| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dream Life and Real Life by Olive Schreiner: against the milk-bush, and dropped asleep.
She dreamed a beautiful dream. She thought that when she went back to the
farmhouse in the evening, the walls were covered with vines and roses, and
the kraals were not made of red stone, but of lilac trees full of blossom.
And the fat old Boer smiled at her; and the stick he held across the door,
for the goats to jump over, was a lily rod with seven blossoms at the end.
When she went to the house her mistress gave her a whole roaster-cake for
her supper, and the mistress's daughter had stuck a rose in the cake; and
her mistress's son-in-law said, "Thank you!" when she pulled off his boots,
and did not kick her.
It was a beautiful dream.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Anthem by Ayn Rand: body of women in our arms is neither ugly
nor shameful, but the one ecstasy granted
to the race of men.
We have walked for many days. The forest
has no end, and we seek no end. But each day
added to the chain of days between us
and the City is like an added blessing.
We have made a bow and many arrows.
We can kill more birds than we need for
our food; we find water and fruit in the
forest. At night, we choose a clearing, and
Anthem |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: and saw the gradual sun grow strong upon the canvas of the barkentine.
The message from his world was at hand, yet to-day he scarcely cared so
much. Sitting in his garden yesterday, he could never have imagined such
a change. But his heart did not hail the barkentine as usual. Books,
music, pale paper, and print--this was all that was coming to him,
some of its savor had gone; for the siren voice of Life had been speaking
with him face to face, and in his spirit, deep down, the love of the
world was restlessly answering it. Young Gaston showed more eagerness
than the Padre over this arrival of the vessel that might be bringing
Trovatore in the nick of time. Now he would have the chance, before he
took his leave, to help rehearse the new music with the choir. He would
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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 In the Cage by Henry James: and it was quite enough to sit there like one of these.
"If you had had another employment," he remarked after a moment,
"we might never have become acquainted."
"It's highly probable--and certainly not in the same way." Then,
still with her heap of gold in her lap and something of the pride
of it in her manner of holding her head, she continued not to move-
-she only smiled at him. The evening had thickened now; the
scattered lamps were red; the Park, all before them, was full of
obscure and ambiguous life; there were other couples on other
benches whom it was impossible not to see, yet at whom it was
impossible to look. "But I've walked so much out of my way with
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