The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: shall dance with us--the dance of death."
It sounded quite reassuring! But I knew that I was not to be
killed immediately, and so I took heart. They led me toward
the cliffs, and as we approached them, I glanced up and was
sure that I saw Ajor's bright eyes peering down upon us from
our lofty cave; but she gave no sign if she saw me; and we
passed on, rounded the end of the cliffs and proceeded along
the opposite face of them until we came to a section literally
honeycombed with caves. All about, upon the ground and
swarming the ledges before the entrances, were hundreds of
members of the tribe. There were many women but no babes or
 The People That Time Forgot |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: the children lay. Then they ceased shivering and fell asleep until
their parents came."
"I am glad you did thus," said the good Queen, beaming upon the
Master; and Necile, who had eagerly listened to every word, echoed in
a whisper: "I, too, am glad!"
"And this very night," continued Ak, "as I came to the edge of Burzee I
heard a feeble cry, which I judged came from a human infant. I looked
about me and found, close to the forest, a helpless babe, lying quite
naked upon the grasses and wailing piteously. Not far away, screened
by the forest, crouched Shiegra, the lioness, intent upon devouring
the infant for her evening meal."
 The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: "What! Did Madame Marneffe's cousin never go to see her when she was
living in the Rue du Doyenne?"
"Oh! Was it her cousin?" cried Madame Olivier. "I dare say he did
come, but I did not know him again. Next time, sir, I will look at
him----"
"He will be coming out," said Hulot, hastily interrupting Madame
Olivier.
"He has left," said Madame Olivier, understanding the situation. "The
carriage is gone."
"Did you see him go?"
"As plainly as I see you. He told his servant to drive to the
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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 Anthem by Ayn Rand: But we, Equality 7-2521, are glad to be living.
If this is a vice, then we wish no virtue.
Yet our brothers are not like us. All is
not well with our brothers. There are
Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise,
kind eyes, who cry suddenly, without reason,
in the midst of day or night, and their
body shakes with sobs they cannot explain.
There are Solidarity 9-6347, who are a
bright youth, without fear in the day; but
they scream in their sleep, and they scream:
 Anthem |