| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: before Rose would consent to his proposition.
After he had left, she reviewed it a little sadly. It wasn't the
kind of marriage of which she had always dreamed. She realized
that she was capable of profound devotion, of responding with her
whole being to a deep love. But was it probable that this love
would ever come? She thought over the men of Fallon and its
neighborhood. There were few as handsome as Martin--not one with
such generous plans. She knew her own domestic talents. She was a
born housekeeper and home-maker. It had been a curious destiny
that had driven her into a newspaper office, and at that very
moment, there lay on her desk, like a whisper from Fate, the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: and tones that he had attained with such labor--all of this
together seemed to him now, looking at it with their eyes, the
merest vulgarity, something that had been done a thousand times
over. The face dearest to him, the face of Christ, the center of
the picture, which had given him such ecstasy as it unfolded
itself to him, was utterly lost to him when he glanced at the
picture with their eyes. He saw a well-painted (no, not even
that--he distinctly saw now a mass of defects) repetition of
those endless Christs of Titian, Raphael, Rubens, and the same
soldiers and Pilate. It was all common, poor, and stale, and
positively badly painted--weak and unequal. They would be
Anna Karenina |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Rinkitink In Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Heh, heh -- ho, ho, ho!" he roared. "Didn't expect
me, I see. Keek-eek-eek-eek! This is funny -- it's
really funny. Didn't know I was coming, did you? Hoo,
hoo, hoo, hoo! This is certainly amusing. But I'm here,
just the same."
"Hush up!" said a deep, growling voice. "You're
making yourself ridiculous."
Everyone looked to see where this voice came from;
but none could guess who had uttered the words of
rebuke. The rowers of the boat were all solemn and
silent and certainly no one on the shore had spoken.
Rinkitink In 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 Just Folks by Edgar A. Guest: The other fellow.
Who never seems to feel the woe,
The anguish and the pain we know?
Who gets the best seats at the show?
The other fellow.
And yet, my friend, who envies you?
The other fellow.
Who thinks he gathers only rue?
The other fellow.
Who sighs because he thinks that he
Would infinitely happier he,
Just Folks |
