| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: with terror and he hid himself behind the couch.
'The Emperor leapt to his feet, and taking a lance from a stand of
arms, he threw it at me. I caught it in its flight, and brake the
shaft into two pieces. He shot at me with an arrow, but I held up
my hands and it stopped in mid-air. Then he drew a dagger from a
belt of white leather, and stabbed the Nubian in the throat lest
the slave should tell of his dishonour. The man writhed like a
trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips.
'As soon as he was dead the Emperor turned to me, and when he had
wiped away the bright sweat from his brow with a little napkin of
purfled and purple silk, he said to me, "Art thou a prophet, that I
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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 The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: want to pitch a certain kind of ball. He had to
use extra motion to get his old speed, and he
delivered a high straight ball that Burt fouled over
the grand stand. The second ball met a similar
fate. All the time the crowd maintained that
strange waiting silence. The umpire threw out a
glistening white ball, which Duveen rubbed in the
dust and spat upon. Then he wound himself up
into a knot, slowly unwound, and swinging with
effort, threw for the plate.
Burt's lithe shoulders swung powerfully. The
The Redheaded Outfield |
