| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: haste, or we shall all repent at leisure, or rather have very
little leisure to repent; which is all at present from him who
rests your affectionate kinsman,--R. M."
"P.S.--Tell Isabella that I would rather cut the knight's throat
after all, and end the dilemma that way, than see her constrained
to marry him against her will."
When Isabella had read this letter, it dropped from her hand, and
she would, at the same time, have fallen from her chair, had she
not been supported by her father.
"My God, my child will die!" exclaimed Vere, the feelings of
nature overcoming, even in HIS breast, the sentiments of selfish
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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 Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: have lived their bachelor life; they have been over head and ears in
pleasure, and make the most adorable wives that could be wished; they
have nothing to learn, they are formed, they are not in the least
prudish; they are well broken in, and indulgent. So I strongly
recommend everybody to take the "remains of a racer." I am the most
fortunate man on earth.'
"Du Bruel said this to me himself with Bixiou there to hear it.
" 'My dear fellow,' said the caricaturist, 'perhaps he is right to be
in the wrong.'
"About a week afterwards, du Bruel asked us to dine with him one
Tuesday. That morning I went to see him on a piece of theatrical
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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 Buttered Side Down by Edna Ferber: in all the right places. But Ivy didn't need to pretend. Rudie
Schlachweiler spelled baseball to her. She did not think of her
caller as a good-looking young man in a blue serge suit and a white
shirtwaist. Even as he sat there she saw him as a blonde god
standing on the pitcher's mound, with the scars of battle on his
baseball pants, his left foot placed in front of him at right
angles with his right foot, his gaze fixed on first base in a
cunning effort to deceive the man at bat, in that favorite attitude
of pitchers just before they get ready to swing their left leg and
h'ist one over.
The second time that Rudie called, Ma Keller said:
Buttered Side Down |
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 Cavalry General by Xenophon: pitch, if the idea gets abroad that his opponents have troubles of
their own and little leisure for offensive operations.
But over and beyond all that can be written on the subject--
inventiveness is a personal matter, beyond all formulas--the true
general must be able to take in, deceive, decoy, delude his adversary
at every turn, as the particular occasion demands. In fact, there is
no instrument of war more cunning than chicanery;[6] which is not
surprising when one reflects that even little boys, when playing, "How
many (marbles) have I got in my hand?"[7] are able to take one another
in successfully. Out goes a clenched fist, but with such cunning that
he who holds a few is thought to hold several; or he may present
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