| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: At this Mr. Powell who evidently could be rebellious too turned his
back squarely on the window.
"What on earth do you mean?" he asked. "An--accident--called Fyne,"
he repeated separating the words with emphasis.
Marlow was not disconcerted.
"I don't mean accident in the sense of a mishap. Not in the least.
Fyne was a good little man in the Civil Service. By accident I mean
that which happens blindly and without intelligent design. That's
generally the way a brother-in-law happens into a man's life."
Marlow's tone being apologetic and our new acquaintance having again
turned to the window I took it upon myself to say:
Chance |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the six remaining lions were upon the rhinoceros,
rending and tearing the while they were being gored or
trampled. From the safety of his perch Tarzan watched
the royal battle with the keenest interest, for the
more intelligent of the jungle folk are interested in
such encounters. They are to them what the racetrack
and the prize ring, the theater and the movies are to
us. They see them often; but always they enjoy them for
no two are precisely alike.
For a time it seemed to Tarzan that Buto, the
rhinoceros, would prove victor in the gory battle.
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: Eudora entered. He touched his cap. He was an old man who had
lived with the Lancasters ever since Eudora could remember. He
advanced toward her now. "Sha'n't Tommy push--the baby-carriage
up to the house for you, Miss Eudora?" he said, in his cracked
old voice.
Eudora flushed slightly, and, as if in response, the old man
flushed, also. "No, I thank you, Wilson," she said, and moved on.
The boy, who was raking dry leaves, stood gazing at them with a
shrewd, whimsical expression. He was the old man's grandson.
"Is that a boy or a girl kid, grandpa?" he inquired, when the
gardener returned.
|
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 Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: 'ole bloomin' dinner off and tell the man to chuck it in the
swill tub? And breakfast? Oh, my crikey! breakfast for ten, and
you 'ollerin' for more! And now you "can't 'most tell"! Blow me,
if it ain't enough to make a man write an insultin' letter to
Gawd! You dror it mild, John Dyvis; don't 'andle me; I'm
dyngerous.'
Davis sat like one bemused; it might even have been doubted
if he heard, but the voice of the clerk rang about the cabin like
that of a cormorant among the ledges of the cliff.
'That will do, Huish,' said Herrick.
'Oh, so you tyke his part, do you? you stuck-up sneerin' snob!
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