| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: woman and called her. She paused at the door of the shop, replied in a
few soft words to the cordial greeting offered her, and went on her
way. Andrea, who was behind her, saw her turn into one of the darkest
yards out of this street, of which he did not know the name. The
repulsive appearance of the house where the heroine of his romance had
been swallowed up made him feel sick. He drew back a step to study the
neighborhood, and finding an ill-looking man at his elbow, he asked
him for information. The man, who held a knotted stick in his right
hand, placed the left on his hip and replied in a single word:
"Scoundrel!"
But on looking at the Italian, who stood in the light of a street-
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: vast stews where the wretched swim round and round and devour each
other.
The majority were women; their husbands, gone to their work, left it
to them, no doubt, to plead the cause of the family with the ingenuity
which characterizes the woman of the people, who is almost always
queen in her hovel. You would have seen a torn bandana on every head,
on every form a skirt deep in mud, ragged kerchiefs, worn and dirty
jackets, but eyes that burnt like live coals. It was a horrible
assemblage, raising at first sight a feeling of disgust, but giving a
certain sense of terror the instant you perceived that the resignation
of these souls, all engaged in the struggle for every necessary of
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: carefully closed in Tant Sannie's time, was well lighted by a paraffin
lamp; books and work lay strewn about it, and it wore a bright, habitable
aspect. Beside the lamp at the table in the corner sat Lyndall, the open
letters and papers of the day's post lying scattered before her, while she
perused the columns of a newspaper. At the centre table, with his arms
folded on an open paper, which there was not light enough to read, sat
Gregory. He was looking at her. The light from the open window fell on
Em's little face under its white kapje as she looked in, but no one glanced
that way.
"Go and fetch me a glass of water!" Lyndall said, at last.
Gregory went out to find it; when he put it down at her side she merely
|
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 Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: and become one again of a life that is always more
brilliant than our sun in May. His eyes will be
dazzled, his mind distracted, full to the brim. To
sit at table with the Tsar, to talk with him alone in
his cabinet, to have for the asking audience of the
Pope of Rome and the King of Spain! Ay yi! Ay
yi! Perhaps he will be made a prince when he re-
turns to St. Petersburg and all the beautiful prin-
cesses will want to marry him. Can he remember
this poor little California, and even our lovely Con-
cha? I doubt! Valgame Dios, I doubt!"
Rezanov |
