| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was
the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime
will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter.
These I esteem'd the essentials of every religion; and, being to
be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected
them all, tho' with different degrees of respect, as I found them
more or less mix'd with other articles, which, without any tendency
to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, serv'd principally
to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This respect
to all, with an opinion that the worst had some good effects,
induc'd me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: attention as she thought she deserved. The family were a good deal
surprised at the silence into which she had retired. Emilie generally
displayed all her arts for the benefit of newcomers, her witty
prattle, and the inexhaustible eloquence of her eyes and attitudes.
Whether it was that the young man's pleasing voice and attractive
manners had charmed her, that she was seriously in love, and that this
feeling had worked a change in her, her demeanor had lost all its
affectations. Being simple and natural, she must, no doubt, have
seemed more beautiful. Some of her sisters, and an old lady, a friend
of the family, saw in this behavior a refinement of art. They supposed
that Emilie, judging the man worthy of her, intended to delay
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: urchin by the neck and shoulder she shook him until he rattled.
She dragged him to an unholy sink, and, soaking a rag in water,
began to scrub his lacerated face with it. Jimmie screamed in pain
and tried to twist his shoulders out of the clasp of the huge arms.
The babe sat on the floor watching the scene, his face in contortions
like that of a woman at a tragedy. The father, with a newly-ladened
pipe in his mouth, crouched on a backless chair near the stove.
Jimmie's cries annoyed him. He turned about and bellowed at his wife:
"Let the damned kid alone for a minute, will yeh, Mary? Yer allus
poundin' 'im. When I come nights I can't git no rest 'cause
yer allus poundin' a kid. Let up, d'yeh hear? Don't be allus
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
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 Wyoming by William MacLeod Raine: "A stack of chips," ordered the foreman; and the cook's "Coming
up" was scarcely more prompt than the plate of hot cakes he set
before the young man.
"Hen fruit, sunny side up," shouted Reddy, who was further
advanced in his meal.
"Tame that fog-horn, son," advised Wun Hop; but presently he slid
three fried eggs from a frying-pan into the plate of the hungry
one.
"I want y'u boys to finish flankin' that bunch of hill calves
to-day," said the foreman, emptying half a jug of syrup over his
cakes.
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