| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: snarling and yelping, and she was buried, screaming with agony,
beneath the bristling mass of bodies.
So sudden was it, and so unexpected, that Buck was taken aback.
He saw Spitz run out his scarlet tongue in a way he had of
laughing; and he saw Francois, swinging an axe, spring into the
mess of dogs. Three men with clubs were helping him to scatter
them. It did not take long. Two minutes from the time Curly went
down, the last of her assailants were clubbed off. But she lay
there limp and lifeless in the bloody, trampled snow, almost
literally torn to pieces, the swart half-breed standing over her
and cursing horribly. The scene often came back to Buck to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: don't fret no mo', Marse Tom. Oh, thank de lord in heaven, you's saved,
you's saved! Dey ain't no man kin ever sell mammy's po' little
honey down de river now!"
She put the heir of the house in her own child's unpainted pine cradle,
and said, contemplating its slumbering form uneasily:
"I's sorry for you, honey; I's sorry, God knows I is--but what _kin_ I do,
what _could_ I do? Yo' pappy would sell him to somebody, sometime,
en den he'd go down de river, sho', en I couldn't, couldn't,
_couldn't_ stan' it."
She flung herself on her bed and began to think and toss, toss and think.
By and by she sat suddenly upright, for a comforting thought had flown
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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 Odyssey by Homer: her ways and made fast a ram and a black ewe by the dark
ship, lightly passing us by: who may behold a god against
his will, whether going to or fro?'
Book XI
Odysseus, his descent into hell, and discourses with the
ghosts of the deceased heroes.
'Now when we had gone down to the ship and to the sea,
first of all we drew the ship unto the fair salt water and
placed the mast and sails in the black ship, and took those
sheep and put them therein, and ourselves too climbed on
board, sorrowing, and shedding big tears. And in the wake
The Odyssey |
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 Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Never mind; you're going to be King of Oz," promised Ruggedo.
"Will the big Leopard let me be King?" asked the boy anxiously.
The Nome came close to him and whispered:
"If Gugu the Leopard opposes us, you will transform him into a tree,
and then he will be helpless."
"Of course," agreed Kiki, and he said to himself: "I shall also
transform this deceitful Nome into a tree, for he lies and I cannot
trust him."
9. The Isle of the Magic Flower
The Glass Cat was a good guide and led Trot and Cap'n Bill by
straight and easy paths through all the settled part of the
The Magic of Oz |
