| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Touchstone by Edith Wharton: prayed she might not discover how far-reaching, in its merely
material sense, was the obligation she thus hoped to acquit. Her
mind was fixed on the sum originally paid for the letters, and
this he knew he could lay aside in a year or two. He was touched,
meanwhile, by the spirit that made her discard the petty luxuries
which she regarded as the signs of their bondage. Their shared
renunciations drew her nearer to him, helped, in their evidence of
her helplessness, to restore the full protecting stature of his
love. And still they did not speak.
It was several weeks later that, one afternoon by the drawing-room
fire, she handed him a letter that she had been reading when he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: 'Yes.'
'I wonder if it is John Smith, Stephen's father?'
'I believe it is,' said Elfride, with apprehension.
'Ah, and can it be? I should like to inquire how his son, my
truant protege', is going on. And from your father's description
of the vault, the interior must be interesting. Suppose we go
in.'
'Had we better, do you think? May not Lord Luxellian be there?'
'It is not at all likely.'
Elfride then assented, since she could do nothing else. Her
heart, which at first had quailed in consternation, recovered
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: made an unnatural retreat into his head, and to have dug themselves
a cave to hide in. His manner was smooth and humble, but very sly
and slinking. He wore the aspect of a man who was always lying in
wait for something that WOULDN'T come to pass; but he looked
patient--very patient--and fawned like a spaniel dog. Even now,
while he warmed and rubbed his hands before the blaze, he had the
air of one who only presumed to enjoy it in his degree as a
commoner; and though he knew his lord was not regarding him, he
looked into his face from time to time, and with a meek and
deferential manner, smiled as if for practice.
Such were the guests whom old John Willet, with a fixed and leaden
Barnaby Rudge |
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 The Street of Seven Stars by Mary Roberts Rinehart: significant. He had thought once or twice that Peter was in love
with Harmony; he knew it now in the clearer vision of the moment.
He recalled things that maddened him: the dozen intimacies of the
little menage, the caress in Peter's voice when he spoke to the
girl, Peter's steady eyes in the semi-gloom of the salon while
Harmony played.
At a corner they must pause for the inevitable regiment. McLean
cursed, bending out to see how long the delay would be. Peter had
been gone for half an hour, perhaps, but Peter would walk. If he
could only see the girl first, talk to her, tell her what she
would be doing by remaining--
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