| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: If he that rules Olympus fulfil it not here and now, he will yet
fulfil it hereafter, and they shall pay dearly with their lives
and with their wives and children. The day will surely come when
mighty Ilius shall be laid low, with Priam and Priam's people,
when the son of Saturn from his high throne shall overshadow them
with his awful aegis in punishment of their present treachery.
This shall surely be; but how, Menelaus, shall I mourn you, if it
be your lot now to die? I should return to Argos as a by-word,
for the Achaeans will at once go home. We shall leave Priam and
the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, and the earth will
rot your bones as you lie here at Troy with your purpose not
 The Iliad |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Don't you do it! If the Nome King gets the belt again he will make
every one of us prisoners, for we will be in his power. Only by
keeping the belt, Dorothy, will you ever be able to leave this place
in safety."
"I think that is true," said the Scarecrow. "But I have another idea,
due to my excellent brains. Let Dorothy transform the King into a
goose-egg unless he agrees to go into the palace and bring out to us
the ornament which is our friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman."
"A goose-egg!" echoed the horrified King. "How dreadful!"
"Well, a goose-egg you will be unless you go and fetch us the ornament
we want," declared Billina, with a joyful chuckle.
 Ozma of Oz |