| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Last War: A World Set Free by H. G. Wells: regular employment at last; 'they like me,' he said, 'and I like
the job. If I work up--in'r dozen years or so I ought to be
gettin' somethin' pretty comfortable. That's the plain sense of
it, Hetty. There ain't no reason whatsoever why we shouldn't get
along very decently--very decently indeed.'
The desire for little successes amidst conditions securely fixed!
So it struck upon Holsten's mind. He added in his diary, 'I had
a sense of all this globe as that....'
By that phrase he meant a kind of clairvoyant vision of this
populated world as a whole, of all its cities and towns and
villages, its high roads and the inns beside them, its gardens
The Last War: A World Set Free |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: I fell into thought for a moment; then,
assuming a deeply moved air, I said:
"Yes, such has been my lot from very child-
hood! All have read upon my countenance the
marks of bad qualities, which were not existent;
but they were assumed to exist -- and they were
born. I was modest -- I was accused of slyness: I
grew secretive. I profoundly felt both good and
evil -- no one caressed me, all insulted me: I
grew vindictive. I was gloomy -- other children
merry and talkative; I felt myself higher than
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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 The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: living for ourselves. No one wants to employ old people who are
broken down in health, as we are."
Dorothy smiled.
"Wouldn't it be funny," she said, "for me to do housework in Kansas,
when I'm a Princess in the Land of Oz?"
"A Princess!" they both exclaimed, astonished.
"Yes; Ozma made me a Princess some time ago, and she has often begged
me to come and live always in the Emerald City," said the child.
Her uncle and aunt looked at her in amazement. Then the man said:
"Do you suppose you could manage to return to your fairyland, my dear?"
"Oh yes," replied Dorothy; "I could do that easily."
The Emerald City of Oz |
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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: named Cabot, a young wig-maker devoured by ambition, came to Paris,
and set up a shop (I use your slang). This man of genius,--he now has
an income of twenty-four thousand francs a year, and lives, retired
from business, at Libourne,--well, he saw that so vulgar and ignoble a
name as Cabot could never attain celebrity. Monsieur de Parny, whose
hair he cut, gave him the name of Marius, infinitely superior, you
perceive, to the Christian names of Armand and Hippolyte, behind which
patronymics attacked by the Cabot evil are wont to hide. All the
successors of Cabot have called themselves Marius. The present Marius
is Marius V.; his real name is Mongin. This occurs in various other
trades; for 'Botot water,' and for 'Little-Virtue' ink. Names become
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