| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: together that self-fertilisation seems almost inevitable. Many flowers, on
the other hand, have their organs of fructification closely enclosed, as in
the great papilionaceous or pea-family; but in several, perhaps in all,
such flowers, there is a very curious adaptation between the structure of
the flower and the manner in which bees suck the nectar; for, in doing
this, they either push the flower's own pollen on the stigma, or bring
pollen from another flower. So necessary are the visits of bees to
papilionaceous flowers, that I have found, by experiments published
elsewhere, that their fertility is greatly diminished if these visits be
prevented. Now, it is scarcely possible that bees should fly from flower
to flower, and not carry pollen from one to the other, to the great good,
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: Lord Lambeth went on.
The young girl was silent a moment. "My sister and I are two
very different persons," she presently said. "She has been
a great deal in Europe. She has been in England several times.
She has known a great many English people."
"But you must have known some, too," said Lord Lambeth.
"I don't think that I have ever spoken to one before.
You are the first Englishman that--to my knowledge--
I have ever talked with."
Bessie Alden made this statement with a certain gravity--
almost, as it seemed to Lord Lambeth, an impressiveness.
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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 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: "Sire, the Board finds this candidate perfect in all
the requirements and qualifications for military com-
mand, and doth hold his case open for decision after
due examination of his competitor."
The competitor came forward and proved exactly
four generations of nobility himself. So there was a
tie in military qualifications that far.
He stood aside a moment, and Sir Pertipole was
questioned further:
"Of what condition was the wife of the founder of
your line?"
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 Juana by Honore de Balzac: appearance but sacredly true, legal with the heart's legality, which
women apply instinctively to all their feelings, even the least
reflective. Juana became profoundly sad as she saw the nature and the
extent of the life before her. Often she turned her eyes, brimming
with tears proudly repressed, upon Perez and Dona Lagounia, who fully
comprehended, both of them, the bitter thoughts those tears contained.
But they were silent: of what good were reproaches now; why look for
consolations? The deeper they were, the more they enlarged the wound.
One evening, Juana, stupid with grief, heard through the open door of
her little room, which the old couple had thought shut, a pitying moan
from her adopted mother.
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