| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: one side, even for a bare moment from the sight of his fellows,
he did not return--and always when they came upon
the bodies of their dead they found those terrible arrows
driven with the accuracy of superhuman power straight
through the victim's heart. But worse than all else was the
hideous fact that not once during the morning had they seen
or heard the slightest sign of an enemy other than the
pitiless arrows.
When finally they returned to the village it was no better.
Every now and then, at varying intervals that were maddening
in the terrible suspense they caused, a man would plunge
The Return of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: you are of a strange race and my own name is Ozma. No, one, I am
sure, is better able to explain this mystery than you."
"That is true," answered the little Wizard; "therefore it will give me
pleasure to explain my connection with your country. In the first
place, I must tell you that I was born in Omaha, and my father, who
was a politician, named me Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle
Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, Diggs being the last name because he could
think of no more to go before it. Taken altogether, it was a
dreadfully long name to weigh down a poor innocent child, and one of
the hardest lessons I ever learned was to remember my own name. When
I grew up I just called myself O. Z., because the other initials were
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: husband of his nearest kinswoman and heir, the delicate task of
taking care of his person and property, until he was reinstated
in the management of the latter by those who, no doubt, thought
they were doing him justice; although, if some parts of his
subsequent conduct be examined, it will appear that he ought, for
his own sake, to have been left under the influence of a mild and
salutary restraint.
"In one particular, however, he showed a sense of the ties of
blood, as well as of his own frailty; for while he sequestered
himself closely from the world, under various names and
disguises, and insisted on spreading a report of his own death
|
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 Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: one of God's noblest creatures breathed her last in my arms; she
was the one woman on earth capable of loving me as you and mother
and David love me, giving me besides that unselfish affection,
something that neither mother nor sister can give--the utmost
bliss of love. Poor Coralie, after giving up everything for my
sake, may perhaps have died for me--for me, who at this moment
have not the wherewithal to bury her. She could have solaced my
life; you, and you alone, my dear good angels, can console me for
her death. God has forgiven her, I think, the innocent girl, for
she died like a Christian. Oh, this Paris! Eve, Paris is the glory
and the shame of France. Many illusions I have lost here already,
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