| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and for all their right to live, in accordance with the law of
the survival of the fittest.
I think we all knew that upon the outcome of this battle
would hinge for ever the relative positions of these two
races upon Barsoom. It was a battle between the old and the
new, but not for once did I question the outcome of it.
With Carthoris at my side I fought for the red men of Barsoom
and for their total emancipation from the throttling bondage
of a hideous superstition.
Back and forth across the room we surged, until the floor
was ankle deep in blood, and dead men lay so thickly there
The Gods of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Death of the Lion by Henry James: commiserated for missing the society of Miss Collop. Mrs. Wimbush,
whose social gift never shone brighter than in the dry decorum with
which she accepted this fizzle in her fireworks, mentioned to me
that Guy Walsingham had made a very favourable impression on her
Imperial Highness. Indeed I think every one did so, and that, like
the money-market or the national honour, her Imperial Highness was
constitutionally sensitive. There was a certain gladness, a
perceptible bustle in the air, however, which I thought slightly
anomalous in a house where a great author lay critically ill. "Le
roy est mort - vive le roy": I was reminded that another great
author had already stepped into his shoes. When I came down again
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: all that is bright and beautiful. Both are before you. Choose."
The old King looked at the little Fairy, and saw how lovingly
the bright shadows gathered round her, as if to shield her
from every harm; the timid birds nestled in her bosom, and the
flowers grew fairer as she looked upon them; while her gentle friends,
with tears in their bright eyes, folded their hands beseechingly,
and smiled on her.
Kind thought came thronging to his mind, and he turned to look at
the two palaces. Violet's, so fair and beautiful, with its rustling
trees, calm, sunny skies, and happy birds and flowers, all created
by her patient love and care. His own, so cold and dark and dreary,
Flower Fables |
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 Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: so; for, of course, he had his own business and the affairs of his
parish to attend to. And I dreaded the close of the holidays, when
MY business also would begin, and I should be sometimes unable to
see him, and sometimes - when my mother was in the schoolroom -
obliged to be with him alone: a position I did not at all desire,
in the house; though to meet him out of doors, and walk beside him,
had proved by no means disagreeable.
One evening, however, in the last week of the vacation, he arrived
- unexpectedly: for a heavy and protracted thunder-shower during
the afternoon had almost destroyed my hopes of seeing him that day;
but now the storm was over, and the sun was shining brightly.
Agnes Grey |
