| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: Here were many men, and countless dogs, and Buck found them all at
work. It seemed the ordained order of things that dogs should
work. All day they swung up and down the main street in long
teams, and in the night their jingling bells still went by. They
hauled cabin logs and firewood, freighted up to the mines, and did
all manner of work that horses did in the Santa Clara Valley.
Here and there Buck met Southland dogs, but in the main they were
the wild wolf husky breed. Every night, regularly, at nine, at
twelve, at three, they lifted a nocturnal song, a weird and eerie
chant, in which it was Buck's delight to join.
With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: Then, with a shudder--"But it is GAMBLERS' money! the wages of sin;
we couldn't take it; we couldn't touch it. I don't like to be near
it; it seems a defilement." She moved to a farther chair. . . "I
wish Edward would come, and take it to the bank; a burglar might
come at any moment; it is dreadful to be here all alone with it."
At eleven Mr. Richards arrived, and while his wife was saying "I am
SO glad you've come!" he was saying, "I am so tired--tired clear
out; it is dreadful to be poor, and have to make these dismal
journeys at my time of life. Always at the grind, grind, grind, on
a salary--another man's slave, and he sitting at home in his
slippers, rich and comfortable."
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: eclipse; I had seen that for myself, in the beginning,
by the dial that was near by. Yes, I was in King
Arthur's court, and I might as well make the most out
of it I could.
The darkness was steadily growing, the people be-
coming more and more distressed. I now said:
"I have reflected, Sir King. For a lesson, I will
let this darkness proceed, and spread night in the
world; but whether I blot out the sun for good, or
restore it, shall rest with you. These are the terms, to
wit: You shall remain king over all your dominions,
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
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 Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: strapping devil before he was taken down.
"Well, I tell you, we'd just got him fixed up, and the Captain was just
going into his tent to have a drink, and we chaps were all standing round,
when up steps Halket, right before the Captain, and pulls his front lock--
you know the way he has? Oh, my God, my God, if you could have seen it!
I'll never forget it to my dying day!" The Colonial seemed bursting with
internal laughter. "He begins, 'Sir, may I speak to you?' in a formal kind
of way, like a fellow introducing a deputation; and then all of a sudden he
starts off--oh, my God, you never heard such a thing! It was like a boy in
Sunday-school saying up a piece of Scripture he's learnt off by heart, and
got all ready beforehand, and he's not going to be stopped till he gets to
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