| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: to make an abode in these lower depths of the mountain.
The prospect, it must be owned, was not inviting. The crater,
it is true, widened out into a cavern sufficiently large,
but here its accommodation ended. Above and below were a few
ledges in the rock that would serve as receptacles for provisions;
but, with the exception of a small recess that must be reserved
for Nina, it was clear that henceforth they must all renounce
the idea of having separate apartments. The single cave must
be their dining-room, drawing-room, and dormitory, all in one.
From living the life of rabbits in a warren, they were reduced
to the existence of moles, with the difference that they could not,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adventure by Jack London: the wheel. Put your wheel down, and around she comes, like a colt
with the bit in its teeth. And you can back her like a steamer. I
did it at Langa-Langa, between that shoal patch and the shore-reef.
It was wonderful.
"But you don't love boats like I do, and I know you think I'm
making a fool of myself. But some day I'm going to sail the Martha
again. I know it. I know it."
In reply, and quite without premeditation, his hand went out to
hers, covering it as it lay on the railing. But he knew, beyond
the shadow of a doubt, that it was the boy that returned the
pressure he gave, the boy sorrowing over the lost toy. The thought
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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 Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: are not already in that fire place, or very near it, for a good part
of my beard has been singed, and I have a mind, senor, to uncover
and see whereabouts we are."
"Do nothing of the kind," said Don Quixote; "remember the true story
of the licentiate Torralva that the devils carried flying through
the air riding on a stick with his eyes shut; who in twelve hours
reached Rome and dismounted at Torre di Nona, which is a street of the
city, and saw the whole sack and storming and the death of Bourbon,
and was back in Madrid the next morning, where he gave an account of
all he had seen; and he said moreover that as he was going through the
air, the devil bade him open his eyes, and he did so, and saw
Don Quixote |
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 Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: picks and continued at work for two hours and a half, some of
the sailors being at the same time busily employed in clearing
the foundation of chips and in conveying the irons to and from
the smiths on the beacon, where they were sharped. At eight
o'clock the sea broke in upon us and overflowed the
foundation-pit, when the boats returned to the tender.
[Thursday, 7th July]
The landing-master's bell rung this morning about four
o'clock, and at half-past five, the foundation being cleared,
the work commenced on the site of the building. But from the
moment of landing, the squad of joiners and millwrights was at
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