| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: country-side. The gendarmes were set on his track, but in vain.
He always escaped; sometimes he resisted by main force. He was a
bold wretch. In the midst of all this terror the Bishop arrived.
He was making his circuit to Chastelar. The mayor came to meet him,
and urged him to retrace his steps. Cravatte was in possession
of the mountains as far as Arche, and beyond; there was danger even
with an escort; it merely exposed three or four unfortunate gendarmes
to no purpose.
"Therefore," said the Bishop, "I intend to go without escort."
"You do not really mean that, Monseigneur!" exclaimed the mayor.
"I do mean it so thoroughly that I absolutely refuse any gendarmes,
Les Miserables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: a man that keeps company very easy; even by your own account, you
ain't, and to my certain knowledge you're a devil to haze. Which
is which? Which is good, and which bad? Ah, you tell me that!
Here we are in stays, and you may lay to it!"
"We're none of us perfect," replied the Captain. "That's a fact of
religion, my man. All I can say is, I try to do my duty; and if
you try to do yours, I can't compliment you on your success."
"And so you was the judge, was you?" said Silver, derisively.
"I would be both judge and hangman for you, my man, and never turn
a hair," returned the Captain. "But I get beyond that: it mayn't
be sound theology, but it's common sense, that what is good is
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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 The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: nobles, throughout Podolia, Volhynia, Red Russia; to desecrate the
altars of God, and slay his servants; to destroy the nobles by
lingering tortures; to strip noble ladies and maidens, and hunt them
to death with the whips of his Cossacks; and after defeating the
nobles in battle after battle, to inaugurate an era of misery and
anarchy from which Poland never recovered.
Thus did the masses of Southern Poland discover, for one generation
at least, that they were not many things, but one thing; a class,
capable of brotherhood and unity, though, alas! only of such as
belongs to a pack of wolves. But such outbursts as this were rare
exceptions. In general, feudalism kept the people divided, and
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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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: alone, I talk to my flowers, to my tapestry; they can understand me
better, I think, than my father and mother, who are so grave."
"Juana," said Montefiore, taking her hands and kissing them with the
passion that gushed in his eyes, in his gestures, in the tones of his
voice, "speak to me as your husband, as yourself. I have suffered all
that you have suffered. Between us two few words are needed to make us
comprehend our past, but there will never be enough to express our
coming happiness. Lay your hand upon my heart. Feel how it beats. Let
us promise before God, who sees and hears us, to be faithful to each
other throughout our lives. Here, take my ring--and give me yours."
"Give you my ring!" she said in terror.
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