| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: exercising itself about them. The Colonel and the Countess seemed
perfectly to understand that accident had placed them in an awkward
position. Martial, as they came forward, had hastened to join the
group of men by the fireplace, that he might watch Madame de
Vaudremont with the jealous anxiety of the first flame of passion,
from behind the heads which formed a sort of rampart; a secret voice
seemed to warn him that the success on which he prided himself might
perhaps be precarious. But the coldly polite smile with which the
Countess thanked Monsieur de Soulanges, and her little bow of
dismissal as she sat down by Madame de Gondreville, relaxed the
muscles of his face which jealousy had made rigid. Seeing Soulanges,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: continued. 'All your faults, your frights, your petty foibles, add an
indescribable charm to your character. I feel that I should detest a
Sappho, a strong, courageous woman, overflowing with energy and
passion. O sweet and fragile creature! how couldst thou be otherwise?
That angel's voice, that refined voice, would have been an anachronism
coming from any other breast than thine.'
" 'I can give you no hope,' she said. 'Cease to speak thus to me, for
people would make sport of you. It is impossible for me to shut the
door of the theatre to you; but if you love me, or if you are wise,
you will come there no more. Listen to me, monsieur,' she continued in
a grave voice.
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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 Contrast by Royall Tyler: And will you pretend to say now, Mr. Dimple, that
you propose to break with Maria? Are not the banns
published? Are not the clothes purchased? Are not
the friends invited? In short, is it not a done affair?
DIMPLE
Believe me, my dear Letitia, I would not marry her.
LETITIA
Why have you not broke with her before this, as
you all along deluded me by saying you would?
DIMPLE
Because I was in hopes she would, ere this, have
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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 Critias by Plato: manner, and when they had made the allotment they settled their several
countries, and were the shepherds or rather the pilots of mankind, whom
they guided by persuasion, and not by force. Hephaestus and Athena,
brother and sister deities, in mind and art united, obtained as their lot
the land of Attica, a land suited to the growth of virtue and wisdom; and
there they settled a brave race of children of the soil, and taught them
how to order the state. Some of their names, such as Cecrops, Erechtheus,
Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, were preserved and adopted in later times,
but the memory of their deeds has passed away; for there have since been
many deluges, and the remnant who survived in the mountains were ignorant
of the art of writing, and during many generations were wholly devoted to
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