| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: with his lips, which was peculiar to him.
"I know Monsieur de Sommervieux very well," the Dove ran on. "He has
come to my evenings this fortnight past, and made them delightful. He
has told me all his woes, and commissioned me to plead for him. I know
since this morning that he adores Augustine, and he shall have her.
Ah, cousin, do not shake your head in refusal. He will be created
Baron, I can tell you, and has just been made Chevalier of the Legion
of Honor, by the Emperor himself, at the Salon. Roguin is now his
lawyer, and knows all his affairs. Well! Monsieur de Sommervieux has
twelve thousand francs a year in good landed estate. Do you know that
the father-in-law of such a man may get a rise in life--be mayor of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: to be seen except his head, lay at the bottom of the trap.
When they got to the bridge of Neuilly, Monsieur Dufour said:
"Here we are in the country at last!" At that warning, his wife
grew sentimental about the beauties of nature. When they got to
the crossroads at Courbevoie, they were seized with admiration
for the tremendous view down there: on the right was the spire of
Argenteuil church, above it rose the hills of Sannois and the
mill of Orgemont, while on the left, the aqueduct of Marly stood
out against the clear morning sky. In the distance they could see
the terrace of Saint-Germain, and opposite to them, at the end of
a low chain of hills, the new fort of Cormeilles. Afar--a very
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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 Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: dark debris upon the ground.
Some in the regiment began to whoop fren-
ziedly. Many were silent. Apparently they were
trying to contemplate themselves.
After the fever had left his veins, the youth
thought that at last he was going to suffocate.
He became aware of the foul atmosphere in
which he had been struggling. He was grimy
and dripping like a laborer in a foundry. He
grasped his canteen and took a long swallow of
the warmed water.
The Red Badge of Courage |
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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: those which concern women--well enough to have amused myself by
seeking the clue to the riddle. Well, my sweet child, those worthy
women had the gift of analyzing their husbands' nature; instead of
taking fright, like you, at their superiority, they very acutely noted
the qualities they lacked, and either by possessing those qualities,
or by feigning to possess them, they found means of making such a
handsome display of them in their husbands' eyes that in the end they
impressed them. Also, I must tell you, all these souls which appear so
lofty have just a speck of madness in them, which we ought to know how
to take advantage of. By firmly resolving to have the upper hand and
never deviating from that aim, by bringing all our actions to bear on
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