| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: seen fulfilled, as Mr. Ruskin tells us, so eloquently in every
flower and every leaf, in every sweeping down and rippling wave;
and they will be able to invent graceful and economical dresses
for themselves, without importing tawdry and expensive ugliness
from France.
Let me now go a step farther, and ask you to consider this: There
are in England now a vast number, and an increasing number, of
young women who, from various circumstances which we all know,
must in after life be either the mistresses of their own fortunes,
or the earners of their own bread. And, to do that wisely and
well, they must be more or less women of business, and to be women
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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 Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: He undid a rag belt about his waist, loosened a knot
in it and offered the contents to his companions. Salt. A
murmur of approbation rose among them as each took a
few grains between the tips of his fingers.
They ate voraciously; then, glutted, lay down on the
ground, facing the sky. They sang monotonous, sad
songs, uttering a strident shout after each stanza.
III
In the brush and foliage of the sierra, Demetrio Macias
and his threescore men slept until the halloo of the horn,
blown by Pancracio from the crest of a peak, awakened
The Underdogs |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: Terribus and Wul-Takim soon restored order, and then they accompanied
the Ki and the Ki-Ki to the public square, where the people were
informed that their Supreme Highnesses, the High Ki, had been reunited
and would thereafter rule them with twin minds as well as twin
bodies. There was great rejoicing at this news, for every twin in Twi
was glad to have his troubles ended so easily and satisfactorily.
That night the ryls and knooks and other invisible friends of Prince
Marvel came and removed the dividing wall between the twin palaces of
the High Ki, repairing speedily all the damage that had been done.
And when our friends called upon the High Ki the next morning they
found the two maids again dressed exactly alike in yellow robes, with
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
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 Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: of the woe that poets, and prophets, and great oracles of faith have
set forth for us in such mighty words; he felt the point of the
Flaming Sword plunged into his side, and hurried in search of Melmoth.
What had become of his predecessor?
The Englishman was living in a mansion in the Rue Ferou, near Saint-
Sulpice--a gloomy, dark, damp, and cold abode. The Rue Ferou itself is
one of the most dismal streets in Paris; it has a north aspect like
all the streets that lie at right angles to the left bank of the
Seine, and the houses are in keeping with the site. As Castanier stood
on the threshold he found that the door itself, like the vaulted roof,
was hung with black; rows of lighted tapers shone brilliantly as
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