| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Koran: answered him, and removed from him the distress that was upon him; and
we gave his family, and the like of them with them, as a mercy from
us, and a remembrance to those who serve us.
And Ishmael, and Idris, and DHU 'l Kifl, all of these were of the
patient: and we made them enter into our mercy; verily, they were
among the righteous.
And DHU 'nnun, when he went away in wrath and thought that we had no
power over him; and he cried out in the darkness, 'There is no god but
Thou, celebrated be Thy praise! Verily, I was of the evildoers!' And
we answered him, and saved him from the trouble. Thus do we save
believers!
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Touchstone by Edith Wharton: She replied that, on the way there, she meant to stop a moment at
her mother's; and while she drew on her gloves, he fumbled among
the knick-knacks on the mantel-piece for a match to light his
cigarette.
"Well, good-by," she said, turning to go; and from the threshold
she added: "By the way, I've sorted the papers you gave me. Those
that I thought you would like to keep are on your study-table."
She went downstairs and he heard the door close behind her.
She had sorted the papers--she knew, then--she MUST know--and she
had made no sign!
Glennard, he hardly knew how, found himself once more in the
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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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: thing! You have seen the ballet, and you'll now see it defiling past
you in its every-day clothes, without knowing that the face of your
lawsuit depends on a pair of those legs."
"My lawsuit!"
"See, cousin, here comes what is called a marcheuse."
Leon pointed to one of those handsome creatures who at twenty-five
years of age have lived sixty, and whose beauty is so real and so sure
of being cultivated that they make no display of it. She was tall, and
walked well, with the arrogant look of a dandy; her toilet was
remarkable for its ruinous simplicity.
"That is Carabine," said Bixiou, who gave her, as did Leon, a slight
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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 The Land of Footprints by Stewart Edward White: The author of this is deadly afraid of being thought to brag of
his adventures. He feels constantly on him the amusedly critical
eye of the old-timer. When he comes to describe the first time a
rhino dashed in his direction, he remembers that old hunters, who
have been so charged hundreds of times, may read the book.
Suddenly, in that light, the adventure becomes pitifully
unimportant. He sets down the fact that "we met a rhino that
turned a bit nasty, but after a shot in the shoulder decided to
leave us alone." Throughout he keeps before his mind's eye the
imaginary audience of those who have done. He writes for them, to
please them, to convince them that he is not "swelled head," nor
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