| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: declared that PATRICK HENRY, of revolutionary fame,
never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of
liberty, than the one we had just listened to from
the lips of that hunted fugitive. So I believed at
that time--such is my belief now. I reminded the
audience of the peril which surrounded this self-
emancipated young man at the North,--even in Mas-
sachusetts, on the soil of the Pilgrim Fathers, among
the descendants of revolutionary sires; and I ap-
pealed to them, whether they would ever allow him
to be carried back into slavery,--law or no law, con-
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery: to hang out scarlet banners; sometimes it crossed rivers on
bridges that made Anne's flesh cringe with the old,
half-delightful fear; sometimes it wound along a harbor shore and
passed by a little cluster of weather-gray fishing huts; again it
mounted to hills whence a far sweep of curving upland or
misty-blue sky could be seen; but wherever it went there was much
of interest to discuss. It was almost noon when they reached
town and found their way to "Beechwood." It was quite a fine old
mansion, set back from the street in a seclusion of green elms
and branching beeches. Miss Barry met them at the door with a
twinkle in her sharp black eyes.
Anne of Green Gables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: wept to see it. All disabilities were piled on that weak back--
domestic misfortune, nervous disease, a displeasing exterior,
empty pockets, and the slavery of vice.
I will never deny that our prolonged conjunction was the result
of double cowardice. Each was afraid to leave the other, each
was afraid to speak, or knew not what to say. Save for my ill-
judged allusion at Gloucester, the subject uppermost in both
our minds was buried. Carthew, Stallbridge-le-Carthew,
Stallbridge-Minster--which we had long since (and severally)
identified to be the nearest station--even the name of
Dorsetshire was studiously avoided. And yet we were making
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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 Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: as though he said, 'You and I are comrades. I have lain in a road, too. I
know all about it.'
"When I turned my head from him I saw the earth, so pure after the rain, so
green, so fresh, so blue; and I was a drunken carrier, whom his leader had
picked up in the mud, and laid at the roadside to sleep out his drink. I
remember my old life, and I remember you. I saw how, one day, you would
read in the papers: 'A German carrier, named Waldo Farber, was killed
through falling from his wagon, being instantly crushed under the wheel.
Deceased was supposed to have been drunk at the time of the accident.'
There are those notices in the paper every month. I sat up, and I took the
brandy-flask out of my pocket, and I flung it as far as I could into the
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