper was
horrible; evidently only a servant had ever been lodged there before
Marcas.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: "No, no," replied Jane, impatiently. "Lassiter, why do you say
that so often? I know you've teased me at times, and I believe
it's only kindness. You're always trying to keep my mind off
worry. But you mean more by this repeated mention of my racers?"
"I reckon so." Lassiter paused, and for the thousandth time in
her presence moved his black sombrero round and round, as if
counting the silver pieces on the band. "Well, Jane, I've sort of
read a little that's passin' in your mind."
"You think I might fly from my home--from Cottonwoods--from the
Utah border?"
"I reckon. An' if you ever do an' get away with the blacks I
Riders of the Purple Sage |
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 Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: paints of all colors and brushes fashioned from the tips of timothy
grasses; the Fairies discovered that the workman needed saws and
chisels and hammers and nails, as well as knives, and brought him a
goodly array of such tools.
Claus soon turned his living room into a most wonderful workshop. He
built a bench before the window, and arranged his tools and paints so
that he could reach everything as he sat on his stool. And as he
finished toy after toy to delight the hearts of little children he
found himself growing so gay and happy that he could not refrain from
singing and laughing and whistling all the day long.
"It's because I live in the Laughing Valley, where everything else
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
