| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: to comprehend what had happened. An old man had by some
oversight of the hotel servants been allowed to enter
the room unannounced. He had wandered in noiselessly,
and had moved in a purblind fashion to the centre of
the apartment. The vagueness of the expression on his face
and of his movements hinted at a vacant mind or too much
drink,--but Thorpe gave no thought to either hypothesis.
The face itself--no--yes--it was the face of old Tavender.
"In the name of God! What are you doing here?" Thorpe gasped
at this extraordinary apparition. Still staring, he began
to push back his chair and put his weight upon his feet.
The Market-Place |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: they fancy, if they set about it in the right way; while it is for
no price, and by no favour, to be got, if they set about it in the
wrong.
Indeed, among the ideas most prevalent and effective in the mind of
this busiest of countries, I suppose the first--at least that which
is confessed with the greatest frankness, and put forward as the
fittest stimulus to youthful exertion--is this of "Advancement in
life." May I ask you to consider with me, what this idea
practically includes, and what it should include?
Practically, then, at present, "advancement in life" means, becoming
conspicuous in life; obtaining a position which shall be
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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 Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: through the old years with his hand in the arm of a companion who
was, in the most extraordinary manner, his other, his younger self;
and to wander, which was more extraordinary yet, round and round a
third presence--not wandering she, but stationary, still, whose
eyes, turning with his revolution, never ceased to follow him, and
whose seat was his point, so to speak, of orientation. Thus in
short he settled to live--feeding all on the sense that he once HAD
lived, and dependent on it not alone for a support but for an
identity.
It sufficed him in its way for months and the year elapsed; it
would doubtless even have carried him further but for an accident,
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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 When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: came in, and you wouldn't have known her. She had put on a
straight white woolen wrapper, and she had her hair in two long
braids down her back. She looked like a nice, wide-eyed little
girl in her teens, and she had some lobster salad and a glass of
port on a tray. When she saw the situation, she put the things
down and had the nastiness to stay and listen.
"I'm not blind," Aunt Selina said, with one eye on the tray. "You
two silly children adore each other; I saw some things last
night."
Bella took a step forward; then she stopped and shrugged her
shoulders. Jim was purple.
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