| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: blazing fire. Then came the bedroom, with the state bed of blue and
gold, covered with embroidery, and with the arms and coronet of
Howard de Walden. The walls were hung with crimson and white
damask, and the sofas and chairs also, and it was surrounded by
pictures, among others a full length of Queen Charlotte, just
opposite the foot of the bed, always saluted me every morning when I
awoke, with her fan, her hoop, and her deep ruffles.
My dressing-room, which was on the opposite side from Mr.
Bancroft's, was a perfect gem. It was painted by the famous Rebecco
who came over from Italy to ornament so many of the great English
houses at one time. The whole ceiling and walls were covered with
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: He was the son of a tinker, and was born within a mile of Bedford
town in the year 1628. He imbibed at an early age the spirit of
Puritanism, fought in the civil wars, took to himself a wife, and
turned preacher. Six months after the merry monarch landed,
Bunyan was flung into Bedford gaol, where, rather than refrain
from puritanical discourses, in the utterance of which he
believed himself divinely inspired, he remained, with some short
intervals of liberty, for twelve years. When offered freedom at
the price of silence, he replied, "If you let me out to-day, I
will preach to-morrow." Nay, even in his confinement he
delivered sermons to his fellow-prisoners; and presently he
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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 Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: reappearing, and finally he came back.
'There is no road here. There may be farther on,' he said,
getting into the sledge.
It was already growing dark. The snow-storm had not increased
but had also not subsided.
'If we could only hear those peasants!' said Vasili Andreevich.
'Well they haven't caught us up. We must have gone far astray.
Or maybe they have lost their way too.'
'Where are we to go then?' asked Vasili Andreevich.
'Why, we must let the horse take its own way,' said Nikita.
'He will take us right. Let me have the reins.'
Master and Man |
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 Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: Tommy sat down opposite her. His bared head revealed a shock of
exquisitely slicked-back red hair. His face was pleasantly
ugly--nondescript, yet unmistakably the face of a gentleman and a
sportsman. His brown suit was well cut, but perilously near the
end of its tether.
They were an essentially modern-looking couple as they sat there.
Tuppence had no claim to beauty, but there was character and
charm in the elfin lines of her little face, with its determined
chin and large, wide-apart grey eyes that looked mistily out from
under straight, black brows. She wore a small bright green toque
over her black bobbed hair, and her extremely short and rather
Secret Adversary |
