| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: resolutely refused to taste them.
All this time, being of a cheerful and active disposition, the
little damsel was not quite so unhappy as you may have
supposed. The immense palace had a thousand rooms, and was full
of beautiful and wonderful objects. There was a never-ceasing
gloom, it is true, which half hid itself among the innumerable
pillars, gliding before the child as she wandered among them,
and treading stealthily behind her in the echo of her
footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of the precious stones,
which flamed with their own light, worth one gleam of natural
sunshine; nor could the most brilliant of the many-colored
Tanglewood Tales |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Matai Shang's. "Let us proceed to the hangar above that we may be
far to the south before he finds another way--should that be possible."
"All things seem possible to that vile calot," replied another voice,
which I recognized as Thurid's.
"Then let us haste," said Matai Shang. "But to be doubly sure,
I will leave two who shall patrol this runway. Later they
may follow us upon another flier--overtaking us at Kaol."
My upstretched fingers never reached the window's sill. At
The Warlord of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: was more at ease, or better satisfied with myself and everything about me
than at the present hour. Your husband I abhor, Reginald I despise, and I
am secure of never seeing either again. Have I not reason to rejoice?
Mainwaring is more devoted to me than ever; and were we at liberty, I doubt
if I could resist even matrimony offered by HIM. This event, if his wife
live with you, it may be in your power to hasten. The violence of her
feelings, which must wear her out, may be easily kept in irritation. I rely
on your friendship for this. I am now satisfied that I never could have
brought myself to marry Reginald, and am equally determined that Frederica
never shall. To-morrow, I shall fetch her from Churchhill, and let Maria
Mainwaring tremble for the consequence. Frederica shall be Sir James's wife
Lady Susan |
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 To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: waving her hand at the hedge, at the house, at the children. It was
absurd, it was impossible. So now she laid her brushes neatly in the box,
side by side, and said to William Bankes:
"It suddenly gets cold. The sun seems to give less heat," she said,
looking about her, for it was bright enough, the grass still a soft deep
green, the house starred in its greenery with purple passion flowers, and
rooks dropping cool cries from the high blue. But something moved,
flashed, turned a silver wing in the air. It was September after all,
the middle of September, and past six in the evening. So off they
strolled down the garden in the usual direction, past the tennis lawn,
past the pampas grass, to that break in the thick hedge, guarded by red
To the Lighthouse |
