| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: Most of these symptoms are probably the direct result,
independently of habit, of the disturbed state of the sensorium;
but it is doubtful whether they ought to be wholly thus accounted for.
When an animal is alarmed it almost always stands motionless for a moment,
in order to collect its senses and to ascertain the source of danger,
and sometimes for the sake of escaping detection. But headlong flight
soon follows, with no husbanding of the strength as in fighting,
and the animal continues to fly as long as the danger lasts,
until utter prostration, with failing respiration and circulation,
with all the muscles quivering and profuse sweating, renders further
flight impossible. Hence it does not seem improbable that the principle
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: sparkled in the streets, and mournfully veiled the low-roofed cabins
with their closed shutters. He approached the spot where the street
crossed a vast square with houses barely visible on its farther side,
a square which seemed a fearful desert.
Afar, a tiny spark glimmered from some watchman's box, which seemed to
stand on the edge of the world. Akakiy Akakievitch's cheerfulness
diminished at this point in a marked degree. He entered the square,
not without an involuntary sensation of fear, as though his heart
warned him of some evil. He glanced back and on both sides, it was
like a sea about him. "No, it is better not to look," he thought, and
went on, closing his eyes. When he opened them, to see whether he was
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
| 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: passed, his unrest returned. Then he set to deliberate thinking,
and there came to him the startling conviction that he must leave
Surprise Valley and take Bess with him. As a rider he had taken
many chances, and as an adventurer in Deception Pass he had
unhesitatingly risked his life, but now he would run no
preventable hazard of Bess's safety and happiness, and he was too
keen not to see that hazard. It gave him a pang to think of
leaving the beautiful valley just when he had the means to
establish a permanent and delightful home there. One flashing
thought tore in hot temptation through his mind--why not climb up
into the gorge, roll Balancing Rock down the trail, and close
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 Complete Poems of Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Then added, with impassioned cry,
As one who feels the words he speaks,
The color flushing in his cheeks,
The fervor burning in his eye:
"Among the noblest in the land,
Though he may count himself the least,
That man I honor and revere
Who without favor, without fear,
In the great city dares to stand
The friend of every friendless beast,
And tames with his unflinching hand
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