| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: if not of a peaceful, at least of a comfortable, life in the
country. Peaceful with six children Darya Alexandrovna could not
be. One would fall ill, another might easily become so, a third
would be without something necessary, a fourth would show
symptoms of a bad disposition, and so on. Rare indeed were the
brief periods of peace. But these cares and anxieties were for
Darya Alexandrovna the sole happiness possible. Had it not been
for them, she would have been left alone to brood over her
husband who did not love her. And besides, hard though it was for
the mother to bear the dread of illness, the illnesses
themselves, and the grief of seeing signs of evil propensities in
Anna Karenina |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: Button-Bright took the shaggy man's hand willingly; for the shaggy man
had the Love Magnet, you know, which was the reason Button-Bright had
loved him at once. They started on, with Dorothy on one side, and Toto
on the other, the little party trudging along more cheerfully than you
might have supposed. The girl was getting used to queer adventures,
which interested her very much. Wherever Dorothy went Toto was sure
to go, like Mary's little lamb. Button-Bright didn't seem a bit
afraid or worried because he was lost, and the shaggy man had no home,
perhaps, and was as happy in one place as in another.
Before long they saw ahead of them a fine big arch spanning the
road, and when they came nearer they found that the arch was
The Road to Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Iliad by Homer: such a great gathering of men they might be ill-fed, so I left
them at home and came on foot to Ilius armed only with my bow and
arrows. These it seems, are of no use, for I have already hit two
chieftains, the sons of Atreus and of Tydeus, and though I drew
blood surely enough, I have only made them still more furious. I
did ill to take my bow down from its peg on the day I led my band
of Trojans to Ilius in Hector's service, and if ever I get home
again to set eyes on my native place, my wife, and the greatness
of my house, may some one cut my head off then and there if I do
not break the bow and set it on a hot fire--such pranks as it
plays me."
The Iliad |
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 Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: bullet told, for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound
caused by the passage of the lion through the air. Next second I was
swept to the ground (luckily I fell into a low, creeper-clad bush, which
broke the shock), and the lion was on the top of me, and the next those
great white teeth of his had met in my thigh--I heard them grate against
the bone. I yelled out in agony, for I did not feel in the least
benumbed and happy, like Dr. Livingstone--whom, by the way, I knew very
well--and gave myself up for dead. But suddenly, at that moment, the
lion's grip on my thigh loosened, and he stood over me, swaying to and
fro, his huge mouth, from which the blood was gushing, wide opened.
Then he roared, and the sound shook the rocks.
Long Odds |
