| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: said, "I may be able to get his dinner coat for you. How well do
you know her?" he asked, with his hand on the knob.
"If you mean Dolly - ?"
"Alison."
"Fairly well," I said cautiously. "Not as well as I would like to.
I dined with her last week in Washington. And - I knew her before
that."
Forbes touched the bell instead of going out, and told the servant
who answered to see if Mr. Granger's suitcase had gone. If not, to
bring it across the hail. Then he came back to his former position
on the bed.
The Man in Lower Ten |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: Out love or industry from doing it honor,
We must respect effects and teach the soul
Matter of conscience and religion,
And not desire of rule or benefit."
I believe that the State will soon be able to take all my
work of this sort out of my hands, and then I shall be no
better patriot than my fellow-countrymen. Seen from a lower
point of view, the Constitution, with all its faults, is
very good; the law and the courts are very respectable; even
this State and this American government are, in many
respects, very admirable, and rare things, to be thankful
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: of his.
The Pharisees, leaning against the pavilion, were now beside
themselves with demoniac fury. They broke plates and dashed them upon
the floor. The attendants had served them with a ragout composed of
the flesh of the wild ass, an unclean animal, and their anger knew no
bounds. Aulus rallied them jeeringly apropos of the ass's head, which
he declared they honoured. He flung other sarcasms at them, regarding
their antipathy to the flesh of swine, intimating that no doubt their
hatred arose from the fact that that beast had killed their beloved
Bacchus, and saying it was to be feared they were too fond of wine,
since a golden vine had been discovered in the Temple.
Herodias |
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 Mountains by Stewart Edward White: leave the finest, tiniest shreds of grain, and each of
them means a hard transparent spot in the product.
Furthermore, once having started in on the job, you
are like the little boy who caught the trolley: you
cannot let go. It must be finished immediately, all
at one heat, before the hide stiffens.
Be it understood, your first enthusiasm has evaporated,
and you are thinking of fifty pleasant things
you might just as well be doing.
Next you revel in grease,--lard oil, if you have
it; if not, then lard, or the product of boiled brains.
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