| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: horses, and can rear them into strong and serviceable animals,
supposing further he can handle them in the right way, not only in the
training for war, but in exercises with a view to display, or lastly,
in the stress of actual battle, what is there to prevent such a man
from making every horse he owns of far more value in the end than when
he bought it, with the further outlook that, unless some power higher
than human interpose,[11] he will become the owner of a celebrated
stable, and himself as celebrated for his skill in horsemanship.
[11] Or, "there is nothing, humanly speaking, to prevent such a man."
For the phrase see "Mem." I. iii. 5; cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 18; and
for the advice, "Econ." iii. 9, 10.
On Horsemanship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: home now?"
"Yes, Lora is at home. If you will wait here a moment I will send
her in."
Muller paced up and down the large sunny room, casting a glance
over the handsome old pieces of furniture and the family portraits
on the wall. It was evidently the home of generations of well-to-do,
well-bred people, the narrow circle of whose life was made rich by
congenial duties and a comfortable feeling of their standing in the
community.
While he was studying one of the portraits more carefully, he became
aware that there was some one in the room. He turned and saw a tall
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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 Faith of Men by Jack London: deeps. Oh, well, let his moods slip on, until, mayhap, he gathers
his tangled wits together. Who knows?--the mere sound of a fellow-
creature's voice may bring all straight again.
So I led him on in talk, and soon I marvelled, for he talked of
game and the ways thereof. He had killed the Siberian wolf of
westernmost Alaska, and the chamois in the secret Rockies. He
averred he knew the haunts where the last buffalo still roamed;
that he had hung on the flanks of the caribou when they ran by the
hundred thousand, and slept in the Great Barrens on the musk-ox's
winter trail.
And I shifted my judgment accordingly (the first revision, but by
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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 The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: curious and observing crowd. He gazed stupidly at a Republican officer
engaged in taking the testimony of several witnesses, and in writing
down, no doubt, the "proces-verbal." He recognized the landlord, his
wife, the two boatmen, and the servant of the Red Inn. The surgical
instrument which the murderer had used--
[Here Monsieur Taillefer coughed, drew out his handkerchief to blow
his nose, and wiped his forehead. These perfectly natural motions were
noticed by me only; the other guests sat with their eyes fixed on
Monsieur Hermann, to whom they were listening with a sort of avidity.
The purveyor leaned his elbow on the table, put his head into his
right hand and gazed fixedly at Hermann. From that moment he showed no
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