| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells: shrivelled leaves, from amid its clusters. It was strange how
entirely dependent both these things were upon flowing
water for their propagation. About us neither had gained a
footing; laburnums, pink mays, snowballs, and trees of arbor-
vitae, rose out of laurels and hydrangeas, green and brilliant
into the sunlight. Beyond Kensington dense smoke was rising,
and that and a blue haze hid the northward hills.
The artilleryman began to tell me of the sort of people
who still remained in London.
"One night last week," he said, "some fools got the electric
light in order, and there was all Regent Street and the Circus
War of the Worlds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa: the open, he listened for strange sounds. With an eagle eye he
scanned the camp ground for some sign.
Returning he said: "My daughter, I hear nothing and see no
sign of evil nigh."
"Oh! the sound of many voices comes up from the earth about
me!" exclaimed the young mother.
Bending low over her babe she gave ear to the ground.
Horrified was she to find the mysterious sound came out of the open
mouth of her sleeping child!
"Why so unlike other babes!" she cried within her heart as she
slipped him gently from her lap to the ground. "Mother, listen and
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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 The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: down by accident, could not restrain herself, and laughed loud
enough to be heard by all the flats:
" 'Ha-ha-ha!'
"And this pealing, ringing 'Ha-ha-ha!' was the last straw that
put an end to everything: to the proposed match and to Byelikov's
earthly existence. He did not hear what Varinka said to him; he
saw nothing. On reaching home, the first thing he did was to
remove her portrait from the table; then he went to bed, and he
never got up again.
"Three days later Afanasy came to me and asked whether we should
not send for the doctor, as there was something wrong with his
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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 Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: while he stooped to drink at the fountain the purse of gold fell
from his girdle into the tall grass, and he, not seeing it, let
it lie there, and went his way.
Now it chanced that two fagot-makers--the elder by name Ali, the
younger Abdallah--who had been in the woods all day chopping
fagots, came also travelling the same way, and stopped at the
same fountain to drink. There the younger of the two spied the
purse lying in the grass, and picked it up. But when he opened it
and found it full of gold money, he was like one bereft of wits;
he flung his arms, he danced, he shouted, he laughed, he acted
like a madman; for never had he seen so much wealth in all of his
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