| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reef by Edith Wharton: She watched his approach with a smile. From the first days
of her marriage she had been drawn to the boy, but it was
not until after Effie's birth that she had really begun to
know him. The eager observation of her own child had shown
her how much she had still to learn about the slight fair
boy whom the holidays periodically restored to Givre. Owen,
even then, both physically and morally, furnished her with
the oddest of commentaries on his father's mien and mind.
He would never, the family sighingly recognized, be nearly
as handsome as Mr. Leath; but his rather charmingly
unbalanced face, with its brooding forehead and petulant
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: stick were still there; so Rochester had come to the office
immediately after leaving him, and carelessly left the safe
open! Kent smiled in spite of his vexation; the act was typical
of his eccentric partner.
Going back to his own office Kent opened the safe and glanced
inside. The pigeon holes and compartments appeared untouched,
except the door of one small compartment on Rochester's side. An
envelope was wedged in such a manner that the small door would
not shut and that had prevented the closing of the outer safe door.
Kent, preparatory to shutting the safe, drew out the envelope
intending to place it in another pigeon-hole where there was more
The Red Seal |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: Who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March.
Edmund had issue, Roger Earl of March;
Roger had issue, Edmund, Anne, and Eleanor.
SALISBURY.
This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,
As I have read, laid claim unto the crown;
And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,
Who kept him in captivity till he died.
But to the rest.
YORK.
His eldest sister, Anne,
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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 Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: have done, and since I have made this young man a knight with
mine own hands, I cannot deny that he is fit to challenge my Lord
of Alban. Ne'theless, the High Court of Chivalry shall adjudge
this case. Meantime," said he, turning to the Earl Marshal, who
was present, "I give thee this attainted Lord in charge. Convey
him presently to the Tower, and let him abide our pleasure there.
Also, thou mayst take up yon gage, and keep it till it is
redeemed according to our pleasure."
He stood thoughtfully for a moment, and then raising his eyes,
looked fixedly at the Earl of Mackworth. "I know," he said, "that
I be a right sick man, and there be some who are already plotting
Men of Iron |
