The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: later. It is not surprising, under the circumstances, that for
some time after the odor of violets made me ill.
We all met downstairs in the living room, quite informally, and
Dallas was banging away at the pianola, tramping the pedals with
the delicacy and feeling of a football center rush kicking a
goal. Mr. Harbison was standing near the fire, a little away from
the others, and he was all that Anne had said and more in
appearance. He was tall--not too tall, and very straight. And
after one got past the oddity of his face being bronze-colored
above his white collar, and of his brown hair being sun-bleached
on top until it was almost yellow, one realized that he was very
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Rig Veda: with
plenteous store of heroes.
7 Lord of Bay Steeds, at dawn thejuice thou drankest: thine,
only
thine, is the noonday libation.
Now drink thou with the wealth-bestowing Rbhus, whom for their
skill
thou madest friends, O Indra.
8 Ye, whom your artist skill hath raised to Godhead have set
you down
above in heaven like falcons.
 The Rig Veda |
The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: imperial guard, with whom to organize the defence of Les Aigues on a
formidable footing. By dint of searching out and questioning his
friends and many officers on half-pay, he unearthed Michaud, a former
quartermaster at headquarters of the cuirassiers of the guard; one of
those men whom troopers call "hard-to-cook," a nickname derived from
the mess kitchen where refractory beans are not uncommon. Michaud
picked out from among his friends and acquaintances, three other men
fit to be his helpers, and able to guard the estate without fear and
without reproach.
The first, named Steingel, a pure-blooded Alsacian, was a natural son
of the general of that name, who fell in one of Bonaparte's first
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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 Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: give a cat the colic, and the food is cheap and nasty."
The boarders stood aside in two rows to let her pass; not a word
was spoken. Poiret looked so wistfully after Mlle. Michonneau,
and so artlessly revealed that he was in two minds whether to go
or stay, that the boarders, in their joy at being quit of Mlle.
Michonneau, burst out laughing at the sight of him.
"Hist!--st!--st! Poiret," shouted the painter. "Hallo! I say,
Poiret, hallo!" The employe from the Museum began to sing:
"Partant pour la Syrie,
Le jeune et beau Dunois . . ."
"Get along with you; you must be dying to go, trahit sua quemque
 Father Goriot |