| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: dress of priests. Near him, arrayed in the scarlet robe of
sacrifice, stood one of my own captains, who I remembered had once
served as a priest of Tezcat before idolatry was forbidden in the
City of Pines, and around were a wide circle of women that watched,
and from whose lips swelled the awful chant.
Now I understood it all. In their last despair, maddened by the
loss of fathers, husbands, and children, by their cruel fate, and
standing face to face with certain death, the fire of the old faith
had burnt up in their savage hearts. There was the temple, there
were the stone and impliments of sacrifice, and there to their
hands were the victims taken in war. They would glut a last
Montezuma's Daughter |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: hurrying and fearful, to the margin of the water, leaving long
wakes of black in the silver. At the water's edge they stopped,
turning and glaring into the sea as though they presently expected
Montgomery to arise therefrom and exact vengeance.
"Now these," said I, pointing to the other bodies.
They took care not to approach the place where they had thrown
Montgomery into the water, but instead, carried the four dead
Beast People slantingly along the beach for perhaps a hundred
yards before they waded out and cast them away.
As I watched them disposing of the mangled remains of M'ling, I
heard a light footfall behind me, and turning quickly saw the big
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: articles disappeared from both houses and could not be found.
This was done out of revenge.
This example being set by the men, the women and children also
followed, and life soon became a burden to all who took part in
the strife.
Ivan Scherbakoff and "Gavryl the Lame" at last laid their trouble
before the mir (village meeting), in addition to having been in
court and calling on the justice of the peace. Both of the
latter had grown tired of them and their incessant wrangling.
One time Gavryl would succeed in having Ivan fined, and if he was
not able to pay it he would be locked up in the cold dreary
The Kreutzer Sonata |
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 A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: sir. I was there myself--I was wounded indeed, I won my Cross on that
glorious day.'
"And so from one thing to another the two drifted wrecks of the Empire
struck up an acquaintance. Little Croizeau was attached to the Empire
through his connection with Napoleon's sisters. He had been their
coach-builder, and had frequently dunned them for money; so he gave
out that he 'had had relations with the Imperial family.' Maxime, duly
informed by Antonia of the 'nice old man's' proposals (for so the aunt
called Croizeau), wished to see him. Cerizet's declaration of war had
so far taken effect that he of the yellow kid gloves was studying the
position of every piece, however insignificant, upon the board; and it
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