| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: say good-by?"
Though she already had herself in hand, she looked at him
hopelessly. "If--if--if Winapie should--" She quavered and
stopped.
But he grasped the unspoken thought, and answered, "Yes." Then
struck with the enormity of it, "It cannot be conceived. There is
no likelihood. It must not be entertained."
"Kiss me," she whispered, her face lighting. Then she turned and
went away.
"Break camp, Pierre," she said to the boatman, who alone had
remained awake against her return. "We must be going."
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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 Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: "If there has been so much fighting about religion," said Genestas,
"God must have built up the system very perfunctorily. Should not a
divine institution impress men at once by the truth that is in it?"
All the guests looked at the cure.
"Gentlemen," said M. Janvier, "religion is something that is felt and
that cannot be defined. We cannot know the purpose of the Almighty; we
are no judges of the means He employs."
"Then, according to you, we are to believe in all your rigmaroles,"
said Genestas, with the easy good-humor of a soldier who has never
given a thought to these things.
"The Catholic religion, better than any other, resolves men's doubts
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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 Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: ten years of age she was just what you see her now. When she was nine
her father and mother expired together, without pain or visible
malady, after naming the day and hour at which they would cease to be.
Standing at their feet she looked at them with a calm eye, not showing
either sadness, or grief, or joy, or curiosity. When we approached to
remove the two bodies she said, 'Carry them away!' 'Seraphita,' I
said, for so we called her, 'are you not affected by the death of your
father and your mother who loved you so much?' 'Dead?' she answered,
'no, they live in me forever-- That is nothing,' she pointed without
emotion to the bodies they were bearing away. I then saw her for the
third time only since her birth. In church it is difficult to
Seraphita |
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 Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: which prevails on board a ship; it was even possible they
understood no other; and he racked his brain, and overhauled his
reminiscences of sea romance for some appropriate words.
'Here, men! tumble aft!' he said. 'Lively now! All hands aft!'
They crowded in the alleyway like sheep.
'Here they are, sir,' said Herrick.
For some time the captain continued to face the stern; then
turned with ferocious suddenness on the crew, and seemed to
enjoy their shrinking.
'Now,' he said, twisting his cigar in his mouth and toying
with the spokes of the wheel, 'I'm Captain Brown. I command
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