| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: kissed his knees, and he saved me and delivered me, and
setting me on his own chariot took me weeping to his home.
Truly many an one made at me with their ashen spears, eager
to slay me, for verily they were sore angered. But the king
kept them off and had respect unto the wrath of Zeus, the
god of strangers, who chiefly hath displeasure at evil
deeds. So for seven whole years I abode with their king,
and gathered much substance among the Egyptians, for they
all gave me gifts. But when the eighth year came in due
season, there arrived a Phoenician practised in deceit, a
greedy knave, who had already done much mischief among men.
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: minute, in the hope of being saved - as you call it. How do you
advise, Bishop?"
'"My dear man," I said, "if that is your honest belief, I take it
upon myself to say you had far better not curry favour with any
God. But if it's only your Jutish pride that holds you back, lift me
up, and I'll baptize you even now."
'"Lie still," said Meon. "I could judge better if I were in my
own hall. But to desert one's fathers' Gods - even if one doesn't
believe in them - in the middle of a gale, isn't quite - What would
you do yourself?"
'I was lying in his arms, kept alive by the warmth of his big,
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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 Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: from this position their flanking fire had raked contiguous sec-
tions of the German line, the diversion rendering possible a
successful night attack on the part of the balance of the
British forces.
Weeks had elapsed. The Germans were contesting stub-
bornly every mile of waterless, thorn-covered ground and
clinging desperately to their positions along the railway. The
officers of the Second Rhodesians had seen nothing more of
Tarzan of the Apes since he had slain Underlieutenant von
Goss and disappeared toward the very heart of the German
position, and there were those among them who believed that
Tarzan the Untamed |
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 Paz by Honore de Balzac: as some men are to you women. Surely you can be frank at this moment
with a friend like me. I shall grieve, too; long before your marriage
I had made him my child, I had sacrificed my life to him. If he dies I
shall be without an interest on earth; but life is still beautiful to
a widow of twenty-four."
"Ah! but you know that I love no one," she said, with the impatience
of grief.
"You don't yet know what it is to love," said Thaddeus.
"Oh, as husbands are, I have sense enough to prefer a child like my
poor Adam to a superior man. It is now over a month that we have been
saying to each other, 'Will he live?' and these alternations have
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