| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: therefore, let me tell you, I have, which I will shew to you, an artificial
minnow, that will catch a Trout as well as an artificial fly: and it was
made by a handsome woman that had a fine hand, and a live minnow
lying by her: the mould or body of the minnow was cloth, and wrought
upon, or over it, thus, with a needle; the back of it with very sad French
green silk, and paler green silk towards the belly, shadowed as perfectly
as you can imagine, just as you see a minnow: the belly was wrought
also with a needle, and it was, a part of it, white silk; and another part
of it with silver thread: the tail and fins were of a quill, which was
shaven thin: the eyes were of two little black beads: and the head was
so shadowed, and all of it so curiously wrought, and so exactly
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: off to save the cucumbers.
Back at my typewriter once more. Shall I make my
heroine petite or grande? I decide that stateliness
and Gibsonesque height should accompany the calm gray
eyes. I rattle away happily, the plot unfolding itself
in some mysterious way. Sis opens the door a little and
peers in. She is dressed for the street.
"Dawn dear, I'm going to the dressmaker's. Frieda's
upstairs cleaning the bathroom, so take a little squint
at the roast now and then, will you? See that it doesn't
burn, and that there's plenty of gravy. Oh, and Dawn--
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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 Parmenides by Plato: 'What difficulty?' 'The greatest of all perhaps is this: an opponent will
argue that the ideas are not within the range of human knowledge; and you
cannot disprove the assertion without a long and laborious demonstration,
which he may be unable or unwilling to follow. In the first place, neither
you nor any one who maintains the existence of absolute ideas will affirm
that they are subjective.' 'That would be a contradiction.' 'True; and
therefore any relation in these ideas is a relation which concerns
themselves only; and the objects which are named after them, are relative
to one another only, and have nothing to do with the ideas themselves.'
'How do you mean?' said Socrates. 'I may illustrate my meaning in this
way: one of us has a slave; and the idea of a slave in the abstract is
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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 Mountains by Stewart Edward White: In essence, his dress is an adaptation to the
necessities of his calling; as a matter of fact, it is an
elaboration on that. The broad heavy felt hat he
has found by experience to be more effective in turning
heat than a lighter straw; he further runs to
variety in the shape of the crown and in the nature
of the band. He wears a silk handkerchief about his
neck to turn the sun and keep out the dust, but
indulges in astonishing gaudiness of color. His gauntlets
save his hands from the rope; he adds a fringe
and a silver star. The heavy wide "chaps" of leather
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