| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Professor by Charlotte Bronte: best foster my pupil, cherish her starved feelings, and induce
the outward manifestation of that inward vigour which sunless
drought and blighting blast had hitherto forbidden to expand.
Constancy of attention--a kindness as mute as watchful, always
standing by her, cloaked in the rough garb of austerity, and
making its real nature known only by a rare glance of interest,
or a cordial and gentle word; real respect masked with seeming
imperiousness, directing, urging her actions, yet helping her
too, and that with devoted care: these were the means I used,
for these means best suited Frances' feelings, as susceptible as
deep vibrating--her nature at once proud and shy.
The Professor |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of their necks sprang the baboons and first among them, most
ferocious, most blood-thirsty, most terrible was Korak, The Killer.
At the village gates, through which the blacks poured in panic,
Korak left them to the tender mercies of his allies and turned
himself eagerly toward the hut in which Meriem had been a prisoner.
It was empty. One after another the filthy interiors revealed
the same disheartening fact--Meriem was in none of them.
That she had not been taken by the blacks in their flight
from the village Korak knew for he had watched carefully for a
glimpse of her among the fugitives.
To the mind of the ape-man, knowing as he did the proclivities
The Son of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or
elsewhere, for the selection of a candidate for the
Presidency, made up chiefly of editors, and men who are
politicians by profession; but I think, what is it to any
independent, intelligent, and respectable man what decision
they may come to? Shall we not have the advantage of this
wisdom and honesty, nevertheless? Can we not count upon
some independent votes? Are there not many individuals in
the country who do not attend conventions? But no: I find
that the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted
from his position, and despairs of his country, when his
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: Colombier, where the wedding had been held; Monsieur and Madame Lebas
returned in their fly to the old home in the Rue Saint-Denis, to steer
the good ship Cat and Racket. The artist, intoxicated with happiness,
carried off his beloved Augustine, and eagerly lifting her out of
their carriage when it reached the Rue des Trois-Freres, led her to an
apartment embellished by all the arts.
The fever of passion which possessed Theodore made a year fly over the
young couple without a single cloud to dim the blue sky under which
they lived. Life did not hang heavy on the lovers' hands. Theodore
lavished on every day inexhaustible /fioriture/ of enjoyment, and he
delighted to vary the transports of passion by the soft languor of
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