| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: his wound and cry out, Le Fever! I will go with thee, and thou shalt fight
beside me--And twice he laid his hand upon his groin, and hung down his
head in sorrow and disconsolation.--
My uncle Toby took down the sword from the crook, where it had hung
untouched ever since the lieutenant's death, and delivered it to the
corporal to brighten up;--and having detained Le Fever a single fortnight
to equip him, and contract for his passage to Leghorn,--he put the sword
into his hand.--If thou art brave, Le Fever, said my uncle Toby, this will
not fail thee,--but Fortune, said he (musing a little),--Fortune may--And
if she does,--added my uncle Toby, embracing him, come back again to me, Le
Fever, and we will shape thee another course.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: --man to man. I turned once or twice to see what those we had
left behind were doing, and always found them standing in
apparent debate; but my guard showed so much jealousy of these
movements that I presently shrugged my shoulders again and
desisted.
I had racked my brains to bring about this state of things.
Strange to say, now I had succeeded, I found it less satisfactory
than I had hoped. I had reduced the odds and got rid of my most
dangerous antagonists; but Antoine, left to himself, proved to be
as full of suspicion as an egg of meat. He rode a little behind
me, with his gun across his saddlebow, and a pistol near his
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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 Burning Daylight by Jack London: sweep over the United States. How terrific this particular storm
was to be he did not anticipate. Nevertheless, he took every
precaution in his power, and had no anxiety about his weathering
it out.
Money grew tighter. Beginning with the crash of several of the
greatest Eastern banking houses, the tightness spread, until
every bank in the country was calling in its credits. Daylight
was caught, and caught because of the fact that for the first
time he had been playing the legitimate business game. In the
old days, such a panic, with the accompanying extreme shrinkage
of values, would have been a golden harvest time for him. As it
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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 Hellenica by Xenophon: equally hidden from the city, while its small dimensions, and the
nearness of the encumbent mountains, rendered it a more hazardous
position to an army under the circumstances of that of Agesilaus"
[than had he encamped in the Argon itself]. For the Argon (or
Inert Plain), see Leake, ib. 54 foll.
On the next morning, as day broke, he sacrificed in front of the army;
and observing a mustering of men from the city of Mantinea on the
hills which overhung the rear of his army, he decided that he must
lead his troops out of the hollow by the quickest route. But he feared
lest, if he himself led off, the enemy might fall upon his rear. In
this dilemma he kept quiet; presenting a hostile front to the enemy,
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