| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: was a woman's hair ornament, and emblazoned upon it
was the insignia of the royal house of Ptarth.
But, sinister discovery, blood, still wet, splotched the
magnificent jewels of the setting.
Carthoris half choked as the dire possibilities which
the thing suggested presented themselves to his imagination.
Yet he could not, would not believe it.
It was impossible that that radiant creature could have
met so hideous an end. It was incredible that the glorious
Thuvia should ever cease to be.
Upon his already jewel-encrusted harness, to the strap
Thuvia, Maid of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: "For the rest," continued Prudence, "I never saw her as she is
now; she hardly takes any sleep, she goes to all the balls, she
goes to suppers, she even drinks. The other day, after a supper,
she had to stay in bed for a week; and when the doctor let her
get up, she began again at the risk of her life. Shall you go and
see her?"
"What is the good? I came to see you, because you have always
been charming to me, and I knew you before I ever knew
Marguerite. I owe it to you that I have been her lover, and also,
don't I, that I am her lover no longer?"
"Well, I did all I could to get her away from you, and I believe
Camille |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Rang with their unseemly laughter.
"But Osseo turned not from her,
Walked with slower step beside her,
Took her hand, as brown and withered
As an oak-leaf is in Winter,
Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha,
Soothed her with soft words of kindness,
Till they reached the lodge of feasting,
Till they sat down in the wigwam,
Sacred to the Star of Evening,
To the tender Star of Woman.
|
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 Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: "I am going to take a first lesson in agriculture, madame," I said to
her.
"You have a very good master," she replied, motioning towards the
count, whose mouth screwed itself into that smile of satisfaction
which is vulgarly termed a "bouche en coeur."
Two months later I learned she had passed that night in great anxiety,
fearing that her son had the croup; while I was in the boat, rocked by
thoughts of love, imagined that she might see me from her window
adoring the gleam of the candle which was then lighting a forehead
furrowed by fears! The croup prevailed at Tours, and was often fatal.
When we were outside the gate, the count said in a voice of emotion,
The Lily of the Valley |
