| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: o' that, thy poor feyther war just such another. But ye've got
the same look too" (here Lisbeth turned to Dinah). "I reckon it's
wi' bein' a Methody. Not as I'm a-findin' faut wi' ye for't, for
ye've no call to be frettin', an' somehow ye looken sorry too.
Eh! Well, if the Methodies are fond o' trouble, they're like to
thrive: it's a pity they canna ha't all, an' take it away from
them as donna like it. I could ha' gi'en 'em plenty; for when I'd
gotten my old man I war worreted from morn till night; and now
he's gone, I'd be glad for the worst o'er again."
"Yes," said Dinah, careful not to oppose any feeling of Lisbeth's,
for her reliance, in her smallest words and deeds, on a divine
Adam Bede |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: first kiss will not give you the right to a second.
She will flirt with you to her heart's content, and,
in two years' time, she will marry a monster, in
obedience to her mother, and will assure herself
that she is unhappy, that she has loved only one
man -- that is to say, you -- but that Heaven was
not willing to unite her to him because he wore a
soldier's cloak, although beneath that thick, grey
cloak beat a heart, passionate and noble" . . .
Grushnitski smote the table with his fist
and fell to walking to and fro across the
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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 Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: eyes of men.
They urged me to leave.
"In a moment it will be too late," cried Xodar. "There is,
in fact, but a bare chance that we can come through to the
outer garden alive even now. I have ordered the pumps
started, and in five minutes the pits will be flooded. If we
would not drown like rats in a trap we must hasten above
and make a dash for safety through the burning temple."
"Go," I urged them. "Let me die here beside my
Princess--there is no hope or happiness elsewhere for me.
When they carry her dear body from that terrible place a
The Gods of Mars |
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 God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: 5. GOD IS WITHIN
God comes we know not whence, into the conflict of life. He works
in men and through men. He is a spirit, a single spirit and a
single person; he has begun and he will never end. He is the
immortal part and leader of mankind. He has motives, he has
characteristics, he has an aim. He is by our poor scales of
measurement boundless love, boundless courage, boundless generosity.
He is thought and a steadfast will. He is our friend and brother
and the light of the world. That briefly is the belief of the
modern mind with regard to God. There is no very novel idea about
this God, unless it be the idea that he had a beginning. This is
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