| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: good and faithful comrade.
When the food was cooked and served, the girls invited the old
shepherd to join them in the morning meal. He willingly consented,
and while they ate he said to them, "You are now about to pass through
a very dangerous country, unless you turn to the north or to the south
to escape its perils."
"In that case," said the Cowardly Lion, "let us turn, by all means,
for I dread to face dangers of any sort."
"What's the matter with the country ahead of us?"
inquired Dorothy.
"Beyond this Rolling Prairie," explained the shepherd, "are the
The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: the cavern, casting a dim, flickering light throughout its vast
space, were two golden, flaming urns.
It was not fear, but a sort of nausea, that assailed me as I
realized that I was still in the domain of the Incas.
The ledge on which I lay was exposed to view from nearly every
point of the cavern, and the sight of those urns caused me to make
a swift decision to leave it without delay. It was wet and
slippery and not over three feet in width; I rose to my feet
cautiously, having no appetite for another ducking.
At a distance of several feet lay another ledge, broad and
level, at the farther end of which rose a massive boulder. I
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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 In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson: kissing the pale mouth. ('I fear you feel this affliction deeply,'
said the Scottish minister. 'Eh, sir, and that I do!' replied the
widow. 'I've been greetin' a' nicht; an' noo I'm just gaun to sup
this bit parritch, and then I'll begin an' greet again.') In our
walks abroad I have always supposed the islanders avoided us,
perhaps from distaste, perhaps by order; and those whom we met we
took generally by surprise. The surface of the isle is diversified
with palm groves, thickets, and romantic dingles four feet deep,
relics of old taro plantation; and it is thus possible to stumble
unawares on folk resting or hiding from their work. About pistol-
shot from our township there lay a pond in the bottom of a jungle;
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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 Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of
the community, and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That
is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without
them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards
civilisation. Slavery was put down in America, not in consequence
of any action on the part of the slaves, or even any express desire
on their part that they should be free. It was put down entirely
through the grossly illegal conduct of certain agitators in Boston
and elsewhere, who were not slaves themselves, nor owners of
slaves, nor had anything to do with the question really. It was,
undoubtedly, the Abolitionists who set the torch alight, who began
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