| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: arrows, spears, and clubs.
Night came on, and a full moon rose high over the trees into the
sky, lighting the land till it lay bathed in ghostly day. And with
the coming of the night, brooding and mourning by the pool, Buck
became alive to a stirring of the new life in the forest other
than that which the Yeehats had made, He stood up, listening and
scenting. From far away drifted a faint, sharp yelp, followed by
a chorus of similar sharp yelps. As the moments passed the yelps
grew closer and louder. Again Buck knew them as things heard in
that other world which persisted in his memory. He walked to the
centre of the open space and listened. It was the call, the many-
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: she succeeded in the brief space of a moment in
breaking his enchantment. The original Scarecrow of Oz
again stood before them, well stuffed with straw and
with his features nicely painted upon the bag which
formed his head.
The Scarecrow was greatly delighted, as you may
suppose, and he strutted proudly around while the
powerful fairy, Ozma of Oz, broke the enchantment that
had transformed the Tin Woodman and made a Tin Owl into
a Tin Man again.
"Now, then," chirped the Canary, eagerly; "I'm
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Father Damien by Robert Louis Stevenson: and the Bishop-Home excellently arranged; the sisters, the poctor,
and the missionaries, all indefatigable in their noble tasks. It
was a different place when Damien came there and made this great
renunciation, and slept that first night under a tree amidst his
rotting brethren: alone with pestilence; and looking forward (with
what courage, with what pitiful sinkings of dread, God only knows)
to a lifetime of dressing sores and stumps.
You will say, perhaps, I am too sensitive, that sights as painful
abound in cancer hospitals and are confronted daily by doctors and
nurses. I have long learned to admire and envy the doctors and the
nurses. But there is no cancer hospital so large and populous as
|
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: to see my foreman first, just to relieve my mind. And, as you
were about to say, his friend might be brought in, too, since
they are together."
The young man promptly assented, though he had not been aware
that he was about to say anything of the kind.
They came in together, Bannister supported by McWilliams's arm.
The eyes of both mistress and maid brimmed over with tears when
they saw them. Helen dragged forward a chair for the sheepman,
and he sank into it. From its depths he looked up with his rare,
sweet smile.
"I've heard about it," he told her, in a low voice. "I've heard
|
