| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: eyes sought a single point--the wide, empty, carpetless stage. A figure
appeared there whose aspect was familiar to hardly a dozen persons present.
It was the scarecrow Dean--in foxy shoes, down at the heels; socks of
odd colors, also 'down;' damaged trousers, relics of antiquity, and a world
too short, exposing some inches of naked ankle; an unbuttoned vest,
also too short, and exposing a zone of soiled and wrinkled linen
between it and the waistband; shirt bosom open; long black handkerchief,
wound round and round the neck like a bandage; bob-tailed blue coat,
reaching down to the small of the back, with sleeves which left four
inches of forearm unprotected; small, stiff-brimmed soldier-cap hung on
a corner of the bump of--whichever bump it was. This figure moved gravely
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: "No, no!" exclaimed Peter the Knook, who, cross and crabbed though he
was, might always be depended upon in an emergency. "If we delay, or
go back, there will not be time to get the toys to the children before
morning; and that would grieve Santa Claus more than anything else."
"It is certain that some wicked creatures have captured him," added
Kilter thoughtfully, "and their object must be to make the children
unhappy. So our first duty is to get the toys distributed as
carefully as if Santa Claus were himself present. Afterward we
can search for our master and easily secure his freedom."
This seemed such good and sensible advice that the others at once
resolved to adopt it. So Peter the Knook called to the reindeer, and
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James: moment she was affirming to me the very opposite. On the other
hand he had certainly become engaged the day he returned. The
happy pair went down to Torquay for their honeymoon, and there, in
a reckless hour, it occurred to poor Corvick to take his young
bride a drive. He had no command of that business: this had been
brought home to me of old in a little tour we had once made
together in a dogcart. In a dogcart he perched his companion for a
rattle over Devonshire hills, on one of the likeliest of which he
brought his horse, who, it was true, had bolted, down with such
violence that the occupants of the cart were hurled forward and
that he fell horribly on his head. He was killed on the spot;
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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 Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: He was a bold and reckless character,
A sun-burnt Ishmael!
Card. Dost thou remember
Thy earlier days?
Prec. Yes; by the Darro's side
My childhood passed. I can remember still
The river, and the mountains capped with snow
The village, where, yet a little child,
I told the traveller's fortune in the street;
The smuggler's horse, the brigand and the shepherd;
The march across the moor; the halt at noon;
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