| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: "
"I spoke only to Miss Evers."
"Yes, I know you have never spoken to Miss Vivian." Gordon Wright
stood looking at Bernard and urging his point as he pronounced
these words. Bernard felt peculiarly conscious of his gaze.
The words represented an illusion, and Longueville asked
himself quickly whether it were not his duty to dispel it.
The answer came more slowly than the question, but still
it came, in the shape of a negative. The illusion was
but a trifling one, and it was not for him, after all,
to let his friend know that he had already met Miss Vivian.
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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 Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: Would rise by merit to promotion;
Alas! a mere chimeric notion.
The doctor, if you will believe him,
Confessed a sin, and God forgive him:
Called up at midnight, ran to save
A blind old beggar from the grave:
But, see how Satan spreads his snares;
He quite forgot to say his prayers.
He cannot help it, for his heart,
Sometimes to act the parson's part,
Quotes from the Bible many a sentence
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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 Iliad by Homer: but he did not promise hecatombs of firstling lambs to King
Apollo, and missed his bird, for Apollo foiled his aim; but he
hit the string with which the bird was tied, near its foot; the
arrow cut the string clean through so that it hung down towards
the ground, while the bird flew up into the sky, and the Achaeans
shouted applause. Meriones, who had his arrow ready while Teucer
was aiming, snatched the bow out of his hand, and at once
promised that he would sacrifice a hecatomb of firstling lambs to
Apollo lord of the bow; then espying the pigeon high up under the
clouds, he hit her in the middle of the wing as she was circling
upwards; the arrow went clean through the wing and fixed itself
The Iliad |
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 Blix by Frank Norris: of his cigarette case, while he thought; now he selected a
cigarette, returned the case to his pocket, and fumbled for a
match. But the little gun-metal case he carried was empty. Blix
rose and groped for a moment upon the mantel-shelf, then returned
and handed him a match, and stood over him while he scraped it
under the arm of the chair wherein he sat. Even when his
cigarette was lighted she still stood there, looking at him, the
fingers of her hands clasped in front of her, her hair, one side
of her cheek, her chin, and sweet, round neck outlined by the
faint blur of light that came from the open window. Then quietly
she said:
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