| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: turn in when the evening's work was done. Had a white man been
present, Daylight would have remarked that he felt his "hunch"
working. As it was, he tied on his snowshoes, left the dogs
curled in the snow and Kama breathing heavily under his rabbit
skins, and climbed up to the big flat above the high earth-bank.
But the spruce trees were too thick for an outlook, and he
threaded his way across the flat and up the first steep slopes of
the mountain at the back. Here, flowing in from the east at
right angles, he could see the Klondike, and, bending grandly
from the south, the Yukon. To the left, and downstream, toward
Moosehide Mountain, the huge splash of white, from which it took
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: Station.
In this berth the schooner was still three or four miles from the
city and the water-front. But Moran detested any nearer approach
to civilization, and Wilbur himself was willing to avoid, at least
for one day, the publicity which he believed the "Bertha's"
reappearance was sure to attract. He remembered, too, that the
little boat carried with her a fortune of $100,000, and decided
that until it could be safely landed and stored it was not
desirable that its existence should be known along "the Front."
For days, weeks even, Wilbur had looked eagerly forward to this
return to his home. He had seen himself again in his former
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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 Koran: They said, 'By God! thou wilt not cease to remember Joseph till thou
art at the point of death, or art of those who perish!'
Said he, 'I only complain of my emotion and my grief to God, for I
know that from God which ye know nothing of.
'O my sons! go and enquire concerning Joseph and his brother, and
despair not of God's comfort; for, verily, none need despair of
God's comfort save a misbelieving people!'
And when they entered in unto him they said, 'O prince! distress has
touched both us and our families, and we have brought trifling
chattels. So give us full measure and bestow upon us in charity;
verily, God rewards the charitable.'
The Koran |
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 Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: "Very well, good-night then," said Esther. "Tell Georches to make your
pillows very high and place your fee low, for you look apoplectic this
evening.--You cannot say, my dear, that I take no interest in your
health."
The Baron was standing up, and held the door-knob in his hand.
"Here, Nucingen," said Esther, with an imperious gesture.
The Baron bent over her with dog-like devotion.
"Do you want to see me very sweet, and giving you sugar-and-water, and
petting you in my house, this very evening, old monster?"
"You shall break my heart!"
"Break your heart--you mean bore you," she went on. "Well, bring me
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